Benoit sighed as I reached for his hand and laced our fingers.
“Now come, follow me.”
It’d been several days since our faux-Christmas, and with only several more remaining until he was due to leave, I’d found myself developing quite the obsession with time.
It was going by too fast. Not that I’d ever admit that to him.
But somewhere between my demanding he stay with me the remainder of my trip, and our actually spending those days together, I’d grown accustomed to having Benoit around.
Whether it be in the kitchen or living room, sharing a meal or a swim in the pool, I’d gotten used to hearing his bare feet on the slate floors, his humming whenever he made our morning cappuccinos, and the soft sounds of a man in a deep, peaceful sleep.
I never thought I’d have that. Someone to share the quiet moments with, to sharethisside of myself with—but I really didn’t.
Thiswas a false sense of reality, a moment I’d stolen for myself by threatening Benoit’s boss. But I wasn’t going to think about that, not yet. Not until I had to give him back.And that wasn’t today.
I led Benoit around the pool and down the paved path we’d walked up when we first arrived. There were only two ways offthis island my house was built on—one was by air and the other, of course, by sea.
“Stop,” I said, drawing Benoit to a halt. “There are steps you have to walk down now. There’s a rail to your left, and you can use me?—”
“Ooh, can I?”
“—to lean on, here on your right.”
Benoit’s fingers gripped mine a little tighter as he followed my instructions, and soon we were at the bottom of the stairs, standing on my private pier.
“I’m going to take off your blindfold now, okay? Don’t move, or you might not like where you end up.”
“Um,” Benoit said as I let go of his hand and moved behind him, “if that’s supposed to be reassuring, it’s not.”
I chuckled as I reached for the knot at the back of his head, and when the material fell away, Benoit gasped.
“Mon Dieu,” he said as he stared out at the catamaran docked in front of him. “Is she yours?”
“She is. And tonight, she’s ours.”
Benoit walked up the pier, looking over the sixty-seven-foot sailing boat I’d had delivered this morning.
“Tonight?”
I slipped my hands into my pockets and wandered up the pier. “I’m not sure if you realized, but it’s New Year’s Eve.”
Benoit spun back to face me. “New Year’s?”
“Yes.”
I could tell by his shocked expression that he’d totally lost track of the days, and had I not been hyperaware of when he was due to leave, I likely would’ve done the same.
“You don’t strike me as the type to stay home on such an occasion. So I thought I would take you out. The safest way I could, that is.”
“I can’t believe it’s New Year’s Eve already.” He walked back to me, shaking his head. “The week flew by.”
“It did,” I said as the wind whipped up and blew some of his hair across his forehead, and I reached out and brushed it back from his handsome face. “So, what do you say? Want to ring in the New Year with me?”
I wasn’t really giving him a choice, but when Benoit looked up at the magnificent boat, then back to me, his bright smile told me he would’ve said yes even if he did have one.
“Do I get to kiss you at midnight?” he asked.
“What do you think?”
