"Fine. I think I 'm in love with her. "

Both of his sisters giggled and moved in to smother him with hugs and kisses. He 'd known better, he really had.

"You 'll run him off with that, " Zach said standing at the door.

Arianna sat back. "Eh, wouldn 't be the first time. "

"Hey, Curtis. Why don 't you come in and have some real coffee. "

"It 's got to be a better offer than sitting here drinking this frilly stuff and getting mauled. " He stood and followed Zach into the house.

Zach walked to the counter where a fresh pot of coffee finished brewing. He took down two mugs. "I talked to Simone 's father the other day. "

"Oh, yeah? He wonder when she 's headed back too? "

Zach slid him a look of concern then focused back on the coffee maker. "You sound like you doubt her reasoning for staying. "

"What I doubt is that someone can change so quickly. I mean why give it all up to move here and work in some menial hourly job? "

Zach picked up the pot of coffee and filled each mug before setting the pot back in the maker. He handed a mug to Curtis. "You don 't think someone can change? "

"Well sure they can, but "

"But why do it? "

"Right? "

"Maybe she just wants to be near you. "

Curtis followed Zach to the table and each of them sat down. Curtis sipped his coffee and then set it down in front of him. His hands were trembling and that wasn 't a good sign. It meant she 'd gotten under his skin and he 'd lost more sleep than he 'd thought he had.

"Simone and I have come to an agreement to work on things. " He let out a breath. "I think I love her, man, and I don 't want to. "

Zach smiled as he leaned back in his seat. "I knew you did. And likewise I 've never seen her as crazy over a man before. "

"Yeah, and I know she 's had1 plenty. " That sounded rude and he hadn 't meant to be, he was just trying to justify his uncertainty.

Zach must have known he 'd regretted what he 'd said because he didn 't call him on it or his own mishandlings with women. "You 're going to give a relationship a try then? "

"Yeah. I guess we are. " He chuckled. "She must be pretty serious about doing it right too. She wouldn 't even let me stay last night, even after she got sick. "

"Sick? " Zach inched forward. "Is she okay? "

"I think her nerves got the better of her. She 's fine. She 's cooking me dinner tonight. "

That made Zach laugh aloud. "Simone? Cook? She really must be sick. "

"Well that 's what I thought, but if she 's into changing everything I guess she 'll cook too. "

"She must have it bad for you. "

Though he thought he was a catch, he didn 't see giving up your livelihood for him. That still didn 't make sense.

Curtis lifted his mug. "Anyway, you said you talked to her father? "

"I did. I don 't think she 'd want me to tell you what he said though. "

He let the hot coffee sear his throat. "So why bring it up? "

"Because I now know you love her and you 'll want to do what is right for her. "

Curtis 's hands tensed around his mug. Well there ya go. Now it was his job to take care of the righteous princess who decided she was now common folk. "So why is she here? "

"He cut her off. "

Curtis waited a moment for more, but Zach said nothing. "That 's it? He cut her off? What did she buy one too many pairs of Italian shoes? "

Zach shook his head and leaned over the table. "I think there is more to it than that. He didn 't want to talk about her. As far as he was concerned he had no daughter. And he threatened to not do business with me if I mentioned her again. "

Curtis eased back in his chair. "That seems serious. "

"I think it is. I don 't know what she did, and she wouldn 't tell me. But maybe she 'll tell you. "

He seriously doubted that, but now he had a mission. Why was his Parisian beauty taking the low life?

Chapter Ten

What had she been thinking? She wasn 't sure she could boil water in a pot let alone a full meal. This was it. She was going to fail miserably.

She 'd walked around the grocery store for a half hour, searching, hopelessly for any idea. She 'd left with only a bottle of nail polish remover and a nail file to fix her chipped manicure. It might be a long while before she could have the luxury of a manicure again. But she was at a total loss as to what to prepare for Curtis for dinner.

Unless -she knew it was the right idea -she begged Regan for her help.

Simone called Zach for his wife 's phone number. She 'd wished she 'd have memorized her number too, but she 'd called Zach so many times over the years it was quite literally the only phone number she 'd known without her cell phone, which she 'd had to relinquish.

Two hours after finally tracking her down, Regan was standing at Simone 's front door with a bag full of groceries and a grin on her lips that told Simone she was going to owe her big for this.

"If you 're going to impress him make chicken piccata. " She set the bags on the counter and then with her hands on the small of her back stretched.

Panic had already set in, but Simon 's hands shook as she opened the first bag. "I cannot make anything. I do not know why I told him to come. "

"Because a smitten woman will do stupid things to make the man she 's crazy for spend some time with her. "

"Is that what I am? Smitten? "

"Oh, honey, I think you 're fully in love, but I 'll leave it at smitten and let you two decide. " She pulled the package of chicken from anothe1r bag and then a box of noodles. "Now we need a pot and a pan. "

Simone bit down on her lip and looked around the kitchen. She opened the cupboard under the stove. At least she had some domestic intuition.

She set the pot and pan on the stove and began taking any instruction Regan gave to her as they began to build a dinner to impress the man she did love. After all, tonight was big. She needed him to maintain his forgiveness and dwell on the fact he 'd fallen in love with her. She needed him to be ecstatic over the news when she told him she was carrying his baby. There was no other option, and when her mind drifted to any negative thoughts about it she made herself think about how happy they could be together.