Graduation and Gifts (Untouchable Book 8) Heather Long (reading tree .TXT) 📖

He knows a lot about the city and has a good eye for out of the way places. The place he sent me to for supper last night was divine. He also recommended a great café for us right near the banks of the River Seine so you can have your first truly French moment.”

“I love you,” I declared.

She wore a satisfied expression. “I know.”

“Hey now,” Jake warned as he climbed in with us. “Remember, you love us too.”

“I would never forget it,” I promised. I loved the fact there was real laughter and a gleam of teasing in his eyes. He’d never quite lost that growl of possessiveness, and I wasn’t complaining. But I was dying to roam Paris and to catch up with Rachel on everything.

The café was everything Rachel said it was, and she only teased me a little about being so goggle-eyed at everything. She could afford to be cool and erudite, she’d been here for ten days already. Probably got her crazy American tourist out of her blood, but not only had I never been to Paris before, I’d never left the country.

I mean, my first trip out of Texas had been Colorado, then Florida. Technically, I’d been to Fiji, and we’d landed in Kuala Lumpur and Dubai, but we hadn’t gotten off the plan in the last two. And the private island had been a heavenly paradise, but this was…

“Champagne,” Rachel ordered, along with a series of appetizers.

I apologized to the waiter and glanced at the menu. They had escargot but no one, no matter how French or urbane it was, could convince me a snail was more than a snail. Nope.

Not happening.

The menu was extensive, so I added beef burgundy to my order and a couple more appetizers.

We were seated outside. Notre Dame was across the way, and I was torn on where to look. The Seine. The shops. The cathedral.

So many places.

The waiter returned with the champagne, and Jake hooked his foot against my chair as Coop tapped my foot with his from the other side of the table. Archie looked more amused than anything else, and like me, Ian studied our surroundings. There was a man with a guitar playing a few shops down, and if I strained, I could just make out the music.

Everything was just so perfect.

“So,” I said, glancing at Rachel and trying to rein in my wandering attention. “Tell me everything.”

“Everything?” she dared me.

“Yes,” I told her as the waiter returned, this time with cheese boards. I could probably eat everything on the table, so I settled for a drink of the champagne that tickled my nose. “Everything.”

“Well, the first night I was here,” Rachel said, “I was exhausted from the flight. I couldn’t sleep the whole way over—which reminds me, you totally need to read this new series by Lucy Smoke, it’s dark as fuck, but I adore Avalon. And Dean has piercings…”

The guys groaned, and Rachel smirked. I almost snorted my champagne, but saved myself. Just barely.

“Anyway,” she continued, utterly in her element. “I found a little café not that far from the hostel I was staying at, then settled myself in for the next twenty-four hours. I basically slept, read, found something to eat, then slept some more until my body clock was on the schedule here. A really cute guy named Hans was in the room across the hall, and we hit it off.”

“You picked up a guy your first night here?” Coop asked, almost looking impressed.

Rachel rolled her eyes. “No, I wasn’t his type. However, he did show me where a few of the best bars were for picking up girls and guys, so we spent a couple of days seeing the sites.” She held out her phone for me, and by sites, she meant sights. There were some beautiful girls and guys scattered amongst the shots from around Paris.

When I found a shot of Mathieu, I glanced up. “You really did run into him.”

“I did, at the Louvre of all places—see the Mona Lisa there in the background? He was there working on a university project with his girlfriend. That’s her in the next shot.”

“Oh, she’s pretty.”

“She is,” Rachel said, popping a cracker in her mouth. “By the way, I have to tell you—Mathieu…you might have missed out, just a little.”

I widened my eyes, and the conversation among the guys ceased. “Excuse me?” Jake growled.

“He and his girlfriend invited me over for the night.” Rachel grinned wider. “Just saying—the boy can do more with his tongue than speak French.”

“Rachel.” Laughter exploded out of me, and I stared at her. She looked like the cat with the cream. Why not? She was single, free, and exploring her sexuality to her heart’s content.

“You’re not mad, right?” Rachel hesitated, and for the first time in a long time, I caught a little worry in those dark eyes of hers.

“Not even a little bit. I’m happy for you.” I just wished…

“I’m not you, Frankie,” she said with a flash of relief in her expression. “I haven’t found the loves of my life hiding in plain sight.”

And that made me kind of sad.

Jake grumbled, and I elbowed him, then handed him my empty champagne glass with a pointed look. He gripped my nape as he took the glass from my fingers, and his mouth closed over mine. The heated kiss demanded a response, and I licked and sucked at his tongue until he settled.

“You good, Captain Caveman?” Rachel asked as I caressed Jake’s beard. He’d let it all grow in, and it was well past the prickly stage.

“I’m fine,” he said, not looking away from me. “You don’t feel like you missed out, do you, Baby Girl?”

Jake had not liked Mathieu. Not even a little. Neither he nor Archie had even made an attempt. But that was all water under a very far away bridge. “Not even a little,” I assured him.

“Good,” he grunted, then frowned. “You know…”

“Jake, no explanations are necessary.”

“She knows we hated Frenchy,”