Robin Gianna - It Happened in Paris...

“It already is.”

A blush filled her cheeks as she realized what he was saying. And maybe it sounded hokey, but he meant it. His intense focus on work usually didn’t allow him to notice things like a beautiful sunset or, though he probably shouldn’t admit it, even a beautiful woman sometimes. But she’d grabbed his attention from the second he’d met her, and he didn’t know what to do about that.

She led him around a corner then suddenly stopped, turning her full attention in front of them. “ Voilà! We made it! And, oh, my gosh, I think it’s about the most spectacular I’ve ever seen!”

His gaze followed hers, and the sight was beyond anything he’d expected. At the end of the street behind a beautiful old building with large columns, the Sacré Coeur rose high above everything else. Its numerous cupolas and spires were bathed in pink and gold from the sunset, emerging from the pale sky and looking for all the world like a stunning mural in the mist.

“That’s… incredible.”

“It is, isn’t it?” She took her hand from his, moving it to clutch his arm, holding him closer. He looked down to see her eyes lit with the same wonder he was feeling and that strange sense of connection with her, too, that had prompted yesterday’s memorable interlude. “I haven’t seen the basilica for a long time.”

He moved his arm from her grasp and wrapped it around her shoulders, wanting to feel her next to him. They stood there together a long while, staring as the pastels changed hue and darkened. Eventually, the sun dipped low, taking the color and light with it, and Jack turned to her, pulling her fully into his arms without thinking. “Somehow, I don’t think it would have seemed quite as beautiful if you hadn’t been here with me.”

She smiled and lowered her head to rest her cheek against his chest as she gazed down the street at the now shadowed church, and he couldn’t believe how natural it felt to hold her like this. Like they’d been together a long time instead of one day. Like there weren’t good reasons not to.

He stroked his hand up her back, sliding it beneath her thick hair to cup her neck. “How about we take the funicular up to see the city below?”

She lifted her head and leaned back to look up at him. “How do you know about the funicular?”

“What, you think you have all the dibs on tour guiding?” He tucked her hair under her cute hat, a yellow one this time, letting his fingers linger on the softness of her locks before stroking briefly down her cheeks. “I read a Paris tour guide book because I didn’t know I’d have a personal one tonight.”

“And yet here I am.”

“Yeah. Here you are.”

For a moment her green eyes stared into his until, to his surprise, worry and utter pleasure, she lifted herself up on tiptoe, slipped her arms up his chest and around his neck and pressed her lips to his. The touch was instantly electric, surging through every cell in Jack’s body as he tightened his arms around her. Until he forgot they worked together. Until he forgot they were standing near any number of other sightseers who were snapping photos and admiring the church. On the side of a busy street where cars and motorcycles and scooters veered all too perilously close.

Just as had happened yesterday under that umbrella, Avery managed to make him forget everything but the drugging taste of her mouth as it moved softly on his.

The roar of a scooter zooming by had him breaking the kiss. He leaned his forehead against hers, their little panting breaths creating a mist of steam in the cold air between them. “Wow. That was nice.”

“What, you think you have all the dibs on initiating a kiss?”

He chuckled at her words, mimicking his. “Believe me, I’m more than happy to share the dibs. But as much as I’d like to keep kissing you, I don’t want either of us sent to the hospital by one of the crazy drivers around here.” Or get into a sticky situation because of their jobs. “Let’s go on up to see the view.”

She pulled away and something, maybe embarrassment, flickered in her eyes. He reached for her chin and turned her face to his. “Hey, what’s that look for?”

“I don’t know why I kissed you. Why I keep kissing you, even when we agreed not to.” She shook her head, a little frown between her brows. “It’s like something comes over me and I lose all common sense.”

“If you have to lose your common sense to kiss me, I hope you don’t find it,” he teased, earning a small smile. He took a few steps backward, bringing her with him, until he came up against the wall of a building. Even as he knew he shouldn’t, he lifted his hand to cup her cheek, gently stroking her beautiful lips with his thumb. “You taste damned good to me.”

“Except we need to work together. So kissing or… anything else… isn’t a good idea.”

“I know. It’s a hell of a bad idea.” He kissed her again, and the sigh that slipped from her lips, the way her body relaxed into his nearly had him going deeper, and to hell with the risk of being struck by a car. But he forced himself to let her go, reaching for her hand. “Come on. Your funicular awaits, princess.”

They rode to the top and enjoyed the incredible views of the city as he held her close to shelter her from the colder air and wind. They meandered along the cobbled streets of Montmartre as Avery filled him in on some of the history of the village that had long been a haven for artists, including Picasso, Monet and Van Gogh. Today it attracted young artists who peddled their work on the streets.

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