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

her.”
    “Me too, pumpkin, I can’t wait to introduce her to you. How about we
visit you in Paris sometime soon? I’m sure we can find a weekend in the next
few weeks when both Anna and I are free.”
    Lena frowned at his obvious assumption that she was free every
weekend, before reminding herself that, as it happened, she was.
    “Sure, Dad, come any time you want. Just give me sufficient notice to
tidy up my apartment. We can’t have Anna realize what kind of hopeless pig I am
before the two of you are married. By the way, when are you getting
married?”
    “We’re thinking end of December. We’ll probably have really shitty weather
for the ceremony, but then we’ll enjoy the honeymoon even more. I’m planning to
take Anna to the Caribbean. Remember that hotel in Punta Cana?”
    Lena did. But she preferred not to comment.
    “I know, I know.” Anton read her mind. “It’s too tacky, too Russian
nouveau riche for you. But, I am a Russian nouveau riche, so I have to
live up to my image.”
    Anton Malakhov was positively happy, in a way Lena couldn’t remember him,
even in their best moments together. It was strange to hear him chatter away
like this. It was also touching and heartwarming. Lena told him December was a
perfect month for a wedding and released him to his fiancée. Her future
stepmother . . .
    What an idea!
    * * *

Lena was on the finish line to her graduation. It was late June and Paris
was growing stuffier and stickier by the day. She had no complains, though.
This was nothing compared to Moscow’s midsummer hell. The Parisians, however,
were beginning to desert the city whenever they got the chance. They went south
to the breezy Mediterranean coast or north to the airy beaches of Normandy. As
for Lena, she was preparing to go east to Geneva.
    She was anxious. Even though her supervisor was happy with her final
product, Lena knew she needed to brush up on the theory before the red-letter
day. So she studied from dawn to dusk, only breaking for a trip to the bathroom
or a glass of water. Her reward was a longer break at dinnertime at La
Bohème.
    But when Rob didn’t show up at work for the third day in a row, she began
to wonder if something was the matter. Was he sick? Had he taken a few days
off? Or had he just quit the job, which would mean she may never see him again?
It was disconcerting how much that last thought affected her.
    Lena shook her head. God, this isn’t happening. I’m not falling for
him .
    She had known him for such a short time! He was still a stranger, too
sure of himself, too charming, too handsome. He was the kind of guy she’d
always shunned because nothing good could come of it. Then why was she going to
the bistro for dinner every day, hauling along her heavy books, and prolonging
her meals with several cups of tea, when she had resolved to stay away from
him?
    As she pondered this question, staring blankly into her course reader,
someone sat down next to her. Lena looked up from her book, her eyes bright,
but it wasn’t who she’d expected it to be.
    “Lena, I can’t bear seeing you like this anymore. Is it”—Jeanne
shut Lena’s tome to read the cover—“semiotics that’s making you so
depressed or is there something else?”
    “It’s semiotics,” Lena said, which wasn’t entirely untrue. “If they ask
me questions on this topic during the exam, I’ll be in big trouble.”
    “Why’s that?”
    “I just don’t get it. I read and reread the same passages, and I’m still
in the dark.” Lena shook her head. “I’ve considered memorizing the main
definitions—can’t see what else I can do.”
    “There’s nothing wrong with learning things by heart. That’s how most
learning was done only a couple of generations ago. And it’s still the case in
some disciplines, not to mention religions,” Jeanne said.
    Jeanne’s comment reminded Lena of something she’d been meaning to ask for
a while. “What’s your field of study, Jeanne? You never