What If It's Love?: A Contemporary Romance Set in Paris (Bistro La Bohème Book 1) by Alix Nichols Page B

whistle of appreciation while Mat and Rob emitted wolf calls. She looked
smoking hot and very pleased with herself.
    “I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced, madam,” Pepe said
stepping forward and lifting her hand to his lips. “The name’s Bond. James
Bond.”
    Amanda flashed her impeccable teeth. “Pleased to meet you, James. I’m
Princess Leia. Shall we?” She pointed at the door, and the six of them headed
out of the hotel.
    As they neared the beach, Lena could smell the salty ocean and hear the
soothing sound of the waves. She felt giddy with anticipation of the sea’s
comforting embrace and the subsequent sunbathing. Five minutes later, they were
all in the water, some of them splashing and screaming their joy and others
charging into the open sea, away from the shore, away from the clutter of daily
life.
    Later, as they basked in the late afternoon sun, Amanda turned to Lena. “Can
you hear what I hear?”
    “You mean the Russian-speaking group behind us?”
    “Yes. And another one to the right. God, they are obnoxious. I have no
idea what they’re saying, but they sound like they own this city.”
    Lena tried to conceal her discomfort behind a breezy smile. “I apologize
for my fellow countrymen’s rustic manners. You could try reminding yourself
they are supporting the sluggish French economy.”
    “One nil to Lena,” Mat said.
    Amanda pretended she didn’t hear that. “Oh, I don’t doubt that. I just
wish I could understand what they were saying.”
    As it happened, the Russians were being obnoxious, and Lena had no
desire to translate their unsavory exchange.
    “Ha! I don’t actually need you to translate for me. I can ask Rob. He
speaks Dostoyevsky’s language very well,” Amanda said.
    “You do?” Lena turned to Rob, unsettled.
    If it was true, how come he never told her about it? How come he never
let her know that he shared such an important part of her culture? Was it a
sign of how little she meant to him?
    “Yeah,” Rob said, rubbing his neck. He picked up a small shell and began to
fiddle with it. “Didn’t I mention it before?”
    “No, you didn’t. Not even when I showed you my translations from Russian.”
Lena forced herself to smile. She wanted to add that it wasn’t a big deal, but
the lump in her throat was making it difficult to speak.
    Thankfully, Amanda jumped in. “Oh yes, you trained in literary
translation, didn’t you? Lucky you! Y ou could
afford to study anything you fancied, including the most useless stuff, without
worrying if you could make a living out of it.”
    Lena tried to keep cool. “I don’t think
literary translation is useless, except to those who never read.”
    “Yes, of course, you are absolutely right,”
Amanda said before making a dreamy face. “Oh, I wish I could study astrology.”
    Rob cleared his throat, and Jeanne shifted
noisily, but Amanda plowed on undeterred. “Or better still, ufology! I could go
around interviewing all those wackos who believe they’d been abducted by little
green men. Wouldn’t that be a blast?”
    “Lena one, Amanda one,” Pepe said, but nobody
laughed.
    Lena turned away and studied the horizon.
    After a few moments, Jeanne broke the awkward silence. “I’m getting
hungry and a little cold. So, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going to
find an eatery away from the beach. The ones around here are just tourist
traps.”
    “I’ll come with you,” Lena said, her voice barely audible. She stood up,
pulled her jeans and T-shirt on, and collected her stuff.
    The men did the same.
    “Who eats dinner at six?” Amanda muttered, but followed the others
nonetheless.
    The rest of the evening was a haze. Lena took part in the dinner and the
long ramble in the city afterward. She engaged in most conversations.
    But she really wasn’t there.
     * * *

The gang called it a day around eleven in the
evening, most of them declaring they were dead tired. Rob had been hoping to
have a word with