to wonder. Wouldn’t all that gold have been better used to drape women in jewelry?”
“So you like being draped in gold?” He looked at the silver hoops in her ears and silver bangles on her wrist. Sexy, but not gold, and not over the top in any way.
“Not really. Though if a man feels compelled to do that, who am I to argue?” She grinned and grasped his arm again. “Let’s get to the tower before the crowds.”
She picked up the pace as they walked the paths crisscrossing a green expanse in front of the tower. Considering how cold it was, a surprising number of people were there snapping pictures and standing in line as they approached. “Are you afraid of heights?”
“Who, me? I’m not afraid of anything.”
“Everyone’s afraid of something.” Her smiling expression faded briefly into seriousness before lightening again. “Obviously, the Eiffel Tower is super tall, and the elevators can be claustrophobic even while you’re thinking how scary it is to be going so high. I’ll hold your hand, though, if you need me to.”
“You know, I just might be afraid after all.”
She laughed, and her small hand slid into his. Naturally. Just like it belonged there.
“Truth? I get a little weirded out on the elevator,” she said in a conspiratorial tone. “So if I squeeze your hand too tight, I’m sorry.”
“I’m tough, don’t worry.”
“I bet you are.” She looked up at him with a grin. “The lines aren’t too bad, but let’s take the stairs anyway.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “The stairs?”
“You look like you’re probably fit enough.” Her green eyes laughed at whatever the heck his expression was. “But we don’t take them all the way to the top. Just to the second level, and we’ll grab the elevator there. Trust me, it’s the best way to see everything, especially on a day like today, when it gets cloudier the higher you go.”
“So long as we don’t have to spend the entire day climbing, I’m trusting you, Ms. Tour Guide. Lead the way.” The stairs were surprisingly wide and the trek up sent his heart beating faster and his breath shorter. Though maybe that was just from being with Avery. For some inexplicable reason, she affected him in a way he couldn’t quite remember feeling when he first met a woman.
They admired the views from both the first and second levels, Avery pointing out various landmarks, before they boarded the glass elevator. People were mashed tightly inside, but Jack didn’t mind being forced to stand so close to Avery. To breathe in her appealing scent that was soft and subtle, a mix of fresh air and light perfume and her.
The ride most definitely would challenge anyone with either of the fears Avery had mentioned, the view through the crisscrossed metal of the tower incredible as they soared above Paris. On the viewing platform at the top, the cold wind whipped their hair and slipped inside Jack’s coat, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders to try to keep her warm.
“You want to look through the telescope? Though we won’t be able to see too far with all the clouds,” she said, turning to him. Her cheeks were pink, her beautiful lips pink, too, and, oh, so kissable. Her hair flew across her face, and Jack lifted his fingers to tuck it beneath her hat, because he couldn’t resist feeling the softness of it between his fingers.
“I want to look at you, mostly,” he said, because it was true. “But I may never get up here again, so let’s give it a try.”
Her face turned even more pink at his words before she turned to poke a few coins in the telescope. They took turns peering through it, and her face was so close to his he nearly dipped his head to kiss her. Starting with her cheek, then, if she didn’t object, moving on from there to taste her mouth. Their eyes met in front of the telescope, and her tongue flicked out to dampen her lips, as if she might be thinking of exactly the same thing.
He stared in fascination as her pupils dilated, noting flecks, both gold and dark, within the emerald green of her eyes. He slowly lowered his head, lifted his palm to her face and—
“Excuse me. You done with the telescope?” a man asked, and Avery took a few steps back.
“We’re all done,” she said quickly. The heat he hoped he’d seen in her expression immediately cooled to a friendly smile. “Ready to go, Jack? I think we’ve seen all there is to see from up here today.”
Well, damn. Kissing her in the middle of that crowd wasn’t the best idea anyway, but even the briefest touch of her lips on his would have been pretty sweet, he knew. “I’m ready.”
They crammed themselves onto the elevator once more, though it wasn’t quite as packed as it had been on the way up. He breathed in her scent again as he tucked a few more strands of hair under her hat. “Thanks for bringing me up here. That was amazing.” She was amazing. “So what now, Ms. Tour Guide? Time for lunch?”
“There you go, thinking about food again.” She gave him one of her cute, teasing looks. “But I admit I’m getting a little hungry, too. There’s a great place just a little way along the river I like. There will be a few different courses, but don’t worry—it won’t break your wallet.”
He didn’t care what it cost. Getting to spend a leisurely lunch with Avery was worth a whole lot of money.
They moved slowly down a tree-lined path by the river, and he felt the most absurd urge to hold her hand again. As though they’d known each other a lot longer than an hour or two. Which reminded him he still hardly knew anything about her at all. “Do you live here? You obviously speak French well,” he said.
“My parents both worked in France for a while, and I went to school here in Paris for two years. You tend to learn a language fast that way. I’m just here for a month or so this time.”
“What do you do?”
“I— Oh!” As though they’d stepped out from beneath a shelter, heavy sheets of rain mixed with thick, wet snowflakes suddenly poured on their heads, and Avery fumbled with her umbrella to get it open. It was small, barely covering both their heads. Jack had to hunch over since she was so much shorter than him as, laughing, they pressed against one another to try to stay dry.
He maneuvered the two of them under a canopy of trees lining the river and had to grin. The Fates were handing him everything today, including a storm that brought him into very close contact with Avery. Exactly where he wanted to be.
He lifted his finger to slip a melting snowflake from her long lashes. “And here I’d pictured Paris as sunny, with beautiful flowers everywhere. I didn’t even know it snowed here.”
“You can’t have done your homework.” Her voice was breathy, her mouth so close to his he got a little breathless, too. “It rains and snows here a lot. Parisians despise winter with a very French passion.”
He didn’t know about French passion. But hadn’t Avery said when in France, do as the French do? He more than liked the idea of sharing some passion with Avery. “I’m not a big fan of winter, either, when snow and ice make it harder getting to and from work.”
“Ah, that sounds like you must be a workaholic.” She smiled, her words vying for attention with the pounding rain on the nylon
