Jezebel Read Free Page B

flowed. It was magical here. Late spring in Paris offered nothing less.
    Celeste was not short by any standard, but from what she could tell the man stood at least six inches taller than her five-foot-eight-in-heels height. His broad shoulders were encased in an expensive dove gray suit that tapered down to narrow hips. His dirty blond hair hung mussed, tucked behind his ears. Tan and lean and athletic, his body looked damn near perfect with clothes on. She could only wonder what it looked like without them. Wealth, authority and virility rolled off him in great waves. His strong jaw added to the overall appeal. Green eyes landed on hers and she froze in her spot. The light captured them, making them appear to twinkle. Her breath faltered and heat warmed her cheeks. She darted her eyes to the floor quickly after she realized she was blatantly staring at the handsome stranger.
    “He’s a looker,” Mara pretend-panted in her ear. Celeste jumped at the sudden break in the spell of the evening. “Didn’t mean to scare you, Cece.” Mara’s arm linked through Celeste’s at the elbow as she laughed.
    “I was just . . .”
    “Fantasizing. Like every other straight gal in this place,” Mara cut her off. Celeste slumped her shoulders as the truth of her friend’s statement washed over her. She was pretty, but there were far more attractive women here tonight to catch his eye. Plus, she wasn’t looking. She had two more years left at university and a career to map out.
    “Who is he?” Celeste asked.
    “That happens to be the Gabriel Fontaine,” Mara answered.
    “The biochemist?” she squeaked. She’d wondered about him. Her parents had made him an offer to work for them upon his finishing graduate school. They were still waiting on an answer three months later. He was one of the most coveted up-and-comers in the biochemistry field.
    “The very one.”
    “I thought he’d look older and less hot. Aren’t biochemists supposed to be extra nerdy and unattractive?” Celeste joked.
    “They are. He defies logic.” Mara laughed. “Come on, we need drinks!” Mara tugged on Celeste until she finally moved her feet. The hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention as they made their way to the bar. She felt as if she was being watched and she blushed thinking about whom it might be. She could feel his green-eyed gaze burning into her back.
    “How’re your parents?” Mara asked. The two of them had been friends since high school. The best of friends. Mara came from an affluent background like she did. The pressures and perks were understood without words. Mara’s penchant for being somewhat of a wild child irked her parents but without her, Celeste would have drowned under the pressure of life long ago. Her parents loved her. They did, but the world they existed in was wrought with discipline, expectations and beliefs that were ironclad from years of breeding. They showered her with love and encouragement, yet that encouragement always seemed to come with a price.
    “At table six,” Celeste said.
    “Ahh, so are mine.” Mara nodded.
    “You’d better behave, Mara. They’ll never let you room with me if you cause a scene again.”
    Mara’s last stunt had sent both sets of parents over the edge. She’d streaked through campus last semester drunk. Her parents had threatened pulling her from school until she could learn how to behave appropriately. Her response to the situation hadn’t helped any: ‘If by behave, you mean find myself a suitable husband, then no thank you.’ They’d laughed and laughed, huddled in their dorm room together over their reaction. Their blood-drained faces, her mother’s gasp, her father’s look of disdain. It had shaken them both, and over the summer Mara had been nothing short of a model of finance-driven breeding. She had no choice.
    “Oh, shut it, Cece. I’ll behave.” Mara lifted her wine glass and drained it as Celeste shook her head and giggled. “Where is Matteo?”