What was it about Juan that always made my knees weaken? I’d already rationalized this. He had no future—other than living off a salary. He was unsophisticated. Next to Laurent, he looked like a Neanderthal. The idea of Juan at one of Silvia’s famous gatherings was unthinkable. I’d die of shame before bringing him over. And to top it all off, his family was nonexistent, the only family member we’d ever known was his father, and he’d been an eccentric at best.

And yet, there was something about Juan that I found irresistible. Particularly when he looked at me with the intensity he did at this moment, as if I were the only person who could hold his interest.

He didn’t remove his hand. He continued to caress my hair.

“I’ve always loved your hair. You’re the only blonde I’ve ever known,” he said this last part, almost to himself.

I wondered, the same way I’d done so many times during his years of absence, if he’d met other girls, if he’d loved someone else. The thought of Juan kissing another girl infuriated me.

“So tell me, my dear Angelique,” he said, mocking my father’s accent. “Are you going to marry that French parasite?”

Parasite? The insult took me away, for a few seconds, from the trance his fingers were putting me in as he rubbed the nape of my neck.

“You don’t even know him,” I said weakly.

“I don’t need to. I know the type.”

He was standing close to me now, and I could smell him—a mixture of man with the woodsy cologne he used since he turned thirteen. The smell brought back so many memories.

I leaned my back against the tree trunk, grasping the basket handle as if my life depended on it. He must have noticed this because he glanced down for an instant and his lips curved into a tiny smile.

“You haven’t answered my question.”

My mouth went dry. “I may.”

“Well, if you must marry him,” he said nonchalantly, “then we must say goodbye forever.”

He drew back. I didn’t know what came over me, but I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him toward me.

Smirking, he looked down at me. My chest was heaving though I didn’t know why or what had changed, only that I didn’t want him to leave. The smile disappeared from his face.

“Give me one last kiss before you belong to someone else,” he said staring at my mouth.

It was as if he’d hypnotized me. He must have because I couldn’t remember what my grievances with him were anymore, or what I was doing here in the first place.