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Shala shook he her head, her soft waves falling around her shoulders. “Not that much. On my best day of flirting school, I couldn’t put out game like that.” She shook her head and laughed at her own statement.
Zadir burst out laughing, grabbing his side and slapping his leg. “Flirting school? Damn, if that was a real thing I could’ve graduated at the top of my class.” And kept his father off his back.
“No doubt,” she laughed. “But you’ve done alright in school.”
He shrugged. “Not as good as I could have. Average at best.”
Shala, feeling bold, curled her arm around his as they walked. She let the sights and sounds of Paris wash over her. The smell of buttery pastries and chocolate made her stomach growl. Thankfully the crowded city streets and sidewalks muffled it. “The idea about The Crown Jewels proves you know your stuff.”
Her compliment really got to him. Normally Zadir didn’t care what other people thought of him. But to know Shala thought he had a good business mind, well it meant something to him. “I suppose.” He tucked her under his arm, keeping her close. “We’re here,” he said unceremoniously.
Shala looked around. They were standing on a small dead end street between two apartment buildings. The street was still cobblestone and ivy climbed the walls of the buildings. It, like everything else she’d seen today, was beautiful and spoke of another time. “And where exactly is here?”
One side of his mouth curled slowly upward revealing that cheeky grin that said he was feeling playful. “We are…here.” Arms spread wide, he twirled dramatically. “We’re waiting on our tour guide.”
“What are we touring?”
Zadir took three steps until he was face to face with Shala. Her brown eyes were wary but he saw the heat simmering in them. He cupped her shoulders and turned her around. When he received no response he tilted her chin up and up and up.
“Oh, Zadir!” She turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Thank you,” she said into his chest. She couldn’t believe he was willing to take time out of his busy day to sightsee like this. “You’re willing to stand in the notoriously long lines with me?”
Her eyebrows rose so hopefully Zadir couldn’t help having a little fun. “Me? Wait in line? Never!” Her shoulders slumped and he bent down to whisper in her ear. “We’re getting a guided tour which means we don’t wait in line. At least not going up.”
Shala jumped up and down in excitement. “This is so cool!”
He chuckled. “Is that your professional assessment, cool?”
Her eyes narrowed to slits but she couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled out of her. “Yes it is. So cool.” Her parents had only allowed her to make educational stops on their travels so every new place she went as an adult was like a brand new adventure. She grabbed his hand and didn’t let it go throughout the entire tour.
It was surreal to see the giant structure from the ground, but going up in the elevator was heaven. The elevator made her heart jump, or maybe it was the strong heat of Zadir’s body pressed against hers. It felt as though her feet floated just above ground as they catapulted up toward the heavens. Shala had never once spent a day enjoying herself, not since before she started school. But her day with Zadir was just about perfect. “The history of this city is so rich and colorful, they lived exciting lives full of drama and intrigue.”
Zadir looked down at her face, so full of wonder and awe, and rubbed the pads of his thumb on her cheeks. “Yes, but it didn’t end so well for Marie Antoinette and old King Louis, did it?”
Clutching her hands to her chest, Shala shook her head. “It didn’t, but I bet everything up until death was incredibly romantic and exciting.”
With his head cocked to the side, Zadir took in the flushed tone of her skin, the way her pulse raced in her neck. “I get it now.”
“Get what?”
“You, Shala, are a closet romantic.”
She flushed prettily. “Not so closeted and not at all ashamed.” Romance was important to Shala. She felt it was how you knew how much you meant to a man. She’d always hoped to find a guy with a romantic heart.
“Nor should you be. I’m glad you haven’t been so beat down by life and relationships that you still believe in romance.”
“Have you? Been beaten down, I mean?”
Zadir gave her a weird look. “You’re kidding right?”
“No, why would I be?” She felt like she was missing something, but she had no idea.
He searched her face for signs of deception or pity. “I had a pretty public breakup in college. Thought you may have heard of it.”
Shala shook her head. She’d gone out of her way to avoid any and all news relating to Zadir Alzari. The more distance from him, the more able she’d been to get over her silly schoolgirl crush. And then she’d come home and took a job where she would eventually work for the only man to capture her attention. “I hadn’t heard much about you since high school.”
“Well it was public and bad and it’s the last thing I want to talk about right now.” He pulled her through the crowd until a strong wind slammed against them the minute they stepped outside. “We are at the very top of the Eiffel Tower.” He leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips.
“We are?” Her eyes went round and a tad wild. “Let me get us a couple glasses of champagne. It’s tradition!”
