“Oh my god!” she shouted. Then she rolled the creamy sensation around in her mouth again. “This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever had between my lips.”
Xavier chuckled and dug his fork deeper into the velvety layers of chocolate cake from the Bubó bakery in the Gothic Quarter of the city. “That was my reaction the first time I ever had this. I assumed that even if it won an award for the best chocolate cake in the world, it was all subjective.”
Sandra brought another bite to her lips and tried to keep herself from licking every tine of the fork. That wouldn’t be polite. Then again, neither was moaning like Meg Ryan from When Harry Met Sally over cake. But she couldn’t help it. The confection was a mix of dark chocolate icy, hazelnut crunch and the richest milk chocolate ganache she’d ever had, all mixed with a flaky dough that melted in her mouth.
Relishing the bite, she waited to speak. “Let’s just say that there’s no way they had to bribe the judges to win this. I might want to live on only this if it wouldn’t result in massive vitamin deficiencies.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want that.”
She shrugged. “It might be worth it. Then again, this would go to my rear, and it’s already too round.”
Sandra flinched and set down her fork. Smooth, that doesn’t sound like fishing for compliments.
Xavier chuckled, that honey smooth voice making her inner core clench again with heat and need. It was a miracle any female execs and some male ones could concentrate around him at all. There was nothing Xavier did that wasn’t charming as hell.
He leaned forward in his chair and made a show of glancing at her hips. “I think you look just right. Some men want something a little more to hold on to. I’m only saying that…well, you don’t have to always judge yourself by the latest fashion magazine.”
Holy shit, he just complimented my ass.
Pushing a long strand of strawberry blond hair behind her ear, she nodded back at him. “I wasn’t…that was just a slip of the tongue. I got too relaxed, and I know that’s so not something a valet should say to her boss. I wasn’t trying to get you to compliment me.”
“First, today we’re just Xavier and Jules out to see my city. Second, I wanted to compliment you. I don’t know why you think you’re not pretty enough.”
“I haven’t always had the best dating experience or judgement.” Like before, with you. “Sometimes, the self-doubt creeps in. Then you add in the fact that I’m twenty-six and I don’t feel yet like I have a ‘real, grownup job,’ or at least that’s what my mom says, and sometimes I have all the nerves.”
“Don’t,” he said. “I mean, we all have things we wish we could have, and trust me…bad relationships? Name a human on the planet—one who’s not a hermit—who hasn’t had one.”
“Well…”
“Exactly.”
“You can’t possibly want anything different,” she said. “Outside of getting the union negotiations to go well this month.” She felt a bit like a voyeur or someone playing a cruel trick. She knew exactly what Xavier would have actually wanted out of his life. Was it wrong to pry it from him again for “Jules’s” benefit? “I mean, it must be nice to have everything.”
“I have a great family. I love my parents and my brother, annoying as Javier may be, very much. Granted, I may not have the swinging bachelor lifestyle as organized or under control as I thought.”
She snorted. “Not if Lisette and Carrie had anything to say about it.”
“See, then that’s a set of relationship failures. You and I, Jules, are both currently single and enjoying one of the most beautiful cities on earth.”
“No, don’t skate from this,” she prodded, covering her hand over his. “What is it that you really want, Xavier? What is it in life that makes your heart sing? You know I want to make movies. What do you want?”
“Horses,” he said, and then he rolled his eyes and corrected himself. “That didn’t come out quite right.”
She chuckled. “I think I follow. So to race, like in the Kentucky Derby?”
“No. Mother loves them. She has always had a few Arabians, whether we’ve been living in Spain or the US. She still does. I always adored riding too, and training. There’s something powerful in breaking in a bronco. I’m never happier than when I’m out there riding.”
“I guess being a CEO doesn’t give you much time for it?”
“I could delegate, but I know it would matter to Father that Javier and I keep up tradition. To be honest, even I’ll admit it, Javier is the planner behind everything, has his eyes on five- and ten-year plans. I can glad-hand, smooth out the board when they balk.”
Her face flushed. “You’re blessed with a silver tongue, huh?”
“People say that.”
She shivered, knowing full well it was true in more ways than one.
“But that’s not what I love. Maybe one day I could find someone to take the CFO or a different minor position and let Javier take my place. He’d do the best job of it, but I feel like I’d let my family down.”