“What do you mean? And eat your food.”
“I thought you liked to just go wherever the wind took you. Why buy a piece of land if you don’t intend to live on it?”
It was something he often asked himself. He glanced around. “Because when I saw it, I knew it was meant to be mine. Even if I never lived here, it’s the closest I’ve felt to home in a long time. I grew up in the country. It didn’t look exactly like this, but I didn’t want something the same. I just wanted peace.”
“Where did you grow up?”
Did he tell her? He had no real reason to not tell her. “In the Loire Valley.”
She frowned slightly. “The Loire Valley? In France?”
Matthieu raised his eyebrows. “You’ve heard of it?”
“My mom always wanted to visit. She said it looked so beautiful and that it had all these old castles.”
“Chateaux,” he corrected.
“Oh, right. You have a French name but I wasn’t sure that you were born there since you don’t have an accent.”
“Non, je n’ai pas.”
“Wow, okay, now you sound French,” she informed him.
He had to smile. He hadn’t expected to find this conversation amusing. But that was Maya. She had a way of lightening the mood. Even when she was being serious.
“But what about your accent?”
He shrugged. “It’s easier to blend in without an accent. People remember an accent. They don’t remember a guy who sounds like everyone else.”
“Hate to break it to you but there is no way that anyone with eyes wouldn’t remember you. You’re like the sexiest, hottest guy I’ve ever met.” She put a grape in her mouth before she seemed to realize what she’d said.
Then her eyes met his and she started to choke.
He got onto his knees and pounded her back. Finally, she managed to swallow it.
“I’m good,” she said hoarsely. “I’m good.”
Matthieu grabbed a bottle of water from the basket and held it to her lips. “Small sips.”
“Well,” she said, her eyes streaming. “That was embarrassing. Can we, um, could we, um, you know . . .”
“No, I don’t know. Sip your water.”
“Forgetthateverhappened.”
He eyed her as he continued to force her to drink.
“Forget you choking?”
“That too,” she said in a hoarse voice.
He raised his eyebrows. “Forget that you called me the hottest, sexiest guy you’ve ever met? Now, why would I want to do that?”
Maya groanedand closed her eyes.
“Don’t be embarrassed.”
She felt something brush over her cheeks and opened her eyes to find him wiping her tears away with a tissue. Then he held the tissue to her nose. That finally spurred her into action and she grabbed the tissue, blowing her nose.
