Drive Me Crazy (26 page)

“We played poker last night. When you gamble you only have to beat the dealer, not the world.”

“Are you telling me I should settle for what you’re offering?”

“I’m suggesting that for once in your life you trust your instincts, act on your impulses, and stop analyzing your every move.” He tucked two fingers beneath her chin and tilted her face so she had to look up at him. “What do you really want, J’aime? Go after it.”

A tornado of temptation swirled in her soul, a sensual power pressing in all her dark places. It would be so easy to give in, wrap her arms around him and fly off to France. But it would be a fleeting happiness, followed by embarrassing depths of despair when he tired of the situation. Her sister already thought she sabotaged herself in relationships, and this was worse than ever because she knew better going in.

The doors swung open behind them. Jaime jumped back, not wanting anyone to notice the intimate position. Not that the happy couple could take their eyes off one another. Joy wafted from them, permeating even the air.

Jaime took in the moment and realized her mind had never been so clear, so certain of what she wanted for her future. She wanted that moment of complete happiness without any taint of doubt. It might not be easy to find, but from where she stood it looked more than worth any struggle.

Xavier went down the hall and opened the doors to the reception. Jaime leaned close to her sister. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Allison’s voice was like a song. “I am wonderful.”

Jaime couldn’t help but smile as she followed behind the pair into the reception hall. The palpable excitement of the guests took her mind from her own troubles, letting her enjoy the way love and tradition flooded the room.

The music started up, the familiar melody moving people to the beat. She gave herself over to the dance, moving in a circle with the swarm of people who had hoisted Allison and Trent into the air on separate chairs. To the sounds of
Hava Nagila
, joyfulness spurred the group into the traditional
Hora
, the newlyweds seeming to float magically above it all.

She gave herself up to the music, to the waves of emotions passed from person to person with the slightest touch. She danced until her feet grew numb and her mother finally dragged her from the dance floor to eat.

Her plate had barely touched the table before Bev and Barb commandeered the seats on either side of her, looking like they’d been on the wrong end of a fight with the accessories rack.

“We’ve been trying to talk to you since last night.” Bev’s nasal whine made Jaime tense. She quickly took a bite of the pistachio-crusted salmon with mango salsa her sister had been raving about since she set the menu for the reception in June. The heavenly swirl of flavor gave her strength to put up with what the hens were sure to say next.

“What’s the story with Casanova?” Barb leaned closer, but didn’t lower her voice. “Is he single?”

“Casanova was Italian. Xavier is French.” The fresh herbs in the wild rice
pilaf
really popped. No wonder Allison had been so excited about the food. Even the green beans were divine.

“Is it true he’s a millionaire?” Bev had the nerve to swipe a green bean.

“I don’t know.” With the way he handed out cars like most people handed out candy on Halloween, probably. But Xavier was more than his bank balance and she wasn’t going to reduce him for anyone.

“But he owns Marie-Chloe, right? A pair of their heels is four hundred dollars. I wonder if he’d send us some. Did you ask?”

Not once. Jaime took another bit of the salmon and pondered which way to go with this. Bev and Barb screamed tramp in a dozen languages so she doubted he’d take them up on anything they offered. Still, she didn’t care to watch. Carla hadn’t bought it when she made him gay. He needed a girlfriend.

“I doubt his fiancé would like that.” It took a healthy gulp of dry champagne to drown the niggling thought of why she wanted to keep him from the clutches of the cousins.

The girls slumped in their seats, but then Bev perked up. “But she was okay with him traveling with you?”

They were pushy, not stupid. “She designs the shoes.”

By the nods of their heads Jaime guessed they bought it. At least enough for her to distract them with the rundown of all she’d discovered during her turn at speed dating at the rehearsal dinner. Bev and Barb should benefit from the dozen pre-screened eligible bachelors.

Before she’d finished debriefing them, or finished her plate, Xavier laid a hand on her bare shoulder. Every cell in her body electrified and her body temperature rose. Jaime put a chill in her voice, though inside she was melting.

“Do you need something?” Much to her chagrin, Bev and Barb stared up at him like he was the messiah.

“It’s time.”

“For?” Looking into his green eyes, she had a fleeting thought that self-control and moderation were extremely overrated. Good thing the man was skipping town tomorrow.

“It’s their wedding, but we seem to be doing all the work.” He tilted his head towards where the band played. “The fathers are going to say something, then it is our turn.”

Right. Her maid-of-honor speech. Add that to the list of things she’d planned to do with all the free time she’d have before the wedding. When had Xavier had time to write his?

The music ended and Trent’s father appeared in front of the stage as the dance floor cleared. While he thanked everyone for coming, Xavier and Jaime made their way to him. Allison’s father took the microphone next, and to Jaime’s surprise put his arm around her as he started to speak.

“This is a hard day for a father, to watch your daughter leave your family to start her own.” He paused, clearing the tears from his voice. “We want to say thank you to Trent, for making this easier on us all. There is an old
midrash
, a Jewish tale, about how once God had spent seven days making the earth he needed to keep busy. And so, like so many Jews do when they’re bored, he took up matchmaking. He still matches up brides and grooms, making sure everyone finds the one who fills their soul. And so today I’d like everyone to raise their glass in celebration of some of God’s best work.”

The clamor of applause gave Jaime cover enough to let out a whimper of emotion. Her stepfather gave her shoulder a squeeze before he took his seat.

“I can’t believe I’m supposed to follow that.” Xavier’s charm permeated the crowd on a whispered laugh. “We’ve thanked the guests and we’ve thanked Trent, but as his best friend I can assure you, he’s getting the better end of this deal. This is Allison’s wedding, we were all just invited to it, including Trent.”

