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Forthe next couple of hours, they worked together on their own projects, creating an impressive pile of rubble.Destroyingstuff was unexpectedly liberating.Witheach strike of the hammer, adrenaline flowed through her.
Shewasn’t imagining that the wall wasKrish…but she wasn’tnotimagining that either.Herthoughts turned to lastThursdaynight.Shecouldn’t believe that it was less than a week ago.Shedidn’t even feel like the same person that he broke up with anymore.Nowshe wasJessThatHadTouchedaCloud;JessThatHadShaggedaFrenchmanSenselessandHadanOrgasmDuringSex;Jess,SlayerofChateauWallswithSledgehammers.IfKrishhadn’t broken her heart, she never would have had any of those experiences.
Shenever would have metGabriel.
Thethought made her hit the wall extra hard.
Ifshe didn’t know better, she might think that she wasin love.Shebarked a laugh and shook the sledgehammer free of plaster before slamming it into the wall again.
That’sridiculous.Noway that she could fall out of love with one man and into love with another in the space of four days.Thatjust didn’t happen.Notin real life.
Andyet…
Sherested the sledgehammer on the floor and reached for her water bottle.Asshe wet her parched throat, her eyes wandered towardsGabriel, who had already dismantled half the fireplace, saving the bricks to reuse in another part of the house.Asif he knew she was studying him, he turned his head and winked at her.Sheeven thought she heard him singing along to ‘SmellsLikeTeenSpirit’.Agrin creased her face at seeing him, her chest glowing with warmth.
Thinkingback to that day she walked into his gallery, she couldn’t believe that she’d thought him stand-offish and arrogant.Nowshe thought he was one of the best people she’d ever met.Shefelt comfortable with him, like she could be herself, and express herself physically in a way that would have made her blush a week ago.Hemade her a better version ofJessicaSmith.Wasn’tthat what love did?
Butstill,four days…?
MaybeKrishhad been right to break up with her.Maybeshe was too buttoned-up.IfKrishhad been herMrRight, wouldn’t he have brought out this side of her?Thisnew side that she really liked?
Butno:Gabrielhad been the one to crack her open and find the jewel inside.
Aftera long dayof restoring the chateau,Jessreclined on the sofa in the library, freshly showered and drinking red wine.Fromunder her lashes, she watchedGabrielflick through his record collection, sheathed in another one of his provocative linen shirts.Hehas really sexy hands, she thought randomly.Sheadmired the tendons pulling and rolling as his fingers walked over the spines of the vinyls, searching for the perfect one.
She’dmiss those hands.Alump arose in her throat.Theirtime together was rushing by too fast.
He’dbeen a good sport all day, allowing her to choose the tunes they listened to as they demolished their respective bits of chateau.Shehad never realised how much joy smashing things with a sledgehammer would bring her.Herarm muscles ached in a hard-won, satisfying way.
Theexperiences were coming thick and fast with this man, and she didn’t want them to stop.
Whatif they didn’t have to?chirped a rogue voice inside her.
Withdetermination, she closed the door on that line of thought.It’sjust a fling,she reminded herself.
Whatif it’s not?
Jesspursed her lips.Howwould she even know?Howcould she tell the difference between steamy sexual attraction to a man who’s helping her to recover from heartbreak and real love?Wasthere a test inCosmofor that?
Allshe knew was that, when she looked at him, her heart grinned.Shewanted nothing more than for him to be happy.Whenshe’d met him, he’d been so serious and closed off.Now, he was humming a song, smiling easier, laughing more.Thiswasthe realGabriel.Shehated to think that he might return to the oldGabrielwhen she left.
Ifshe left.
Don’tbe ridiculous.Shehad to go home.Shecouldn’t just uproot herself to find out if this was a rebound relationship or true love.
Whynot?Whatif this could be your life?
Forthe first time, it occurred to her that the person she fell in love with could shape her life in a way she hadn’t previously contemplated.Lovederailed the best-laid plans: just look atGraceKellyandPrinceRainierofMonaco,WallisSimpsonandKingEdwardVIII,JohnnyCashandJuneCarter.
Growingup, she’d never considered leavingEnglandor deviating from her primary school teacher, two-up-two-down house in the country, two kids, husband and dog fantasy.Butnow, a new possibility was forming in her heart.Onecentred around life inParis, where she taught at a bilingual school—which, again, she hadn’t even realised was a thing untilElodieshowed her.SheandGabrielwould renovate their chateau on weekends, documenting it onYouTube, and eventually moving there or turning it into a bed-and-breakfast or just throwing amazing parties for their new, yet-to-be-acquired friend group.She’dlearnFrenchpast the secondary school level and how to tell the difference between chardonnay and sauvignon.
Thenagain, she might be living in cloud cuckoo land.SheknewGabrielfelt something for her—of that she was certain.Butwas it pick-up-your-life-and-relocate-yourself-to-a-new-country-for-me kind of love?Wasshe brave enough to find out?
‘Voila!’Gabrielexclaimed, makingJessjump.Hepulled a record off the shelf and brandished it in front of her with an excited smirk and a mischievous sparkle in his eyes.Herbreath caught.
Thisman…life would be so much more vibrant with him by my side…
‘I’mgoing to turn you into a classical music lover.’
