A black car pulls in front of me, and the window rolls down. Green eyes study me from the driver’s side. “Hey,” he says in his low voice that makes me blush.
I climb into the passenger seat, close the door, and we take off. He’s zooming through the lanes, clearly comfortable driving in this country. A roundabout steals my breath, and I have to close my eyes against the wild spin of cars. He gives a soft laugh. “You nervous?”
“Yeah,” I admit, but I’m not really talking about his driving.
A knowing glance. “Well, I’m not going to take you to my apartment, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
His apartment? My brain hadn’t even gotten that far. The kissing was hazy in my mind, the setting even more so. Second base, third base. Actual sex. Even the fantasies happened in a blank space. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see. Where’s your backpack? Thought it was a family rule.”
I glance down at the black leather cross-body purse I’m wearing instead. “Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly ask permission to come here.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That I was reading.”
He swings through another roundabout, not even slowing as other cars merge and slip away. “Is that what you like to do at night?”
I glance at him, wondering if he’s mocking me. “Honestly, yeah.”
“Like what?”
He seems genuinely interested, so I answer with cautious honesty. “This book I’m into is about this mermaid queen and how she’s at war with the dragons. Both sides are being vicious, so there can never really be peace.”
“Vicious,” he says slowly. “Vicious how?”
“Like the dragons pull the mermaids out of the water by their hair. They leave them high in the mountains so they die by the time they pull themselves back to the water.”
“That’s—Jesus.”
“Yeah.”
He pulls up in front of a restaurant. “What do the mermaids do?”
Valets come to open my door, and I step out of the car without answering the question. If I’d imagined a restaurant, it would have been another hole-in-the-wall. Someplace with paper napkins and prices on the menu. Instead this place has people in suits and high heels waiting outside, and a maître d’ who raises his eyebrow at my appearance.
I’m suddenly beyond grateful that I stole from my sister’s luggage. It’s a dress with patches of different jewel-toned patterns with a handkerchief hem. I also took some gold strappy sandals. A little flirty for the late-night walk I thought I would be taking, but still appropriate for a fancy place. Along with the black leather purse it seems like I belong here.
“Smith,” Elijah says to the man, who scans his paper with a dubious expression. Apparently he finds what he’s looking for, because his brow clears. “Right this way.”
I wait until we’ve been seated with menus, wine menus, and cocktail menus.
Then we’re alone.
“Okay, how did you do this?” I demand. “I only texted you like an hour ago.”
He grins. “I know someone who works here. She slipped my name in.”
A girl? Jealousy turns my stomach over. Of course I have no right to be jealous. Maybe this is the way he scores his dates, with favors from old ones. I might get a call someday asking for a book recommendation so he can woo some other nerdy girl. “I’m glad I didn’t wear jeans.”
“You would have looked great either way.”
A flush makes me turn away. Then I remember that I’m my mother’s daughter. We may be shy, but we’re fierce. “Is this why you really came to Paris? To romance all the girls?”
“Romance isn’t why I’m here.”
“Then sex?”
Surprise flashes through his emerald eyes. “Not that, either.”
My heart thumps, and I’m surprised by my own daring. “Then why spring for dinner?”
He gives a rough laugh. “Because you’re a goddamn delight.”
Now my cheeks really burn, way more than when he complimented my looks. “I’m a delight because I call you out?”
“That. And because you stare at Mona Lisa like she has the secrets of the universe. Because you defend your family even when they left you behind. Because you read books about vicious mermaids.” He gives me a sharp look. “Though you never did tell me what they did to the dragons.”
“I thought that part would be obvious. They lure them to their deaths on the rocky shores. Like the sirens in the Odyssey.” A deep breath. Then a plunge. Let’s see if he still finds me a delight when I’m speaking my truth. “Did you ever notice that all they did was look beautiful and sing a song? That was enough to drive the men wild. That was enough to blame the sirens.”
“You think they weren’t luring them on purpose?”
“There’s no reason to think they are.”
He nods once. “You’re right.”
“That’s how it is with the mermaids. They’d be on a warm rock, their scales flashing in the sun. Then a dragon would fly by, see her, and swoop down. She’d dive into the water, and he’d crash from the momentum. Now who would get blamed?”
“So you’re a mermaids’ rights advocate?”
“I’m a fairness advocate, I guess.”
“I think you’re like one of those mermaids. Minding your own business in the Louvre. You can’t help that your scales flash in the sun, can you? And then there I go, swooping down.”
“The analogy only works if I slip into the water. If you crash into the rocks.”
“Does it?” he says, raising one eyebrow.
God, his eyes are so green. “Are you? Going to crash, I mean.”
“Almost definitely.”
After discussing with the waitress, who’s pleasantly friendly and conversant about the menu, I order the canette de barbarie, a duck cooked in honey and thyme. Elijah orders the quail, which comes with grapes and tiny onions. The star of the dinner is definitely dessert. We both get the éclairs, made from choux pastry, vanilla cremeaux, and dark chocolate with cacao nibs on top.
When the check comes, the waitress hands it directly to Elijah, but I pull out the wallet from my crossover bag. “Let me pay half.”
“No.” He doesn’t even look up.
“Elijah.”
“Holly.”
“You said my clothes cost as much as your rent.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m coming into some money soon. Besides, this is a date.”
“People go Dutch on a date,” I argue.
“Not with me, they don’t.”
I don’t know how else to make my point, especially without hurting his pride. Maybe I like the quaintness of having the man pay for the date.
But I cringe to think about this check on a security guard salary.
This kind of place should be an anniversary dinner with a girlfriend, not a first date. At least I think so. This is actually my first date that wasn’t a high-school party. The truth is I’ve never had to worry about money. I have cash in my purse, along with a credit card. Dad is always extra careful to make sure we each have money and identification when we travel.