When in Paris... (Language of Love) (42 page)

Word doesn’t come for another hour but the news is good. Physically, Ashley is going to be fine. They are going to keep her overnight and then she’ll be free to go home. Her parents urge us to go home and get some sleep but before we do, Zach speaks to them privately. I know what he intends to say so I excuse myself so they can have some privacy.

***

ZACH

Ashley’s mom has always liked me. A guy can always tell. She thinks I’m good for her daughter and said it a couple dozen times when we were together. I’m pretty sure if she’d had her way, Ashley and I would’ve stayed together and gotten married right out of college. So telling her that going forward, I don’t want Ashley communicating with me at all is tough.

Christ, it ends up being harder than that. I spend five minutes beating around the bush by first explaining why what I’m doing isn’t only what’s best for me but also what’s best for Ashley. Then I tell her that I’m done—in a nicer way, of course.

But no matter how nicely I try to phrase it, it doesn’t stop her from crying. Silent kick-me-in-the-gut tears. I feel like shit. I let out a relieved
whoosh
of air when she agrees with me and tells me her and her husband are going to get Ashley the help she needs.

Thank God.

“
This isn’t the first time that Ashley’s tried to hurt herself over a boy,” she confesses tearfully.

I’m surprised but I’m not. Her parents always came across as the type who’d rather bury their heads in the sand instead of owning up to the truth, that their daughter needs professional help. I’m just happy they’re finally in a place where they accept it and are willing to do something about it.

When it’s all said and done, she hugs me and kisses my cheek and I shake her husband’s hand. This is definitely goodbye.

Now I can finally take my girlfriend home with me, where she belongs.

~*~*~

Olivia insists on driving her car back to school but I’m adamant that I drive us both. For chrissake it’s almost three in the morning and she’s practically drunk from lack of sleep. There’s no way I’m going to let her get behind the wheel of a three-ton vehicle.

Maybe that’s why the argument doesn’t last long. The hospital is only a half hour from campus so we can pick her car up tomorrow after we’ve gotten some sleep.

“
Stay with me tonight.” I don’t plan to take no for an answer. I want her with me all night tonight.

She stares at me across the cab of my truck and the look on her face, the emotion in her hazel eyes causes my breathing to constrict and my body to respond to her the way it always has. I know we’re both exhausted but there’s nothing I want more than to have her naked in my arms.

She nods. “Okay. I’ll just need to text April or she’ll worry.”

Earlier, she’d told me that she’d spoken to April, who’d not long come back from a party, to let her know what was going on. She’d been able to talk April out of coming to the hospital by telling her I was on my way.

I’d already texted Troy to let him know I was on my way home and that Olivia would be with me. As I said, I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. And I can be pretty persuasive when I put my mind to it.

At the apartment, I lend her one of my t-shirts. There’s no doubt it looks a helluva lot better on her than it does on me, hitting her at mid-thigh, leaving a whole lotta smooth shapely legs bare. The need for sleep vanishes just like that. And it’s like it’s been six months instead of two days since we last had sex.

Damn, I’m a horny bastard.

I kick off my pants, yank off my shirt and as she climbs into bed, I’m wearing nothing but navy briefs and a hard-on. I brace my knee on the bed and with both hands, grab a hold of the hem of my t-shirt.

“
If you just wanna go to sleep, I’ll understand,” I mutter gruffly, wanting her so bad I can’t think straight. Her hands shoot up, involuntary-like, as I yank my t-shirt over her head and toss it on the floor.

She gives me this sexy smile to let me know she’s game.

I remove my underwear and whip her panties off. Seconds later, she’s under me and I’m levered above her. She’s all soft and flushed, no longer hovering on the edge of sleep, her eyes now heavy-lidded with desire as she stares up at me.

“
You’re stuck with me now,” I say, whispering a kiss down her cheek to her mouth.

Her beautiful hazel eyes get misty and my heart feels like my chest can’t contain it.

“
I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be stuck with,” she whispers softly, twining her fingers in my hair.

I kiss her lips and she wraps her arms and legs around me and that’s when I completely lose my mind.

E
PILOGUE

OLIVIA

“My mom says hi,” Zach says when he gets off the phone.

I laugh. “At least she’s trying.” And she is so I can’t fault her for that. If only everything wasn’t so awkward.

I met her during Christmas break and since then I’ve seen her twice, three days ago being the last time. I haven’t met Zach’s aunt though and that’s probably for the best. At least for now. Let me get more comfortable with his mom first. Our stilted conversations leave much to be desired. I make sure to steer clear of all conversations that touch on or could possibly lead to topics like home wreckers, cheating, ex-husbands and cheating ex-husbands. She in turn asks only after my father and brother, which works fine for me.

Walking over to me, Zach pulls me into his arms and I wrap my arms around his neck, playing with the fine hairs at the nape of his neck. I inhale.
Hmm, he smells so good.

“She’s not trying that hard. She really does like you,” he murmurs into my neck, one hand sifting through my hair.

At the feel of his mouth on me, a shiver races down my spine. “Well she doesn’t like me as much as your dad does.”

Zach’s response is an unintelligible grunt. Still a sore subject, any mention of his father. When his hand roams down to cup my butt, I can see we’re losing focus of what we plan to do tonight.

