Romance in the City of Lights

BELLE

Once we’d had our coffees and croissants, Grayson and I wandered around the streets of Paris, chatting and watching as the city woke up. I was beginning to understand why Paris was considered to be such a romantic city.

~I can definitely imagine myself falling in love here.~

We walked all the way to the Notre-Dame cathedral and sat on the steps for a bit before going to a very fancy restaurant nearby for lunch. I felt odd sitting there in my jeans and sweater, but the food made up for any discomfort that I might have had.

“Oh my God, that was amazing!” I said when I had finished.

“I told you I would bring you to the best restaurant in Paris,” Grayson said.

“Yeah, well, you weren’t lying.”

Our waiter came by then and set down our check.

“Whenever you’re ready,” he said in a thick French accent and then walked away.

I reached for it, ready to pay whatever the cost as Grayson had paid for our food last night and our coffee this morning, but he snatched it away before I could grab it.

“No,” he stated firmly.

I rolled my eyes. “Grayson, please let me pay for this. You already have paid for so much. I’ll feel terrible if you don’t let me at least buy you lunch.”

He was already reaching into his pocket for his wallet.

“Absolutely not. As long as you’re with me, you will never pay for anything. In fact, I am determined to make sure that you never pay for anything ever again.”

I scoffed. There was no way I would let that happen.

“How about you at least let me pay for my meal? It’ll make me feel better and not like I’m leeching off of you, stealing all of your money.”

“Argue all you want; it’s not going to happen.”

He placed his card in with the check and then lifted it up for the waiter to see. But before he closed the check folder, I caught a glimpse of the price of the meal.

My eyes widened. Maybe it was better that I wasn’t paying for it.

Just my meal would’ve cost me several shifts at the diner.

“Where do you get all of your money, anyway?” I asked. Then I realized what I had just said. “Oh, sorry, is that a rude question?”

“No, not rude at all. My family owns a large hunting company with thousands of workers who keep my pack afloat and then some. We provide animals both alive and dead for anybody who wishes to buy them.”

Just then, our waiter came into view. He approached our table when he saw Grayson waving.

“Please take this away before my date tries to pay again,” Grayson said in an amused tone, handing the man the folder.

I glared at him.

When the waiter was gone I asked, “So you kill animals?”

Grayson chuckled and took my hand from across the table.

“Don’t look so frightened, beautiful. It’s the circle of life. And I must provide for my pack in some way. “Besides, what else would you expect from a pack of werewolves? We already hunt in our wolf forms to keep our wolves sane. We might as well make some money off it.”

I still didn’t love the idea, but I decided not to argue.

Once Grayson had officially paid, we stood and left, continuing our exploration of Paris.

I had never walked so much in my life; my feet were beginning to hurt, but I didn’t want my time with Grayson to end. It all felt so magical.

“This day hasn’t even felt real. It’s probably been the best day of my life,” I told Grayson, complete sincerity in my voice.

Grayson nodded his head in agreement, smiling. “Just you wait. Tomorrow, I’m taking you to the Louvre. You’ll be amazed.”

I stopped walking. “Tomorrow?” I asked. “I thought we were going home tomorrow.”

Grayson faced me. “Yes, but I thought one more day wouldn’t hurt. I must get back to my pack then, anyway. And my private jet won’t be ready until tomorrow night.”

“You have a private jet?” I asked in complete shock.

“Why didn’t you just fly that to Paris?”

He shrugged. “I only just bought it yesterday. I always had a strange stubbornness when it came to buying my own jet, always preferring to fly commercial. I didn’t understand it until I met you on that plane. It was because fate was setting me up to meet you.”

He came forward and pulled me into his chest, leaving a kiss on my forehead.

“Now, there’s no reason for me not to have my own jet. It’ll be much more convenient.” His body shook with laughter. “Also…I’m sort of never allowed to set foot in the MSP or Paris airport again after what happened on the last flight.”

I gawked at him. “Serves you right! You almost killed a man!”

Grayson laughed again. “I’ll say this one more time. He deserved it. No one looks at what is mine.”

I scoffed and shoved him away from me. “You’re a Neanderthal.”

I continued to walk, and he quickly caught up to me, taking my hand in his. He kissed the back of it.

“I’ll be a Neanderthal, as long as I get to keep you by my side.”

I blushed a deep red.

I thought about what he’d said. I couldn’t stay another day in Paris. I had to go home… I was already risking being kicked out of my apartment for not paying rent.

Actually, I probably ~would~ get kicked out.

I hadn’t worked in so long that I probably wouldn’t make my rent. Which meant I had to find a way to escape Grayson and get back to Minnesota.

Maybe I could convince the airline to reschedule my return flight on the cheap? I didn’t bother saying anything to Grayson. I knew that he would just try and convince me not to go.

It made me sad to think I’d have to go home tomorrow and continue working in my lame job at the diner, with my lame boss.

But I knew that this bizarre and beautiful dream couldn’t last forever, as much as part of me wished it could. As we continued to walk, Grayson wrapped his arm around my waist, tugging me close to him and looking down at me with a contented smile.

It made my chest feel warm.

~He’s getting too attached to me.~ At that realization, the warm feeling left my chest.

There was no way that this relationship could continue when we got back to Minnesota.

Sure, we only lived a couple of hours away from each other, but I had no car, no way of getting to him. And I wasn’t going to force him to drive to me every time I wanted to see him. I would feel too guilty.

I knew that the way he was making me feel would only make it harder for me to leave him and return to real life. The thought made me stop in my tracks.

Grayson stopped too and looked at me. “What?”

I breathed in deeply and wrapped my arms around myself.

“This isn’t a date,” I said firmly. The words hurt to say, but I kept my stance.

Grayson raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“In the restaurant, you called me your date. I just wanted to let you know that I don’t see this as a date.”

He licked his lips and approached me slowly. “Is that so?”

“Mmm,” I said, feeling more awkward and nervous now that he was standing right in front of me, looking down at me. ~Why does he have to be so tall?~

“Do you want to know what I think?” He placed his thumb on my lips, tracing them.

I didn’t answer, too transfixed by the sparks in my mouth.

He leaned down so that his lips were touching my ear. “I think you desperately want this to be a date.” He took my ear into his mouth and bit down lightly. “And you know what? This ~is ~a date, whether you want to admit it or not. You have no say in the matter.”

That made me fume. Why did he think he could control me? “I—”

“Shh…” He interrupted me. His voice became deeper. “Do you want to know what else I think?”

“No, I really—” I started.

“I think…,” Grayson interrupted yet again as I huffed, “that you haven’t been able to stop thinking about kissing me since the last time in our bedroom.” He wrapped an arm around me and brought me into his chest. Shivers ran up and down my spine. “Because I know that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about your sweet lips on mine, and it’s been driving me mad.”

I tried to pull away from him, knowing where this was heading and that kissing him would definitely give him the wrong idea, but I couldn’t escape his firm grip.

Before I could protest, his lips were on mine. And I melted. I melted into a slimy puddle of goo in his arms.

~Oh God, how am I ever going to leave him?~