Tall Dark and Hungry(20)

"It was fun."She perked up slightly at the memory. "They have lots of cool stuff there. We didn't get to see everything, though. It's so huge! But Bastien said we can go back another time.»

Chris nodded. "It's probably better to go a couple times than to try to cram it all in one day anyway.»

"Yes,"Terri agreed, then asked, "How was your day?»

"Oh, you know. Long. Boring."Chris sighed, then his gaze landed on the stacked manuscript on the coffee table. "I did try to work, but the pain is distracting.»

"Hmm."Terri nodded sympathetically as he rubbed his leg above the cast. She'd never had a broken bone in her life, and had no real idea how painful it must be. But it seemed best to keep him off the subject, so she asked, "What did you eat?»

She hoped that his answer might help her decide what to have, too. But the young man's answer brought a grimace to her face.

"Chips, cheese, and sausage."He shrugged.

"That's hardly a healthy diet,"Terri chastised.

"Well, there was no one to cook for me. I had to fend for myself,"the editor said defensively, then patted the set of crutches Terri hadn't noticed leaning against the couch. "Fortunately, Bastien's secretary brought these babies up half an hour ago. I can get around on my own now.»

"Good,"she said, aware that Bastien and Vincent had been helping the man get to and from his bedroom each day. She didn't know if he needed help dressing and undressing, but thought he would probably want some more fresh clothes soon, too. She'd have to mention it to Bastien, Terri decided, then allowed her mind to return to her problem.

She glanced to Vincent, who had followed her out of the kitchen. "You're sure you can't think of anything special or specific you'd like to snack on?»

The man gave a desultory shrug. "You smell good enough to eat.»

Terri laughed and shook her head. His flirting was kind of nice. And she was sure he was basically harmless. Unlike his cousin, who didn't flirt but lulled a girl into a false sense of security by talking about this and that and life in general for days on end, fascinating and amusing her with tales of past antics and present life, until her jaws ached from smiling so much and laughing so often. Bastien hadn't passed a single flirtatious comment since her arrival, leaving her to simply enjoy his company until, boom! He took her by surprise by suddenly grabbing and kissing her with an ardor that had brought her own passions to abrupt and startling life.

Passions she hadn't even known she had, Terri admitted unhappily, moving back into the kitchen to check the contents of the fridge. Bastien was definitely the more dangerous of the two men. At least to her heart.

Bastien listened idly to the chatter on the phone, his mind wandering to Terri and their shared kiss. She'd tasted of the strawberry smoothies she'd been drinking, sweet and delicious. That kiss-while far too brief, thanks to those squawking birds-had been potent. Bastien had quite forgotten himself. He'd been right there, in front of the museum where anyone might have seen, but he didn't care. He'd have liked to continue forgetting himself, too-and would have, if not for those stupid birds.

"Damned pigeons,"he muttered.

"What pigeons?"Kate asked.

"The ones who interrupted my kissing Terri.»

"You kissed Terri?"Lucern asked.

"I told you he was falling for her, darling,"Kate said with glee.

Bastien blinked in confusion, realizing that he had somehow joined the conversation again and flowers were no longer the topic at hand. "Luc? When did you join this phone call?»

"I picked up the other phone when you put Kate on hold. It's my wedding, too,"he said by way of explanation. "Now, stop changing the subject. How was it?»

"How was what?»

"The kiss.»

"I-" Bastien paused, floundering. The kiss had been wonderful. Passionate and sweet, it had made him hunger for more. But he wasn't telling them that. He was saved from trying to figure out a response by a most unlikely source: Roberto.

"Ahem. Might we get back to the issue at hand?"The florist sounded pretty prudish all of a sudden. Gone was the drama and wailing.

"Oh, yes, Roberto. Of course."Kate sighed. "I think your idea is the best. Do you have Bastien's address?»

"What does he need my address for?"Bastien asked in dismay. What had he missed while he'd been mooning over that kiss?

"To send some sample arrangements to you so that you can take pictures of them with your digital camera and send them to Kate via e-mail,"Lucern said. "You weren't listening, were you? Mooning over Terri would be my guess.»