The man is insatiable.
I smile. Not that I’m complaining because we’re pretty well matched in that department. But now is not the time.

“Zach, you promised.” My breathy admonishment has zero effect on him. Or maybe it does because he pulls me tighter against him and I can feel he’s ready to go another round.

With both hands, I press firmly against his shoulders until he raises his head, steps back and lets his hands fall to his sides.

“Don’t even. We were supposed to be out of here two hours ago. There’s a reason they call it a quickie. Our afternoon quickie lasted a good hour past quick.”

A wicked smile crawls across his gorgeous face as he raises his brows suggestively. “I like to savor the good stuff.”

My heart careens and then slams against my ribs. He really needs to stop that or we’ll never make it out of this hotel room.

“Come, we’ve showered, it’s time to get dressed for dinner. Remember we have reservations.” I strive for no-nonsense and end up more cajoling than anything.

After a pause, he laughs and strides over to his clothes laid out on the bed. Good, now I can get dressed.

“You know why my dad likes you?” he asks, pulling on his dress pants.

I glance over my shoulder at him as I remove my black halter dress from the hanger in the closet. “No why? I thought it was my natural charm,” I joke, fluttering my eyes at him. I’m not sure I ever analyzed it. Not sure I needed to. Apparently I was wrong.

“I told him you convinced me not to quit football.”

My body freezes and I blink in surprise. “But I didn’t.”

Pants on, Zach grabs his shirt and thrusts his arms through the sleeves. “Yeah you did,” he says, watching me closely.

It’s not the way he makes it sound. After meeting his brother over Christmas break, it occurred to me that maybe Zach’s issue with football wasn’t his father but that he didn’t think he could live up to his brother’s example. Zach doesn’t want to fail. He doesn’t want to disappoint the brother he looks up to. That’s what I’d told him and somewhere along the line, he’d conceded that maybe I had a point. He’d stopped talking about quitting football and his father had stopped trying to get him to switch schools.

“The bottom line is you love football. It’s in your blood.” I can’t say I love the sport but I do love watching my boyfriend play.

He snorts. “Theater is in your blood and you still haven’t declared a major.”

Smart ass.

I resume dressing as he’s finishing. “I’m going to declare one when we go back in September,” I grumble. I’m going to enjoy summer break right now.

All goes silent and then he’s right behind me, brushing my hands aside to take over the task of tying the halter strings around my neck.

“Your mother isn’t going to turn into the stage mom from hell if you decide to try your hand at Broadway. You guys aren’t there anymore.” His voice is almost gentle.

I let out a short, humorless laugh. “You never know.”

Finished tying the dress, he places his hands on the balls of my shoulders and turns me around. For a second he gets that
let’s skip dinner and go back to bed look
in his eyes. “Your mom is trying, just like my mom.”

Zach’s met my mom a bunch of times. She loves him. No surprise there. And he seems to like her too. He wants me to forgive her but that is going to take time. At least we’re talking. Yeah, I get that she’s human and that we all make mistakes but this was a
big one
. My dad has forgiven her but he’s living alone in his apartment. No divorce papers have been filed and the truth is, I don’t know what’s going to happen with them. But if they divorce, I’ll deal with it. And if they don’t, I’ll deal with that too.

“You know I love her, it’s just hard sometimes.”

“I know,” he says, kissing me on the forehead. “But you can’t do the same thing I thought I was doing with my dad by denying yourself what you want to do because it’s something you think she chose for you. I promise, when the time comes, I won’t let her within a mile of your rehearsals and I’ll make sure she never goes backstage during your performances even if I have to strap her to her seat.”

I can’t help but laugh at the visual that pops into my mind.

“C’mere,” Zach says. All of a sudden, I’m being pulled onto the balcony. It’s dark and at twenty stories up, the view of the city is breathtaking. The Eiffel Tower lights up the clear Paris night and I’m in awe. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he pulls me back against his hard chest.

“Happy birthday, Liv. I love you,” he murmurs into my hair.

I angle my head back and purse my lips for his kiss. He doesn’t make me wait, his kiss wet and hot. My bare toes curl on the cool metal floor of the balcony.

My breathing is ragged when he finally raises his head. “I love you too. And thank you for the best birthday present anyone has ever given me…except you.”

My present is a seven-day trip back to Paris. When he first told me that’s where he wanted to take me, I’d told him no. I didn’t want him to spend that kind of money on me. But Zach insisted, saying he’d be spending the money he was supposed to spend on a car. He’d also told me that he still had the money his grandparents had put aside for his college. It’s in his bank account earning interest. He wanted to splurge and he wanted to splurge on me. I don’t think I’ve cried that much since I found out my parents were getting a divorce. Happy tears, of course.

“I wanted to take you back to the place where everything changed between us.”

No one can ever accuse my boyfriend of
not
being romantic.

“But not all the best stuff happened when we were in Paris.”

Zach’s arms tighten around my waist as he smiles down at me. “No, that was just the beginning.”

THE END

Next up

L
OVE
I
TALIAN
S
TYLE

April & Troy's Story

Book #2 in the
Language of Love
series

Release Date TBA

Table of Contents

Also by Beverley Kendall

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen