Her thumb stroked my cheekbone and then grazed my jawline before she spoke. “I worried about you. Hannah tried to keep me informed, but she said you cut her and Neil out not long after you moved out.”
My fingers wrapped around her wrist and moved her hand from my face. I held it loosely between us. The opportunity presented itself, and I had to take it. “I made a lot of mistakes.”
“Me too.”
I doubted very seriously we were talking about the same things. “No, babe. I made mistakes that might change the way you feel about me.”
She huffed a bit of a laugh. “That makes two of us.”
“How much did Hannah tell you?” This might help me figure out how to delve into my admission.
Her teeth tugged her bottom lip into her mouth where she chewed on it for several long seconds like she was trying to find the best way to tell me what she already knew I’d done. “I heard you gave your liver a run for your money.”
“Why does everyone think I was a raging alcoholic?”
“I don’t think anyone believes you were an alcoholic. Neil and Hannah were only concerned about your sudden lifestyle switch. And when you shut them out, that increased tenfold.”
“Right.”
“I also know you became friendly with the owner of a bar, and of course, there’s Chelsea.” She held my stare, yet instead of anger, I saw sorrow.
“I’m sorry. I never would have touched another woman if you’d told me our separation was temporary. I would have waited had I had any inclination.”
“Don’t apologize. I don’t like it, but I did nothing to stop it. I knew about it when it was going on, which was why you didn’t hear from me. And trust me, it took everything I had not to reach out and beg you to wait. The only reason I didn’t was because that wouldn’t have been fair to either of us.”
“I would have killed to hear your voice.” My mind drifted back to the place of darkness after she’d left, the one where I didn’t give a shit what or who I did, I just searched for pleasure to kill the pain.
“I wasn’t perfect, either. I dated. I played. It just wasn’t ever right. And the hours I was keeping at work kept me from falling too far down the rabbit hole.”
Even though I didn’t want any details from her, I had to give her the chance to ask me questions before we shut this topic down permanently. “I don’t want to know. I can’t stand the thought of another man touching you, and I’d prefer to pretend like they never did. If there’s anything you need to ask, I think you should do it now. Let’s clear the air completely, and then decide if we can move on. Because if we can, I never want to bring it up again. We weren’t together, and it’s not fair for either of us to hold that time against the other.” That was easy for me to say since I’d been the one to act like a slut.
“Was there anyone other than the woman who owns the bar? What’s her name—Letty?”
We’d talked about Letty and Chelsea. She also heard about Eric and Cason. I’d mentioned them on numerous phone calls, and while I had assumed she knew something had taken place with Letty, I had never admitted to it.
“Colette, but yes, Letty.” I wasn’t sure she really needed a name, though I gave her one.
“So one?”
“And Chelsea.”
“Wow. I didn’t realize you and Chelsea had done anything. I thought it was platonic. You really enjoyed your time away, huh?” She swatted playfully at my chest, but I caught her hand.
“Cora…”
“Were you safe?”
I looked her dead in the eye and made sure she saw the truth in my next sentence. “I’ve never been with another woman unprotected. Not once. And Chelsea is nothing more than a friend, I promise.”
Her pupils dilated just slightly, and her chest swelled with something akin to pride, although I wasn’t sure why.
“Anything else?”
She shook her head. “You?”
“Did you, uh…um—fool around?”
She held my stare and squared her shoulders. “Yes. With Henry from work. Huge mistake, and it caused a lot of problems.”
“Is that what spurred your desire to come home?” I had to have confirmation that she chose me and not that she simply had to get away from the guy in her office.
“No, James. I want to come home because that’s where I belong.”
There was no further discussion of our past when I took her mouth to seal our future.
***
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine Cora would let go of our time apart as easily as she did. I assumed it would come back up, that she’d have more questions, try to delve into the depths of my misdeeds, even insist I stop communicating with Chelsea, but not once did she broach the subject the entire time I was in Paris.
She dragged me all over the city doing the tourist bit, and I loved every minute of it. It was as if time ceased to exist, and the world ushered us into a cocoon of isolation where the two of us reunited. Every minute we spent together—whether it was at the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe—was perfection. I’d laughed when she told me we were going to Disneyland Paris, but we had the time of our lives with Mickey and the gang. The Louvre and Notre Dame were just as magnificent as I’d expected them to be, yet it was magical getting to experience them with Cora by my side.
She convinced me to try foods I’d never considered in cafes that only existed in novels. We shopped, walked what seemed like a thousand miles, and talked endlessly. The city made for lovers reconnected us emotionally and healed a part of me I thought would remain forever broken. And at the end of each day, exhausted but full of life, we crawled into bed next to each other and made out like teenagers before she’d crash in my arms.
Tilting my head to see her nestled into my side leaned against my chest filled my soul with hope. Whereas her soft breathing would have lulled me to sleep any other night, tomorrow was New Year’s Eve, and the day belonged to me. She didn’t make any plans as I’d asked her to let me take care of it. However, lying here in the shadows created by the glow of the moon through the open curtains, nervous anticipation prevented sleep. My mind raced through a thousand scenarios about how tomorrow would play out, although I refused to let myself consider that she might turn me down.
Looking for reinforcement, I tried to text Chelsea. Except she didn’t respond, and reaching out to Neil seemed to violate the bro-code in more than one way. Plus, he’d tell Hannah, and I’d never hear the end of it when I got back to New York.
