Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 740(@200wpm)___ 592(@250wpm)___ 493(@300wpm)
He'd ended up leading Gummy and Dougie and carrying the picnic basket while Maya led Tank and Big B. To both of their surprise, Tank had actually seemed happier. His ears had perked up slightly and Matthieu swore he nearly saw his tail wag.
But that might have been wishful thinking.
They were all good on the lead. Even Big Berry. When they arrived at the area he’d chosen for their picnic, Big B did a body wiggle as though in excitement. They secured all of the dogs and the pig before he laid out the picnic blanket.
Maya was too busy staring at the view to pay attention. “It’s like we’re the only people out here.”
“We are,” he replied.
“Are we allowed to have the dogs here? Are we allowed to be here?” she asked.
“And here my first question would be ‘is the pig allowed to be here?’”
Big Berry turned and gave him a huffy look. He swore that pig understood when they were talking about her.
Dougie let out a bark and smiled at them while Gummy stepped around delicately as though she wasn’t sure she approved of the grass she was standing on.
Tank was lying down, but he didn’t look dejected. He seemed . . . peaceful.
“Are we?” she queried again as she sat and he handed her a plate filled with food.
He’d found that it was often easier to plate up her food. If he let her get her own food, she put barely anything on her plate. It had alarmed him the first time he saw how little she’d intended on eating.
“We are,” he said. “I know the owner.”
“Someone owns this paradise?” she asked in an awed voice.
He liked that tone in her voice. He wanted to hear her speak like that when she looked at him.
Jesus.
Why did he think that?
“Yeah. I do.”
“You do?” She turned to him excitedly, nearly spilling the plate of food. “You really own this beautiful land?”
“Yep.”
“I can’t even think how amazing that must feel. To know that this is yours. But why?”
“What do you mean? And eat your food.”
“I thought you liked to just go wherever the wind took you. Why buy a piece of land if you don’t intend to live on it?”
It was something he often asked himself. He glanced around. “Because when I saw it, I knew it was meant to be mine. Even if I never lived here, it’s the closest I’ve felt to home in a long time. I grew up in the country. It didn’t look exactly like this, but I didn’t want something the same. I just wanted peace.”
“Where did you grow up?”
Did he tell her? He had no real reason to not tell her. “In the Loire Valley.”
She frowned slightly. “The Loire Valley? In France?”
Matthieu raised his eyebrows. “You’ve heard of it?”
“My mom always wanted to visit. She said it looked so beautiful and that it had all these old castles.”
“Chateaux,” he corrected.
“Oh, right. You have a French name but I wasn’t sure that you were born there since you don’t have an accent.”
“Non, je n’ai pas.”
“Wow, okay, now you sound French,” she informed him.
He had to smile. He hadn’t expected to find this conversation amusing. But that was Maya. She had a way of lightening the mood. Even when she was being serious.
“But what about your accent?”
He shrugged. “It’s easier to blend in without an accent. People remember an accent. They don’t remember a guy who sounds like everyone else.”
“Hate to break it to you but there is no way that anyone with eyes wouldn’t remember you. You’re like the sexiest, hottest guy I’ve ever met.” She put a grape in her mouth before she seemed to realize what she’d said.
Then her eyes met his and she started to choke.
He got onto his knees and pounded her back. Finally, she managed to swallow it.
“I’m good,” she said hoarsely. “I’m good.”
Matthieu grabbed a bottle of water from the basket and held it to her lips. “Small sips.”
“Well,” she said, her eyes streaming. “That was embarrassing. Can we, um, could we, um, you know . . .”
“No, I don’t know. Sip your water.”
“Forgetthateverhappened.”
He eyed her as he continued to force her to drink.
“Forget you choking?”
“That too,” she said in a hoarse voice.
He raised his eyebrows. “Forget that you called me the hottest, sexiest guy you’ve ever met? Now, why would I want to do that?”
Maya groaned and closed her eyes.
“Don’t be embarrassed.”
She felt something brush over her cheeks and opened her eyes to find him wiping her tears away with a tissue. Then he held the tissue to her nose. That finally spurred her into action and she grabbed the tissue, blowing her nose.
“No?” she queried.
“No. That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, why would I want to forget?”
“I could say a lot nicer things to you.” She slammed her hand over her mouth as he chuckled.