“It’s me.”
Jacyn.
He turned to the screen again. “Gotta catch up to you later, buddy.”
Nathanael lifted his eyebrows. “I guess I’m second fiddle to a gorgeous pair of brown eyes now, huh?”
“Yep.” Alex ended the call with a simple tap of the finger then closed his laptop. Turning towards the door, he wondered what could bring her to his room—not that he minded—considering their easy banter on the way home.
“Entrez, Jacyn.”
She walked in, looking tentatively around herself as if trying to find her orientation, even though his suite was the exact replica of hers. She was holding a silver laptop up against her chest like body armor.
As she approached, he took the time to admire her. Her hair looked damp, as if she’d wasted no time in trying out the products she’d been gifted with at the atelier earlier. Her skin still glowed, but they were now indoors, so maybe that was just his imagination. As she got closer, he was sure he could smell her, citrusy and fresh.
Again,he chided himself,imagination.
He refused to think about that kiss. He couldn’t think about it or it would mess with his mind, and if there was one thing he needed now, it was clarity. He just wanted to achieve what he had intended to by returning, and then fly home after. Then he and Jacyn could go their separate ways.
She stood at his desk, waiting almost shyly. Clearly, their kiss was having the same effect on her.
“Yes?” he prompted.
She held out her laptop like it was a serving tray of hors d’oeuvres. “My laptop died—”
“I can send Hassan into town to get you another one.”
“Well, it’s not just that. I’ve been trying to get my website up on the web, for Napturally Beautiful, you know? I just feel so fired up after visiting with Jean-Louis. I want to see the site go live, so that when I get back home, I can hit the ground running. Except…”
“Except?”
“I’m kind of crappy at web design. And the pages just keep sliding out of alignment. And the photos don’t fit right.”
He cocked his head to one side. “Where is all the material?”
“In the cloud.”
He spun his own laptop, a supercharged beast of a gaming computer, around to face her. “Log into your cloud. Let’s see what we can do.”
Four hours and two plates of sandwiches later, Jacyn was practically cheering, looking from her newly uploaded website to him in awe. “That was amazing!”
He laughed it off, almost embarrassed that something which took so little effort could make her so happy. “It’s just freshman web design, Jacyn. Don’t nominate me for any awards yet.”
“It’s perfect. It means everything to me.” She looked about to throw her arms around him and hug him, but froze, collected herself, and stepped back, eying him warily, as if touching him would once again unleash their desire.
“I promise I will help you in any way I can with your business,” he said sincerely. “You just need to ask, okay?”
She nodded vigorously. “Thank you.”
He glanced down at his screen and she took it as a hint to leave. Don’t look up,he warned himself.Don’t get ensnared again.
Things were beginning to look complicated, with this new attraction growing, but he was sure that greater intimacy between the two of them would only lead to Jacyn getting hurt. She was a woman on the rebound who had been badly hurt. The last thing he wanted to do was add to her misery. After all, he wasn’t capable of giving the kind of love a woman like her deserved.
CHAPTER 11
JACYN LIFTED HER EYES to the ceiling of the grand ballroom. The crystal in the chandeliers sprinkled light and shadow against the high ceiling and she swore it was like looking at the night sky, sprinkled with stars. Adding to the illusion of being in an open plain surrounded by forest were the tall potted saplings that reached upward.
They were in one of the grandest opera houses in Aix, and the charity ball sponsored by Alex’s family was well under way. Jacyn held a flute of champagne in one white-gloved hand and smiled down at Madeline, who was seated in an upholstered chair, wearing a hand-beaded gown that must have weighed fifty pounds, looking every inch the Dowager Countess that she was.