Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 91767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“Merci.” Thomas smiles as he takes my hand in his, he leads me through to reception and up to the check-in counter. There are a few couples in front of us and Thomas slings his arm around my shoulder as we wait.
I catch sight of us in a full-length mirror and I bite my bottom lip to hide my satisfied smile.
Me in my cute navy dress and Thomas being all…well, Thomasish.
We look good.
The man up the front finishes up and we step forward, there’s one couple in front of us now. “So, what’s on today?” Thomas whispers as I scroll on my phone.
“We have the welcome lunch and then I have a thing on this afternoon that you don’t have to come to and then we have a cocktail party tonight,” I reply, distracted.
“Okay.” He puts his lips on my temple as he looks over my shoulder at Instagram on my phone. He puts his lips to my ear. “What underwear are you wearing?”
I feel my face flush. “Will you behave for just one minute?”
“No.” He nips my ear, goose bumps scatter up my arms and he smiles as he feels them.
“Next,” the woman on the check-in desk calls.
We step forward. “We would like to check in, please.” I slide my passport over to her and she types into her computer.
“Ah yes. We have you in two rooms.”
“No,” Thomas interrupts. “We only booked one room.”
I glance over my shoulder to him and see that Graham and Melody are in the line behind us, Thomas subtly widens his eyes at me.
Oh crap….
“One king room,” Thomas asserts.
“My apologies, sir, I’m not sure what happened. That’s an error.” She types again and prints up the keys and slides them across the counter. “One king room. Breakfast is included and located in the garden terrace out the doors and to the right every morning from six.”
“Thank you.” Thomas still has his arm firmly around my shoulders, then turns and pretends to see Graham and Melody for the first time. “Oh, hello.”
“Hello.” Melody smiles.
“Hi,” Graham grunts.
“Lovely day.” Thomas smiles as he takes my hand in his. “I guess we’ll see you guys later.” He leads me into the elevator and we turn to face the doors and I drop his hand like a hot potato.
One room.
Oh my god, what a fucking nightmare, I haven’t shared a room with anyone in years. What happens if I want to burp or crap or eat cake at midnight?
I feel myself begin to sweat; this is a disaster.
The doors open onto our floor and I walk up the corridor. “I’m going to get my own room, don’t worry.”
“I’m happy to share a room.” He raises his eyebrow playfully.
“Will you cut it out,” I whisper as we get to our door.
He holds up his two hands in surrender.
Damn it, I make a mental note that I need to kill Kerry as soon as I get home.
This is all her fault.
I open the door and am pleasantly surprised, the room is huge with a giant size king bed. It has a couch at the end of the bed and an armchair with an ottoman in the corner. There is a window seat in a bay window overlooking the Eiffel Tower.
“Wow.” I smile as I look around.
The bathroom is beautiful apricot marble and has a big circular bath in the center.
“Gorgeous,” Thomas says. “This will do us nicely.”
“Oh….” I shrug. “You can have this room, I’ll get another.”
Thomas’s eyes hold mine, “What is it?”
“What’s what?” I cross my arms.
“Last night….” Thomas takes me into his arms as he looks down at me. “You were….”
“Flirty.” I cut him off. “And…I apologize for giving you the wrong idea.”
His eyes hold mine. “It’s okay to enjoy yourself, you know?”
“I know.”
“Do you?” He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. “So why do I get the feeling that you want to keep punishing yourself.”
“Why would I want to punish myself?” I whisper.
“Because your marriage didn’t work out, because on some level you blame yourself for its demise.”
“Don’t….”
“I think you’ve forgotten how to be happy, Beth.”
I know I have.
Hearing the truth is overwhelming and my eyes fill with tears.
“Hey,” he whispers softly, he puts his finger under my chin and brings my face up to his. “I’m not trying to upset you.”
I nod, unable to push a word past the lump in my throat.
“You know what I see when I look at you?” he whispers. “I see this beautiful woman who has so much happiness waiting for her…but she needs to be brave enough to try it.”
“How do I try it?” I whisper shamefully. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“You live life like it’s your last day on earth.”
I frown.
“No yesterdays, no tomorrows.” He kisses me softly, like a magician his words cast a spell over me. I feel myself begin to float away on a sea of dreams. “Today is all that matters. If you live in the today you will always be happy.”