He had cleared his throat, walked briskly over to the television, selected a movie and set it running. ‘There, that should keep you happy for a while.’
‘I’m not twelve,’ she’d said with a pout.
He’d pushed a hand through his thick overly long hair. ‘It’s a good movie. It won two Oscar nomination and three Golden Globes.’
She had put on her beseeching face. ‘Will you watch it with me?’
He had muttered something that sounded very much like an English swear word before he had sat down on the sofa furthest away from her. But he had stayed and watched it with her. He’d even laughed at the funny bits, and at one point paused the movie to go and get some popcorn he’d charmed one of the housemaids to make.
Yes, falling in love with him had been the easy bit.
Falling out of love was going to be the kicker.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
‘ARE YOU SURE you’re all right?’ Remy asked Angelique when they landed in Paris. ‘You’ve been so quiet and you still look a little pale.’
‘I’m fine.’ She gave him a tight smile. ‘I’m just nervous. The thought of all those wedding dresses is enough to make my insides churn.’
He put an arm around her waist as they walked out to the waiting car. ‘You’ll blow everyone away as soon as you walk up that aisle.’
Angelique hadn’t been sick for the last couple of days but she still felt queasy in the stomach. She had managed to keep it from Remy but then saw a pharmacy ahead and wondered how she could sneak in and get a testing kit without him noticing. But just then his phone rang and she seized the opportunity. She pointed to the ladies’ room and mouthed the words to him about needing to take a pit stop. He nodded and turned away, plugging one ear so he could hear the conversation without all the noise of the busy airport terminal.
Angelique walked briskly into the shop and bought tampons—that was her positive thinking working overtime—and a pregnancy kit. She put both items in her tote bag and came out with her heart thumping so loudly she could feel it in her throat.
Remy was still talking on the phone and only turned around when she appeared by his side. He ended the call and slipped his arm back around her waist. ‘That was Robert Mappleton. He said to say hi.’
‘He’s a very nice man,’ Angelique said, falling in step beside him as they made their way out to the waiting car. ‘He really misses his wife. She died eight years ago after a long struggle with breast cancer. They’d been married for forty-nine years. She used to do a lot of the background work in the business. I think that’s why it went downhill so badly. He’s been grieving all this time.’
Remy glanced down at her. ‘He told you all that?’
She nodded. ‘We talked about the grieving process—the denial, the anger, the bargaining, transition and then acceptance. I told him how lost I’d felt when my mother died. He was very understanding. He and his wife couldn’t have children.’ She gave a little sigh. ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we could choose our parents? I would’ve loved a father like Robert Mappleton instead of my own.’
Remy’s arm tightened protectively. ‘I wish I could have mine back, just for a day, to tell him how much he meant to me. And my mother.’
Angelique leaned against his shoulder. ‘They’d be very proud of you and your brothers.’
His expression clouded and he looked away. ‘Of Rafe and Raoul maybe, but me? I’m not so sure.’
‘But why? You’ve just nailed the biggest deal of your career. It’s bigger than anything your brothers have done.’
He looked at her again. It was a hard look: cynical; jaded. ‘It’s just another deal.’ He dropped his arm from her waist and took her hand instead. ‘Come on. We’d better get you to the church on time.’
* * *
Remy stood at the back of the photo shoot in one of Paris’s gothic cathedrals as Angelique was photographed in a variety of bridal outfits. She looked stunning in every one of them. It made him think of their wedding back in Dharbiri. She had looked fabulous then too, but nothing about that day had been real.
He couldn’t help imagining her as a real bride, walking down the aisle not to a crowd of photographers but to him.
He blinked and shook his head. It was definitely too hot and stuffy in here or something.
He looked back at the action playing out in front of him. The photographers, all six of them, issued commands and directions, which Angelique followed tirelessly like the consummate professional she was. Her manager had come over and introduced herself earlier, telling him how Angelique’s star was set to shine brighter than any model she had represented before.