Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“Did you just laugh?” he asks me.
I can’t reply. All I can do is laugh some more. I laugh so hard that my sides ache and my cheeks get sore.
When we pull up to the Ritz, the door opens for me, and I step out to more flashing bulbs, but I can’t stop laughing. Ryan hurries around the car to take my hand, and we walk inside and to the elevator.
I’ve just started to calm down when I look up in the mirror on the back of the elevator door and my eyes lock with Ryan’s, and then the giggles start all over again.
He doesn’t speak when the elevator opens or when we walk to our suite.
But once we’re inside, as he’s taking off his jacket, he says, “Does the idea of me with another woman amuse you that much?”
“No.” I shake my head and press my hand to my chest, willing myself to calm down. “No, I wanted to rip her heart out through her throat.”
He lifts an eyebrow. “Well then.”
“It was the look on your face.” Thinking about it makes me giggle some more. “You were so shocked, so worried. And she was clinging to you like you were a tree and she was about to fall into a rushing river. And then you confirmed that you’d slept with her, and I had this image go through my head.”
I can’t keep talking. I have to sit on the couch so I don’t fall over, and I laugh some more. Finally, it all slows down, and I swallow hard.
“Sorry, but it was funny. And she was so offended that you didn’t defend her.”
“She was?”
“Hell yes, she was. I could see it all over her face. She actually believed that you’d come to Paris to surprise her. Lover.”
“Don’t call me that.” He points at me and shakes his head. “Never call me that. I slept with her once and took her on two dates, and she wouldn’t stop calling me that afterward. It’s the main reason I broke it off.”
“But she said it in a really sophisticated French accent,” I remind him, and he pins me in an agitated glare that makes me snort. “Okay, I’ll stop.”
“You handled yourself well,” he says.
“Is this going to happen whenever we travel?” I counter. “Do I have to be on guard for scorned lov—partners?” I ask, correcting myself when his eyes narrow. “Like, have there been legions of them?”
“No.” Ryan scowls and shoves his hands into his pockets. “And fuck her for doing that. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Oh, I know I don’t have to worry about other women. I’m not jealous. I’m just wondering if they’re going to accost us wherever we go so I can sharpen my nails and brush up on my sarcasm.”
Ryan stalks toward me and pulls me to my feet, then lifts me in his arms and takes off for the bedroom.
“No. And now, I’m going to show you what this dress does to me.”
“Nice change of topic.”
“I thought so.”
“It’s just so beautiful here,” I say with a happy sigh as Ryan and I walk through a gorgeous park with tall trees and flowers planted along the walking paths that lead to the Louvre museum. I love that so much of this area is walkable and safe.
Ryan and I decided to take a walk to find dinner, and I’m glad we did. We’ve been in Paris for a week now, and I’ve barely seen it.
“It’s a pretty city,” he agrees and glances down at me. “Should I buy an apartment here? And then we can come whenever you want?”
I laugh at that, but then I notice that he’s not kidding. “No, you don’t need to buy an apartment. There are hotels, you know.”
“I’m just saying, if you want to come often, we could have a home base here.”
I shake my head and step around a mud puddle. “There are moments when I’m reminded just how different we are, economically speaking. I’m happy to visit once in a while, but not enough to where we need an apartment. Besides, we have lives in Montana that aren’t easy to be gone from for long. Speaking of, how’s Jake? Have you talked to him today?”
“No, we were too busy.”
With a frown, I pull my phone out of my jeans pocket—it feels damn good to be casual—and dial the teenager’s number.
“Hey, Polly,” he says into the phone.
“Hey yourself. We haven’t heard from you today, so I’m checking in. How are you?”
“I’m okay. There’s not a whole lot going on, actually.”
“How’s school?”
Ryan raises an eyebrow, and I smile at him.
“School is dumb, but it’s fine, I guess. Mac says that I can’t skip, even though Dad’s gone, which is pretty lame if you ask me. Football’s going good, though.”
I was surprised, in a good way, when Ryan told me that Jake had decided to go out for the football team.