JК
Burnt Offerings :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 35 из 286To refuse it meantyou were angry or distrustful. It still seemed too intimate for public consumption to me, but I'd seen him use it with others and seen fights start with a refusal. It was an old gesture just coming back into vogue. In fact, it was becoming a chic greeting among entertainers and others of the same ilk. Better than kissing the air near someone's face, I guess.
The maitre d' held my chair. I waved him off. It wasn't feminism, but lack of grace. I never managed to be scooted under a table without the chair banging my legs or being so far from the table I had to finish scooting forward on my own. So the heck with it, I'd do it myself.
Jean-Claude watched me struggle into my chair, smiling, but he didn't offer to help. I'd finally broken him of that at least. He sat down in his own chair with a graceful fall. It was an almost foppish movement, but he was like a cat. Even at rest there was the potential of muscle under skin, a physical presence that was utterly masculine. I used to think it was vampire trickery. But it was him, just him.
I shook my head.
"What's wrong, ma petite ?"
"I felt pretty spiffy until I saw you. Now I feel like one of the ugly stepsisters."
He tut-tutted at me. "You know you are lovely, ma petite . Shall I feed your vanity by telling you how much?"
"I wasn't fishing for compliments." I gestured at him and shook my head again. "You look amazing tonight."
He smiled, dipping his head to one side so his hair swept forward. " Merci, ma petite ."
"Is the hair permed straight?" I asked. "It looks great," I added hastily, and it did, but I hoped it wasn't as permanent as a perm. I loved his curls.
"If it was, what would you say?"
"If it was, you'd have just said so. Now you're teasing me."
"Would you mourn the loss of my curls?" he asked.
"I could return the favor," I said.
He widened his eyes in mock horror. "Not your crowning glory, ma petite, mon Dieu ." He was laughing at me, but I was used to it.
"I didn't know you could get linen that tight," I said.
His smile widened. "And I did not know you could hide a gun under such a. . slender dress."
"As long as I don't hug anybody, they'll never know."
"Very true."
A waiter came and asked if we wanted drinks. I ordered water and Coke. Jean-Claude declined. If he could have ordered anything, it would have been wine.
Jean-Claude brought his chair over to sit almost beside me.
The maitre d' held my chair. I waved him off. It wasn't feminism, but lack of grace. I never managed to be scooted under a table without the chair banging my legs or being so far from the table I had to finish scooting forward on my own. So the heck with it, I'd do it myself.
Jean-Claude watched me struggle into my chair, smiling, but he didn't offer to help. I'd finally broken him of that at least. He sat down in his own chair with a graceful fall. It was an almost foppish movement, but he was like a cat. Even at rest there was the potential of muscle under skin, a physical presence that was utterly masculine. I used to think it was vampire trickery. But it was him, just him.
I shook my head.
"What's wrong, ma petite ?"
"I felt pretty spiffy until I saw you. Now I feel like one of the ugly stepsisters."
He tut-tutted at me. "You know you are lovely, ma petite . Shall I feed your vanity by telling you how much?"
"I wasn't fishing for compliments." I gestured at him and shook my head again. "You look amazing tonight."
He smiled, dipping his head to one side so his hair swept forward. " Merci, ma petite ."
"Is the hair permed straight?" I asked. "It looks great," I added hastily, and it did, but I hoped it wasn't as permanent as a perm. I loved his curls.
"If it was, what would you say?"
"If it was, you'd have just said so. Now you're teasing me."
"Would you mourn the loss of my curls?" he asked.
"I could return the favor," I said.
He widened his eyes in mock horror. "Not your crowning glory, ma petite, mon Dieu ." He was laughing at me, but I was used to it.
"I didn't know you could get linen that tight," I said.
His smile widened. "And I did not know you could hide a gun under such a. . slender dress."
"As long as I don't hug anybody, they'll never know."
"Very true."
A waiter came and asked if we wanted drinks. I ordered water and Coke. Jean-Claude declined. If he could have ordered anything, it would have been wine.
Jean-Claude brought his chair over to sit almost beside me.