"I liked you better when grunting was your communication of choice,"Bastien told him grimly. He was surprised to hear a chuckle from his older brother.

"Very good,"Roberto inserted, sounding as prim as an old woman. "Yes, I wrote down the address. I'll start right now and have them delivered first thing in the morning for Mr. Argeneau to take pictures. Please, please, please choose as quickly as you can, so we can be sure to get what we need in time.»

"Yes, Roberto. I promise I will,"Kate assured him. "Either Lucern or I will check every hour to see if he's e-mailed the pictures, and we'll choose at once.»

"Good, good."Roberto took a moment to expostulate again on what a terrible tragedy this all was before saying good-bye and hanging up.

"Well,"Kate murmured once he'd gone.

"Yes, well, Bastien?"Lucern queried.

"Well, I'll be sure to send those photos to you the minute the arrangements arrive,"Bastien said quickly. "Now, I'd better get going if I want to be ready in time to take Terri to the theater tonight. Bye."He hung up before either Kate or Lucern could protest, and grinned at the fact that he'd managed to avoid the grilling he would surely have got.

Whistling softly, Bastien stood and crossed the room to the bar in the corner of his office. There were two fridges behind it: one unlocked and a smaller locked one. He unlocked the smaller fridge, retrieved a bag of blood, and relocked it. He then opened his mouth, extended his teeth, and slammed the bag into them as he walked back across the room.

Bastien checked the messages on his desk while ingesting the blood. None of them seemed to be urgent, which meant either he had some damned fine people working for him who were capable of taking care of matters on their own, or he wasn't as indispensable as he'd always thought.

Perhaps that was a good thing, Bastien thought as he tossed the now empty blood bag in the wastebasket under his desk and left his office. He said good night to Meredith, who was gathering her things in preparation for leaving, then walked to the elevator to the penthouse.

Bastien considered the night ahead as he rode upstairs. He had about an hour to get ready for the play, which was plenty of time. And he'd made late reservations at a nice little Italian restaurant not far from the theater. He hoped Terri liked Italian. As he recalled, it had always been one of his favorites back… well… a long time ago, when he still used to find food interesting.

He was debating whether they should take a taxi to the theater, or go by car, when the elevator opened onto the penthouse. A taxi, he thought, would be the better option; he really didn't want to be bothered with finding parking.

"Do you like cheese on your salad?"Terri asked as she finished slicing celery. She'd decided that salad was the smart choice to snack on: healthy, quick, and light enough to tide her over until the meal after the play; and it wouldn't leave her uncomfortably full. "Whatever you like,"was Vincent's answer. He was leaning back against the counter beside her, arms crossed over his chest, legs crossed at the ankles in a relaxed pose as he watched her work. They'd been chatting amicably about her stay so far. Vincent seemed curious to know where Bastien had been taking her, and if she was having a good time.

Terri had enthused about everything she'd seen and done, and how kind and amusing and smart Bastien was, and how he seemed to make everything more interesting, when she heard herself and realized she was gushing. She sounded pathetic-like a woman falling in love.

She'd quickly cut herself off and asked about the cheese to change the topic.

"I haven't seen Bastien like this in a long, long time.»

Vincent's announcement drew Terri's curious gaze. "Like what?»

"Happy.»

Terri felt a leap of hope and excitement, but quickly stifled it. Ducking her head, she turned her attention back to what she was doing. "Oh?»

"Yes. We were a lot younger then. Practically boys compared to now."There was an irony in his tone Terri didn't understand, but she forgot all about it when he added, "And he was in love.»

Those words had the oddest effect on Terri. First she was hit by shock. That was followed by a twinge of pain in the vicinity of her heart. Stupid reactions, the both of them, she thought faintly. A man would hardly reach Bastien's age without falling in love at least once. Terri hadn't yet asked, but she was assuming he was her age or a little older. Besides, she didn't "love"him, she assured herself, so she had no right to feel anything about his having loved before.

"That woman broke his heart,"Vincent announced. "I'd hate for you to do the same.»

Terri was so startled by the comment, and the assumptions it made in regard to Bastien's feelings, that she jerked her head around to gape at him in the middle of slicing the last bit of celery.