She shrugs, her smile sheepish. “Well, I didn’t know, work is over.”
I sit down on the couch and pat the cushion next to me. “It is, but you still have a whole day. You were sleeping when I left.”
She sits down, crossing her legs underneath her, and takes a sip of coffee while she inspects the bag. “This is so good. But we could have ordered room service.”
“No, open the bag, just smell it and you’ll know why I went to get it.”
She rolls her eyes but does as I ask and then gasps. “Oh, my God. What is this?”
She pulls the muffin-shaped golden brown pastry out of the bag and presses the whole thing to her nose.
“Those are called pistachio financier, and Maison Kayser makes the best ones I’ve ever had. And they’re gluten free.”
She eyes me skeptically. “How did you know I don’t eat gluten?”
“We’ve had dinner enough times for me to notice you don’t eat bread and pasta. Take a bite.”
She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip and then opens her mouth and bites half of it at once. “It’s so delicious. Oh my God. Thank you. Where’s yours?”
“I ate on the way back. And happy belated birthday. I hope you’re well rested.”
She grins. “Wow, thank you, and I am.” She walks over to draw back the curtains over the terrace door, and light floods the already bright room. Behind her, the Eiffel Tower spears the blue sky and appears nestled into the tops of the bright green elm trees that line the avenue of the famous botanical garden. It’s beautiful, but with Dina standing in front of it, it’s reduced to a mere backdrop.
“So do you have plans today?”
I glance at my watch. “I’ve got to work this morning, and you’ve got an appointment at 9 a.m.”
She smiles, bemused. “I do?”
“Yes, at the spa downstairs. It’s really nice.”
“Yeah, I know. I wanted to get a pedicure, but it costs more than my Brazilian wax, and they didn’t have any appointments. How’d you manage that?”
“Bribery may have been involved.”
She walks over, sits, and takes another sip of coffee. “Why?”
“Because I’m an ogre and worked you ragged on your birthday, and I want to make up for it.”
“Wow, thank you, Ty.”
“And when you’re done, I thought we could have lunch at my place. It’s got a great view. We can just relax and not worry about getting dressed up.”
“Hunter chic allowed?”
“Whatever you want to wear is what’s allowed.”
“That sounds great. And what will you be doing while I’m at the spa?”
“I have to go to the office—I have paperwork to catch up on, and then I’ll come back to pick you up.”
“What time will that be?”
“Okay, the spa says you’ll be done by one p.m., and it’ll give you time to get all the works and get changed and we could be at my place by 2 p.m.”
“Two? Like, in six hours from now? That’s a really long massage.”
“You’re not just getting a massage. You’re getting everything.”
Her eyes bug out. “What? That’s too much. Seriously, you didn’t have to do all of that.”
“Yes, I did. You had a long, hard day yesterday, and all I did was make it longer and harder. Time isn’t on our side, but I’m going to use every second I’ve got to make up for that. And all you have to do is enjoy yourself. That’s an order.” I w ag my finger at her.
She mimics my gesture, and I’m tempted to walk over and suck that finger into my mouth. Later.
“Thank you, Tyson. This is really nice.”
“So are you, Dina.” That earns me a grin, and the dimple I forgot she had winks at me. “I love your smile.” The words escape before my brain corrals the affection and longing they’re born of. I’m grateful my skin hides my blush of embarrassment when her grin eases into a wide smile that deepens the divot in her cheek.
“I’m sorry,” I continue, “I haven’t given you reason to grace me with it, but I hope today is the start of me being able to make up for some of that. Thank you for having my back, in more ways than one, yesterday, D. I’m damn grateful. I hope when you get on that train tonight, my actions will have said everything I can’t find the words to say.”
She cups my face and searches my eyes. “Don’t go to work today. Come with me to the spa. You need it, too.”
Surprised, I lean away. I planned to spend some time working on proposed changes I want to make to the job my mother offered me yesterday. After my conversation with Dupont, I know I can’t go back to the status quo.
At my silence, she smiles and gets up. “Don’t worry about it. I knew it was a longshot, but I wouldn’t be where I am if I was afraid to shoot them. I’ll see you for lunch?”
She did a good job trying to hide it but I saw the disappointment in her eyes. I follow her to the bedroom and knock on the open door. “We’re celebrating your birthday, so your wish is my command.”
She pokes her head around the edge of the door, her smile back at full wattage. “Really?”
I tap the tip of her nose. “You get dressed, I’ll call down and tell them it’ll be a couple’s appointment instead.”
17
Concorde
Dina
I’m downstairs.
Tyson’s text arrives at 1:30 p.m. on the dot, and my heart skips a beat. I’ve learned how anal he is about time, and even though he made it sound like a casual afternoon, I didn’t want him to hurry me and ruin the absolutely blissed-out mood I’m in after the perfect day I spent at The Valmont spa. There’s not an inch of skin on my body that hasn’t been scrubbed, massaged, or pampered. The champagne and chocolate macarons they served while I waited for my muscles to collect themselves sufficiently to take me back to my room were the most delicious things I’ve eaten in a long time.
I’m not good at letting people take care of me because I’m not used to it. But I’m really good at knowing when other people need someone to take care them. And just like he said that night, even the strongest people need a soft place to land. And after the crisis we averted yesterday, we both needed it.
I didn’t want to leave Paris, and him, without any happy memories. So I left the light on again and made an unambiguous offer.
When I woke up and saw his pillow as undisturbed as it was when I went to sleep, I thought he’d declined and figured it was no more than I deserved after the way I talked to him the night before.
Resigned and resolved not to waste my final day in Paris, I dragged myself out of bed and was about to order the hotel’s famous Sunday Feast brunch when he came back.
I’ve never been happier to see anyone as I was to see him standing there, looking so handsome in jeans and a white polo. And when he said he loved my smile, I decided in that instant that I was going to open my mouth and say what I wanted.
When he said yes, I felt like I’d won the lottery.
We went downstairs as a couple even though we didn’t have an audience. Every glance, every skim of skin, every brush of our lips today has felt like a deposit for later.