It was all for Margot’s benefit, her brain tried to remind her, but Skye’s other senses drowned out that sensible voice of reason, focusing instead on the way his hand had curved possessively over her knee, his thumb moving back and forth over her exposed flesh, so the kiss alone was not enough. They were seated on a terrace, for God’s sake, and all she could think about was wanting more of this, so much more.
“Good morning.” Margot’s voice cut through the kiss—barely. Skye pulled apart, eyes wide, cheeks flushed, heart racing. She was glad Matthieu couldn’t hear the frantic racing.
“Margot,” he drawled, pulling his eyes away from Skye with a magnificent bit of acting. He seemed genuinely annoyed at the interruption. “Good morning.”
His aunt’s gaze slid from Matthieu to Skye, her lips pursed in something close to a scowl. Disapproval was obvious. Skye’s heart kicked fast for a different reason now.
“Your grandfather is asking for you.”
Matthieu frowned. “We’ll go to him soon—,”
“Just you,” she clarified, forcing an arctic smile to her face. “Something to do with the business.”
It was obviously a lie. Matthieu took another drink of his coffee. “I see.”
“I can keep Skye company,” Margot responded with another icy smile.
“I’m sure she can entertain herself,” Matthieu responded.
But Skye had agreed to come here and play the part of his fiancé, and she was being paid an enormous sum to convince everyone that they were happy and in love. Her personal feelings for this woman were beside the point, so too the conversation she’d overheard the night before. She had to do her part to act as a genuinely happy and in love woman might.
“That’s fine, mon amour,” she responded, reaching beneath the table and squeezing his leg. “I’d love the opportunity to ask your aunt all sorts of questions about the naughty things you did as a boy,” she said with an exaggerated wink and a voice that sounded, somehow, mirthful.
He reached for her hand, squeezing it as if to ask if she was certain.
“There’s a stunning garden over there I didn’t quite get around to exploring this morning. Shall we walk through it now?”
“These shoes are suede. No. There shall be no walking. Let’s have a champagne in the sunroom.” The aunt’s tight smile basically communicated that the case was closed.
Matthieu opened his mouth to say something and Skye truly thought he was going to chastise his aunt, so she spoke first. “That sounds delightful.”
“You and I will wander the garden soon, mon cherie. It is better with a lover, in any event.”
“Speaking from personal experience, Matthieu?” Margot simpered, so Skye had to bite back a genuine gasp of surprise. Matthieu had described this relationship as complex, but to Skye, it seemed far more antagonistic.
“Play nice, aunt. My fiancé might be all that is good in the world but do not forget, she is engaged to marry me. If you hurt her, you hurt me.”
Margot lifted a perfectly sculpted brow. “I stand warned.”
“I’m glad.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Skye’s cheek. “Good luck.”
She angled her face to his, as though to kiss him back. “I’ve wrangled crocodiles. I’ll be fine.”
He laughed softly, standing and shaking his head. “I’ll see you soon.”
Skye watched him walk away for just as long as she thought a besotted fiancé might, and then a little while longer, because what that man did to jeans should have come with a health warning, and then she stood, taking her place at Margot’s side.
“This house is beautiful,” she said conversationally, as they walked over the terrace, towards the glass doors that led to a sunlit room framed by windows and stunning paintings.
“Yes. Oh, darling, wipe yourself off before stepping inside,” Margot said, nodding towards Skye’s chest. Belatedly, she recalled the crumbs that had fallen. Heat flushed her cheeks as she wiped quickly, so the crumbs scattered into the wind and onto the paved floor.
Margot watched, her expression inscrutable, then pushed through the doors into the sunny room. An intercom was mounted on the wall to the right; Margot spoke into it, requesting, in French, a bottle of champagne and some fruit. Then, with a thoughtful look at Skye, she tacked on, “And some napkins.”
Skye had felt like a country bumpkin when she’d first moved to Sydney, and there’d been some bitchy girls at school who’d teased her for her lack of sophistication, but it was nothing compared to this. Margot was so incredibly overt in her disapproval, so scathing! It was almost impossible to believe she had given birth to the kind, funny and friendly Fleur.
“How long have you known my nephew?”
Skye’s heart ratcheted up a beat. “Straight to it?” She prompted with the appearance of calm, as she walked across the room and took a seat in a sumptuous armchair. She looked relaxed, but truly, she was poised for a fight. She felt one was coming, whether poised or not, and so she prepared mentally.