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“I did.” I smiled. “Thanks for the stuff for my feet.”
He nodded. “You’re welcome. I didn’t want to wake you. I knocked and waited, but you were out cold, so I just left it and didn’t disturb you.”
“I usually wake up. Guess I must have been exhausted. What time did you come?”
He motioned toward the stairs. “About midnight when I thought about it. I was closing a deal when it dawned on me that you might need more stuff for your feet. So I went out and grabbed the stuff for you and came back. Glad I didn’t wake you.”
Like everything else with this man, I should feel weirded out that he was in there while I slept, but I didn’t. My reactions to Zeke weren’t what I would have expected.
He stopped on the stairs. “I debated about whether to bring it in. You were sleeping, but I wanted you to have it in the morning. I was in and out. I didn’t look at you or anything. Believe it or not, I do know what privacy is.”
I laughed, his words surprising me. “Okay. How about next time you knock louder and wake me? But I don’t mind that you did it, even if I should.”
“I can’t imagine I’ll have another reason to come in your room while you’re asleep.”
That was actually disappointing. I could think of some reasons I might like him to come in. My memories from the night before felt fresh. He had been pivotal to my life, and he didn’t even know it. I was never going to tell him. Some things like those kinds of memories were the kind you took to your deathbed and kept to yourself.
“We’re going on my motorcycle. Unless you object. I prefer it this time of day.”
“I’ve never ridden on one.”
He tilted his head. “Well, this is a morning for firsts then.”
I followed him to the garage, which was outside the guard house and impressive on the inside. He hadn’t parked his Porsche himself yesterday, so I hadn’t seen that he had ten cars and three motorcycles before. I smiled. This was such a guy thing to do. Lots of money and lots of fun things to drive. But there I went gendering. There were women who would do this, too. I just wasn’t one of them.
What did I spend money on? I supposed clothes, but that wasn’t a choice. I didn’t love clothes or even want that many around. It was more like a necessity. Truthfully, I had no idea.
I didn’t really spend on things.
That was funny. I’d never thought about that before.
“Come on.” He handed me a helmet. “Let’s go. Put your arms around my waist and hold on tight. When I lean in a direction, you lean that way, too.” That sounded easy enough.
I did just as he said, and soon we were on the road. Although there was some traffic, he seemed to know where to go to avoid it, and I could see why he loved this. I leaned against his back and held on, squeezing him if I got nervous. The wind was fantastic as it whipped at our bodies, and by the time he pulled into a space, my heart raced, and I wanted to keep going. Was it possible to just ride like that forever and ever?
We were near the hotel with the birds, but instead of going in, we entered a café. Everyone lifted their heads to greet him, speaking fast and loudly. They had smiles on their faces. Zeke took my helmet and set it next to his in the corner as he took what I bet was his regular table.
A waitress came over and greeted Zeke with warmth, kissing him on both cheeks. She briefly regarded me, but not for long, and then disappeared into the kitchen.
“This is really nice.” It was a warm décor with about a dozen small tables that didn’t seat more than four at a time. Mostly they were two headers. Two coffees appeared before us as wellas the carafe where I guessed we could pour more into our own cups if we wanted. I appreciated the coffee. I wasn’t big on eating breakfast. Well, I usually had something. But after all the eating we did yesterday, it would be fine to skip.
“It’s a favorite. Everyone in Paris has a favorite café. This is mine. I eat here every day.”
Someone across the place said something, and Zeke smiled before he shouted something back. “Why this one instead of any other?”
A basket was placed in front of us, and this time, the waitress stared at me longer. I made eye contact with her. Was she waiting for me to understand something that had been said? Because I really didn’t have a clue.
She pointed at me, and Zeke nodded, this time answering her in English. “Yes, this is Layla. She doesn’t speak French.”
“Oh.” The woman clapped her hands together. I took a long look at her. She was beautiful and sparkled in that way that French women did. Was it in the water? “Yes, I follow you. Yesterday you ah…”
I finished for her. “Ran around Paris in a wedding dress. Yes, that was me.”
She laughed. “But now I understand. New York socialite. You are sleeping with Zeke. You leave your fiancé. It all makes sense.”
Did it? I almost corrected her, but that was what we were saying. I was supposed to be dating Zeke, which would mean I had thrown over Kit for him. Wow. I’d really not thought that through. It was going to piss off the Allards to no end. There were all kinds of ramifications to this I hadn’t considered. Yes, it might hurt Kit, but I doubted it. But Mrs. Allard? Oh, yes, she was going to be mad. Laura was going to have a fit.
And maybe any chance she’d give that exorbitant amount of money to my father would go away permanently. It mighthave already, but still…if she’d considered doing it despite my blunder, she wouldn’t now.
