own.
She didn’t know who was hungrier. All that mattered was that he was kissing her until she felt pleasure pains run through her body clear to her palms. Though she knew she couldn’t die from rapture, she felt she was on the verge.
When she moaned, he whispered, “My sentiments exactly. Your mouth tastes sweeter than any Anjou wine in existence.”
“Alex—” Her body shook with needs bursting out of control. She circled his neck with her arms in order to get closer and pressed little kisses along his jaw. While Dana couldn’t get enough of him, his hands splayed across her back, drawing her up against his chest where she felt the thud of his heart resound.
“You’re so incredibly beautiful, Dana. Help me stop before I can’t.” His breathing sounded shallow.
She hushed his lips with a kiss. “I don’t want to stop.”
He groaned. “Neither do I, but someone’s coming.”
Thinking that whoever it was was ruining the moment, she had to force herself to leave his arms. Still breathless from their passion, she turned in time to see Saskia in the distance. She walked toward them with purpose.
Of course. Who else.
“Well, hello,” Saskia said on her approach, eyeing Alex in stunned surprise that any man could be that attractive. At thirty years of age, Saskia looked good herself and knew it. She eventually tore her eyes away to stare at Dana. They looked greener than usual. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“Saskia Brusse? Please meet Monsieur Alexandre Martin, the owner of the estate. Alex, Saskia is my father’s girlfriend. She also happens to be one of the actresses in the film.”
“But my part doesn’t come until we’re in Germany which is lucky for me.”
“And what part is that?” Alex asked.
She blinked before staring at Dana. “You mean you haven’t told him?”
Dana refused to be put off by her. “We haven’t discussed the script.”
Alex shook hands with her. “I’m happy to make your acquaintance, Mademoiselle Brusse.”
“Thank you. You know, I was hoping to talk to you this morning. That’s why I drove over here with Jan this early.”
“Why did you want to see me?”
“Didn’t Dana tell you about that, either?”
“I’m afraid we’ve had other matters on our minds. Please enlighten me.”
While Dana willed her heart to stop racing, little red spots tinged Saskia’s cheeks. She didn’t like the way this conversation was going. “Jan told me Dana was staying here at the château. I wondered if I might occupy one of the rooms for the rest of the month, too. While we’re here in France I have a lot of time on my hands and this is such a beautiful place.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Alex said with a smile. “But I don’t allow anyone to live here with me except my staff. Dana is helping me put Belles Fleurs’ library in order. It’s quite a task. Since you’re acquainted with her, then you’re aware she’s an historian like her father. Both are brilliant.”
He picked up the shears. “Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have to get to work. It was nice meeting you, Mademoiselle Brusse. When the film is out, I’ll look forward to seeing it.”
Dana had never seen anyone think on his feet that fast! Poor Saskia didn’t know what had hit her. For that matter, neither did Dana…No man had ever shown her the respect or treated her the way Alex did. To defer to Dana and compliment her in front of Saskia was a new experience.
When another man might have let her sleep in the château using her sleeping bag, he’d gone out of his way to pamper her like a cherished guest. The night she’d had car trouble, he’d been there for her in an instant. He worried about her safety.
Alex was the antithesis of her father.
From the corner of her eye she noticed Saskia watching his hard-muscled body with a combination of anger at not having gotten her way and undisguised hunger. Suddenly she turned to Dana. “I saw you two before you saw me. Mixing business and pleasure can be risky.”
“As you’ve found out with Dad,” Dana drawled. “Given enough time we all live and learn. Talk to you later, Saskia.” Without staying to listen to anything else, Dana hurried up the path and around to the side entrance of the château.
Alex was already up in a tree pretty much out of sight. Although he’d only claimed that Dana was working for him to checkmate Saskia, he’d given Dana permission to rummage through the boxes on the third floor. He was wonderful!
Because of his generosity, she was determined to find out anything she could about Belle Fleurs’s history. Surely there’d come a day when Alex would want to know more. After she’d fixed the lunches, she’d go up and make an initial foray.
In the meantime she needed to keep working on his dinner for tonight. She wanted to cook him something authentically French. Yesterday she’d bought all the ingredients for it and had already done some preparations. On her way into the kitchen, she plucked her mother’s French cookbook from the pantry shelf where she’d left it. She opened it to the desired page.
Soak an oxtail, cut in joints, in cold water for several hours.
“I’ve already done that.”
Wipe with a clean cloth, and brown in butter with four onions and three carrots, coarsely chopped. When the meat is brown add two crushed cloves of garlic. Cover for two minutes, then add five tablespoons of brandy. Light this and let it burn for a moment, then add one half bottle of dry white wine, and enough bouillon so that the meat bathes in the liquid. Add salt, pepper, a bouquet garni, and cook slowly for three hours with the cover on.
In a little while she had it cooking on the stove. Next task.
Saute in butter one half pound of mushrooms, a good handful of diced fat bacon and about one dozen small onions.
She’d do that after she made the lunches and delivered them.
Later on in the afternoon she checked the recipe for more instructions.
Add the meat to this and pour over all the liquid which has been strained and from which the fat has been removed. Cover and cook for one hour more in a slow oven. The meat should be soft and the sauce unctuous without recourse to thickening with flour.
During the hour it was cooking, she hurried up the stairs. A few of the crew waved to her, but no one wanted to talk. Her dad was somewhere around, but they didn’t bump into each other. That suited her just fine considering that Alex had put Saskia’s ski jump nose out of joint. No doubt she’d already reported to Dana’s father what she’d seen in the orchard and had distorted it further.
Eager to explore, Dana took one of the side staircases to the third floor and walked the length of the château to the turret round. When she opened the door, all she saw was a sea of boxes in the musty room. Dozens and dozens of them. None were marked. Whoever had packed things up hadn’t bothered to take the time to label anything. What a shame.
She tried opening a few, but she would need a knife or scissors to do the job. Some markers to identify what was in the boxes wouldn’t hurt, either. And she’d need a chair. And some rags to clean off the dust. Tomorrow when she came up, she’d be prepared.
Once she’d returned to her bedroom, she put a change of clothes and some nightwear in a large bag she’d bought yesterday. It could hold most anything and was a lot easier to carry than a suitcase. A few toiletries and the contents of her purse and she was ready to go.
Dana stood at the top of the staircase and waited until no one was in the foyer, then she descended quickly and darted to the kitchen. It smelled good in here if she said so herself.