Vanquished (The Encounter #3)(31)
“It is, isn’t it?” He seemed thoughtful for a moment before roving his eyes about, as if he were seeing it for the first time. “My father gifted my mother with this place. She always loved it here around Provence. She used to take me here when she was tired of parties and galas. She loved to bake and always had fresh pastries every afternoon for me to snack on. She truly was an amazing woman. She was elegantly simple, and I think this house truly portrays that about her.”
His revelation of his mom touched me.
“She must’ve been a lovely woman; she surely sounds like one.” He had never mentioned his mother, so for him to give me a little token of his fond memory made me feel all sorts of things.
He made a pensive face then glanced at me with unreadable eyes. “She was. She truly was.”
There was an inclination that he might have wanted to pursue the subject, but it was something I couldn’t afford. Therefore, I took the initiative of asking where the kitchen was.
The large, rustic wooden table that could easily accommodate people of twenty or so sat right before a wall of windows that overlooked some sort of patio that had a massive, rocky fountain that expanded to a beautiful pond. With just enough lighting to accentuate its beauty, the calming scenic piece of heaven truly was breathtaking.
“Wow,” I gasped with pure delight. “This is so amazing.” How could one leave this place? I had only been here less than an hour, and I already felt attached to the house. How odd was that?
Hugo gave a soft chuckle. “I’ve made tomato soup, cheese omelet, roasted potatoes, and I just heated a loaf of bread in the oven. I hope that’ll satisfy your hunger.”
“Well, that’s quite impressive. You didn’t have to go through the trouble, but thank you all the same, Hugo.” It was moments like these that made me fall for him even more. He was just too much of everything. It was sinful.
He raked a hand through his hair before pulling a chair out for me to sit on. “Why don’t you take a seat, and I’ll bring the food over. Would you like red or white to go with your meal?” he asked just as I took the seat, feeling somewhat of a fraud that this man was being so nice to me when I was hiding the biggest secret of all.
Quickly shaking my head, I softly declined his offer and opted for tea, instead. Hopefully, chamomile would soothe the tension in my body and the lingering feeling of nausea lurking in the background, waiting for the opportunity to make me suffer a little.
It was idiotic really, but I couldn’t help feeling as though I was a girl on the first date with her crush. For me to even compare it to that was beyond moronic, but the feeling surely fit. He had gone overboard on serving me, and it was beyond endearing.
Although he wasn’t truly hungry, he obliged himself as he casually recalled his fond memories, his fascination with fast cars, and how he had grown up basically all by himself after his mother died and his father withdrew. He had been forced to figure things out on his own.
As he went on with his spiel, I stayed mum. There was a satisfying factor to simply watching and listening to him talk. I knew I was in love with the man, but each and every time I was reminded of it, I would be bombarded with emotions so profound it never failed to make my heart ache. What made it worse was the fact that I had to hide it, pretend as though this man didn’t mean the world to me. It was unreciprocated, but it didn’t alter the fact that I was irrevocably, madly crazy about him.
“Care for any dessert? There are dark chocolate éclairs and raspberry mousse in the fridge if you’d like.” His eyes lingered on my face, thoughtful.
Blushing, I reluctantly declined his offer. “I already ate too much. I don’t think my tummy can take any more food. I’ll be as fat as a house if I don’t watch what I eat.” Fuck, that was a close reference to my condition. If I knew any better, I would shut the f*ck up!
“Even if you gained weight, I doubt it’d tarnish your beauty, Isobel.”
Damn it to hell. Why did he have to say such gushy things to me? Why couldn’t he go back to that angry, barking madman of a few hours ago? I could easily protect myself from that, but from this? It was too hard.
Not wanting to dwell on such a tricky subject, I feigned a yawn as my eyes scouted around the walls, hoping to find a clock to tell the time. “It’s getting late. By the way, thank you for supper. It was really delicious.” It was. I wasn’t sure if my renewed appetite was because the food was simply superb or the fact that he had specifically made it for me. Whatever it was, I knew I would have a good night’s sleep tonight, something I dearly looked forward to after sampling how divine the bed was earlier on. But before I could get on my merry way, I knew I had to address the underlying current that was going on between us and what had happened tonight.
“Hugo, I just want to say that none of this … You shouldn’t blame Julien, because I was the one who reached out to him. I’m sorry if you think we betrayed you, but I thought it was over between us.”
His jaw locked before he took a deep breath, throwing me a look that made my tear open inside. “One night, you were telling me that you would fight for me, and the next thing I know, you’re his girlfriend. What kind of bullshit is that, Isobel?”
“I made a mistake. I thought …” I paused as I prayed for the next words that would come out of my mouth. “I’m in love with him.”