To her surprise, it was Christophe who answered. ‘It is always good to formalise a deal with a shake of the hand.’
‘You’re buying the vineyard?’ she asked Pepe.
‘I would say it’s more that Christophe has agreed to sell me the vineyard.’ Pepe raised his glass in the Frenchman’s direction. ‘You drive a hard bargain, my friend.’
‘Some bargains deserve to be hard fought.’ Christophe lifted the wine bottle and made to refill Pepe’s glass.
Pepe held out a hand to stop him. ‘Not for me. I will be driving back to Paris shortly.’
‘Driving?’ Cara asked hopefully.
‘Sì. I got some staff to bring a car over for us.’
‘Where are they?’
‘They’ve taken the helicopter back. Don’t worry—I got the flight crew to come. They left about half an hour ago.’
For a moment she just stared at him, incredulous. ‘Seriously? You got your pilots to drive all this way to drop off a car and then fly back?’ How long had she been asleep? Five hours? He must have got the wheels in motion the second her head had hit the pillow.
He shrugged as if it were no big deal. ‘They weren’t doing anything else. It gave them a day out.’
‘Did you do this...for me?’
‘The helicopter’s not long been reupholstered. I didn’t want to risk you ruining it by upchucking everywhere.’
Somehow, she just knew Pepe could not give a flying monkey about upholstery.
‘I thought we were going to a business dinner tonight?’
‘I’m sure they can survive without our company for one night,’ he said drily. ‘I am not so cruel that I would force you to spend another hour in a craft that makes you violently ill for the sake of a dinner party with a handful of the most boring people in all of Paris.’
A compulsion, a strange, strange desire, tingled through her fingers to lace themselves through his.
Quickly she fisted her hands into balls.
So what if he’d displayed a hint at humanity?
It didn’t mean she had to hold his hand.
It didn’t change a thing.
* * *
By the time they left the vineyard, the sun had set and the Loire Valley was in darkness. The roads were clear, the drive smooth, but still Pepe was aware that Cara’s breathing had deepened.
‘Are you feeling all right?’ he asked, turning the air conditioning up a notch.
‘I think so.’ Her head was back against the rest, her eyes shut.
‘Open a window if it helps.’ It was too dark to see the colour of her complexion, but he’d bet it had regained the green hue.
Cold air filtered through the small opening she made in the window, and she turned her face towards it, breathing the fresh air in.
‘You say you’ve always suffered from motion sickness?’ he said a few minutes later when he was reasonably certain she wasn’t going to upchuck everywhere.