Read French Kissing for Free Online

Marmite from a cupboard.
    Nick hovered for a moment, watching us as we dodged around each other in the confined space of the kitchen, and then he said, ‘I’m going back to bed. There isn’t enough room in here for three people.’
    Left on our own, Alex and I quickly assembled breakfast.
    â€˜I’ll take this in to Nick,’ I said, putting two mugs and plates on a tray.
    â€˜Valérie always used to bring me bed in breakfast on a Sunday morning,’ Alex said.
    â€˜Valérie? Is she the dancer at the Moulin Rouge?’
    â€˜No, that’s Monique. Valérie is a singer.’
    â€˜You’ll forgive me if I don’t remember the name and profession of every woman you’ve dated.’
    I thought about the letter Alex had written to me when he was about fifteen, telling me how difficult he found it to walk up to a girl and ask her to dance. A couple of years later, and he was dating a different girl almost every time he wrote.
    Hi Anna,
    I met a girl. Her name is Thérèse … Francine … Monique … Camille … Valérie …
    Solange… Maxine …
    For the last year, his letters had only mentioned Cécile.
    Alex said, ‘Valérie threw a plate of croissants at me the last time we ate breakfast together.’
    â€˜She threw a plate at you?’
    â€˜Well, if I’m honest, she threw it at the wall,’ Alex said. ‘She was always throwing stuff. She’s a very passionate woman.’
    â€˜I don’t think smashing crockery has much to do with passion.’ It sounded more like she was crazy.
    â€˜That’s because you’re English.’ Alex picked up his tea and a mountain of toast, and headed out of the kitchen. ‘I’ll see you later, Anna.’
    I went and joined Nick in my bedroom.
    â€˜Alexandre’s looking somewhat worse for wear today,’ Nick said.
    â€˜You think? I can’t say I noticed.’ I set the breakfast tray down on the bed between us.
    â€˜Did he tell you what time he got in? It must have been very late.’
    â€˜More like very early this morning.’
    â€˜Really? Did he get lucky last night?’
    â€˜If you’re asking, in an Unreconstructed Male sort of way, if he spent the night with a woman, then yes.’
    Nick chuckled. ‘He’s only been in London for two days. He doesn’t waste much time, does he?’
    â€˜Apparently not.’
    Nick said, ‘Who was she? Anyone I know?’
    â€˜Izzy Drake.’
    â€˜Pretty dark-haired girl who works in your office?’
    â€˜Yes. Izzy works in the same design studio as me. Could we talk about something – anything – other than Alex’s sex life, please.’
    â€˜I guess he’s less likely to hit on you if he’s shagging your friends.’
    â€˜Would you stop?’
    â€˜Sorry.’
    We ate and drank, and when we’d finished, Nick leant back against the pillows. I put the tray on the floor and lay down next to him. He put his arms around me, and bent his head so that he could kiss me.
    Well, I may be an English rose, but I’m just as passionate as some crazy Frenchwoman.
    I said, ‘Nick, what you said about spending the day together, just the two of us … It seems like a plan to me.’
    â€˜Good. What would you like to do?’
    â€˜Something … passionate.’
    Smiling in what I hoped was a seductive manner, I peeled off my sweatshirt, and just to make sure that Nick knew exactly what was expected of him, I took off my pyjamas as well. He caught on pretty quick. It wasn’t his fault that his mobile rang just as he was stripping off his boxers. Though he really shouldn’t have answered it.
    â€˜Mum. Hi.’ Nick pulled up his boxers and sat on the side of the bed. ‘I’m very well, thank you. How are you?’
    That woman’s timing is impeccable, I thought. How does she do it? With a sigh, I covered myself with