Jaime hoped the chuckles of the rest of the crowd concealed hers. Emotion ran high in the room and they all needed the mood lightened.

“Before I left, I asked my own father about marriage, about finding that one person who completes you. He told me it was mostly luck and a little bit of trusting what you feel. I didn’t understand what he meant until I came here.”

The blood slowed in her veins, wondering if he was saying he’d found something in her, or was he just painting a pretty picture for the guests?

“Allison, I always knew Trent would marry you, even before I met you at the airport in Paris. Before I met you, before he found you wandering on a college campus, I knew he would find someone who loved his enthusiasm and his charm, his loyalty and his compassion. Like your father said, you were made for one another, but more than that, you were made
only
for one another.” He lifted his glass high in the air, the guests mimicking his every move, even echoing when he said, “
Mazel Tov.
”

He handed Jaime the microphone and she took it with a shaky hand. No wonder everyone cried at weddings. The air was thick with happiness. It overcame even the most stoic.

As overwhelmed as she felt by the day and by her feelings for the man to her right, she knew her desire to have one of these moments for herself would be impossible to quench. She had to find someone willing to share more than an apartment and vacations with her. She needed a life, with or without Xavier Moreau.

Her eyes drifted over the crowd of mostly familiar faces, lighting on the happy couple. “You know, I always wanted an older brother. I never thought my baby sister would bring him to me, but we’re all glad she did.”

Jaime stepped forward, moving so all she could see were Allison and Trent. “Allison, even though you’re younger, I look up to you so much. I am so proud of you for keeping your head, even when you lost your heart. You’ve showed me about love. When I think of what love looks like, this moment will forever be in my mind. But I am still your older sister, and so I think I can’t get out of offering you some advice.

“Always make the most of what you are given. When you take off your wedding ring to wash your face at night, remember how it felt the first time he slid it on your finger. When you reach for the flannel pajamas, remember how much thought you put into what you would wear tonight, and leave the flannel in the drawer.”

The laughter from the guests kept tears from her eyes. “And someday you’ll be able to hold your love for one another in your arms, and remember that love is the most precious gift of all.” She barely made it through the sentence before her throat closed.

Xavier slipped the microphone from her fingers, finishing the toast for her with the help of the crowd. “
L’chayim!
”

Chapter Twenty

“I’ll kill him, Xav. I swear I will!” His sister Natalie spit the words faster than driving rain. . In his inebriated state, it took a second for his ear to get tuned back to French. “You need to get home as soon as possible or I can’t be held responsible for my actions. Murder is completely justifiable.”

“How are you doing?” Xavier deadpanned and cleared his throat, sinking into the sofa in his hotel suite. It hurt his head to do the mental arithmetic to figure out what time it was in Paris. Ten in the morning on a Monday, too early for anything he couldn’t fix by the end of the day as long as he got some sleep between now and then.

“Did you hear me? He just came into the auditions and refused every single model three agencies sent us. I’m telling you, he’s gone mad. He refuses to move on. I can’t deal with this now. Three weeks until fashion week. That is all I have.”

“What did he say was wrong with the models?” He tucked the phone between his neck and shoulder, propping his feet on the coffee table in front of him and toeing off the wingtips.

“They aren’t starving. I publicly committed to using healthy models this year. You know that. The entire couture line is designed for it. We agreed that was where we were taking Marie-Chloe. If you don’t back me up our entire show will be ruined.”

Goodness, Natalie talked fast. He closed his eyes and rubbed at them, wishing he hadn’t thought drinking would help after Jaime ducked out of the reception early. He wanted to talk with her, get her to agree to meet with him again, if not in Paris than in New York, but she’d disappeared as soon as she caught the damned bouquet.

“Xavier! You have to fix this.”

“Why?” He rubbed his temples, waiting for the solution to come to him the way it always did.

Natalie groaned. “I knew it. You are just like him. If you think letting Marie-Chloe stagnate is some kind of homage to her, you are wrong. Staying on the edge is the best way to honor her memory, and if you think about it you’ll realize that.”

“What are you talking about, I’m just like him?”

“When you said you were taking this trip, I hoped it was your way of starting to move past her death. You’ve refused to make any new memories since she died, and so has he, and I for one draw the line. You can mess up your own lives, but Marie-Chloe is bigger than both of you, and I won’t let you turn it into a shrine.
Maman
would roll over in her grave.”

His head pounded at the tirade, wondering where it all was coming from. He and Natalie had agreed to make this a transition year for everyone. He was taking over the reins on the business side and she was coming into her own as lead designer. Though, to be fair, their mother had been sick for years, and more and more had fallen on Natalie. There had been a slow evolution in the designs from the straight, simple cuts and fabrics his mother favored to Natalie’s more fluid look.

“Do you know which models you’d like to book? Did you get that far?”

“Yes, but I’d need to do call-backs. Some of the models might not want to work with us. He tore into me, and then into them.”

“He yelled at you in front of models?” That would make the tabloids. Hell, there would likely be flashbulbs to blind him the second he arrived home.

“Models, designers and the agents. You need to come home. It will make the afternoon papers.”

“I’ll move up my flight, but I can’t make it in today.” He’d have to call and get the jet here, get the car to Jaime and say goodbye. “Hire your models, steer clear of him and stop worrying about Marie-Chloe. I won’t let anything happen to the company.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. Things must change around here, Xav. We have to make some bold statements to ensure we maintain our reputation. And with the two of you refusing to accept
–
”

“Hold on. Stop grouping us together. I said you could have your models, and I said I’d deal with the press. You have to understand where he is coming from, what he lost.”