Revealing Us (Inside Out #3)(22)

“Yes, ine. Good, actually. Katie is wonderful. She’s trying to ind me a tutor and then calling me back.”

He scrubs his jaw, an amused look on his face. “And you thought I was a control freak?” He saunters toward me. “She’s in another country, trying to line up your French lessons.”

I smirk as he stops in front of me. “You are a control freak.”

“So are you,” he says, ofering me his hand, then pulls me to my feet and wraps me in his embrace. “Which makes your giving it to me all the more meaningful.”



The mix of hot ire and tender warmth in his eyes has my ingers lexing on the hard wall of his chest and my body relaxing into his. “Just remember, control is like a fortune cookie saying.”

“A fortune cookie saying,” he repeats, looking amused.

“Right. It’s meaningful only when you add ‘in bed’ to the end.”

He laughs, and it’s such a sexy laugh for all kinds of reasons.

Yes, it’s deep and masculine and warm and wonderful, but more than anything, it’s relaxed. It’s comfortable. It’s a part of who we’re becoming together.

“Let’s go take a shower,” he says. “I’ll show you your closet.

It’s in the back of the bathroom and in desperate need of a whole lot of illing, because that little suitcase you brought isn’t going to manage.”

He’s right. I packed fast and horribly. “I’m all for seeing the closet, but Katie’s going to call back. I can’t get into the shower until she calls.”

His phone rings and Chris looks at the screen and sighs.

“Thanks to one of our nosy neighbors, word has spread I’m back in the city. This is a major donor for my charity, who sits on one of the board of directors for one of the local museums.”

“Take it,” I encourage him. “I need to ind my phone for when Katie calls back, anyway.” I kiss him and head into the bathroom, loving the normalcy of the moment. We’re just a couple sharing a bedroom and a bathroom, getting ready to shower, eat, and go to bed. Well . . . we also were almost killed by a madwoman who’s accusing me of murder, not to mention that I confronted the manipulative, gorgeous ex named Amber.

But I banish those events and focus on the here and now. I’ve had too little normalcy in my life, and I think Chris has, too. We need this.

Finding my purse, I dig out my phone. Satisied that it has enough charge, I drain the cold water from the tub, then head toward the closet to check it out. The sound of Chris speaking French lifts in the air, the words rolling sexily of his tongue. I sigh. He alone could make me love this new language.

I lip on the light to ind a completely empty closet the size of a small bedroom, with rows of built-in shelves and shoe hold-ers that make my little suitcase full of stuf a joke. My cell phone rings and it’s Katie. I sit down on a cushion-topped bench.

“Okay, you’re all set,” she says. “Chantal will be there at ten in the morning, and you’ll adore her. She’s actually graduated college and is starting a new job after the holidays, so this is perfect.”

“Ten tomorrow,” I repeat. “That’s fast.”

“I thought you’d need something to keep your mind of what’s going on back here. And you aren’t going to like being in a city where you can’t communicate with people. Sure, there are some who speak English, but very poorly. And I know you’re going to want to be involved in the art community and, before you blink, the various charity events Chris is involved with over the holidays.”

“Oh, yes. I’m excited to be a part of the art community and the charity events.”

“Of course you are. And charities will be a perfect outlet for your energy, since you can’t work there.”

My heart stutters. “What do you mean, I can’t work?”

“You’d need to have gotten a work visa before you left, and it sounds like you didn’t have time for that; and getting a work permit approved is nearly impossible in France. The job market is poor, the art world competitive, and they’re all about keeping the borders restricted. Of course you have Chris as an insider, but all the red tape still takes time.”

How had I not thought of this? Of course I need a work visa, and now I know that is nearly impossible to get.

Katie continues, “It’s going to be inconvenient to have to ly back after ninety days, then turn around and return for the Louvre Christmas event Chris always does, but I’m self-ishly happy about that. We’d like to see the two of you while you’re here.” Her voice softens. “I worry about Chris, Sara, and seeing the two of you together makes me happy. I wasn’t sure he’d ever let himself connect with another person fully again.”

“Again?” I ask.

“He’s had a lot of loss in his life, Sara. It’s not left him unaf-fected.”

I draw in a pained breath. “Yes. I know.”

“Take care of him, honey. Don’t let him convince you he’s so tough he doesn’t need it.”

“I don’t plan to. You have my word.”

The rest of the conversation is a haze, and when I hang up with Katie, I’m not sure what I feel. I’m thankful to be here, but I wish Chris had prepared me for the work situation.