So instead, I focused on her saying yes, and how each day that passed after would be one more day closer to her coming home. We hadn’t talked about our future or our past; we’d simply enjoyed our present. It only served to confirm what I’d known for years—Cora Chase had claimed my heart in the cafeteria our junior year, and no other woman would ever satisfy my soul.
I had drifted in and out of fitful sleep all night, and when the sun finally erased the night to welcome the morning, I couldn’t lie in the bed any longer. Cora stirred as I eased out from under her, yet instead of waking, she rolled onto her side. The way the sunlight hit her dark hair that flowed over on the pillow stopped me in my tracks. I’d never seen anything more stunning and peaceful—her bare shoulder peeked out from the sheets, adding just a hint of arousal to the picture. It took everything in me not to crawl back in bed and have my way with her naked body, but I’d promised myself I wouldn’t take that step unless she said yes.
After pulling on some basketball shorts, I made my way to the kitchen to make her breakfast. I wanted everything about today to be perfect. I’d even gone so far as to have Hannah teach me how to cook Belgian waffles to make sure I had something special each step of the way. Of course, she’d only agreed to cooking lessons after I’d confessed my plans with a promise of secrecy on her part. Thinking about Hannah bouncing up and down, clapping with excitement, only fueled my fire and brought a smile to my face. She believed in Cora and me, and that had meant the world. I needed to channel hers and Chels
ea’s positive energy and faith.
“Good morning.” Those two words came off in a raspy, sleep-filled haze from behind me. “Something smells delicious. When did you learn to cook?”
Cora wrapped her arms around my midsection and kissed my shoulder blade. When she pressed her cheek to my skin, I leaned back into her embrace, wondering how I’d survived eighteen months without her.
“I might have coerced Hannah into teaching me some basics.” I grinned over my shoulder while finishing breakfast. “Are you hungry?”
“Starved. Should I make coffee?” The heat of her breath made it hard to focus on the task at hand.
“Already brewed. And these are done.” I turned in her arms to kiss her sweet lips before carrying the plates to her tiny, two-seater table by the window.
I watched in anticipation as she poured the warm syrup over her waffle and then placed a piece on her tongue. I didn’t have a clue if it was even edible, although it looked fantastic.
Her eyes closed as her lips released the fork. “Mmm.”
There was no denying she either loved the waffle or had given a performance that rivaled that of Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally. But when I took a taste of my own, I confirmed it was the former. Hannah had done me proud.
“These are fantastic, James. Please tell me Hannah taught you more than just breakfast.”
She hadn’t, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t learn between now and the time Cora actually came back to New York. “I’m learning.”
Cora leaned back in her bistro chair and crossed her legs. With a cup of coffee in hand, she eyed me with curiosity and sipped from her mug. “Tell me, what other surprises do you have in store for me today?”
In the time we’d been apart, something had changed in the girl I loved. However, it wasn’t until that moment that I recognized what it was. When she’d left New York, she’d still been a young adult, youthful and spirited. She was still that same person, yet a year and a half of international living had matured her, not aged her appearance, just softened her already smooth edges. The woman before me was the picture of class and sophistication in a casual, lovable way.
“Hopefully, a romantic excursion and day we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.”
“This isn’t like the road trip to New York and the world’s largest ball of twine, is it?” Her eyes danced with humor at the memory.
“I thought we’d go explore the history of the bidet.” I cleared my expression, waiting to hear her response.
“Do you think we’ll get to try them out?” She challenged my bluff.
“I didn’t ask. I assumed you washed your bum on the regular now that you were a Parisite.”
“Parisian.”
“Huh?”
“You called me a parasite…like a fungus. The term is Parisian.” The giggle she let escape turned into a full-blown laugh that caused her cheeks to warm and her eyes to water.
“I’m an idiot. I knew that.”
“For real, what are we doing? We aren’t going to have fountains sprayed up our butts. And the list of questions I have about bidets couldn’t possibly be answered in twenty-four hours. We should save that for another trip.”
“When you’re done eating, we’ll get dressed and go find out.”
Eager to see what I had planned, she finished her coffee and waffle in record time. She popped a kiss on my mouth after she stood from the table, and I wrapped my arm around her waist to bring her to me. “I’m right behind you.”
The week had been perfect, and today would make or break us. I needed to either move forward or move on—her answer this afternoon would determine which direction I went at the crossroad before me. I could only pray our paths were the same.
“Are we on a timetable?”
“Not really, we have reservations at eight thirty tonight. Nothing’s set in stone prior. Why?”
I stood and gathered the plates from the table, but before I could get more than a couple steps away, she latched onto the waistband of my shorts and pulled me back to her. “I want to take our time getting cleaned up.” Her expression hinted at mischief, yet when she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, it turned erotic.
The dishes could wait.
“Lead the way.” I didn’t care where she took me or what she had in mind—I’d follow…even if I hadn’t expected it to be a sensual shower together. My willpower was waning. Every touch of her skin against mine left me weak, and my resolve not to fuse our bodies into one neared failure.
Cora was wanton, and I was the last guy in the world who should try to refuse her. I managed to escape the shower without penetration or making her feel rejected. She’d played along with my unwillingness to consume her, even though it was evident she was growing leery.
It took monumental effort not to strip off the tight skinny jeans she’d just slathered over her legs and have my way with her. Instead, I forced myself to face a wall while the two of us finished dressing.
“You ready?” Eager to get this show on the road, my excitement came out like a prepubescent boy.
She giggled and eased up on her tiptoes to kiss my lips with a smile. “Been ready.”
Hannah wouldn’t spill the beans, but that one comment and the way she’d said those two words made me wonder if she had some premonition of what today would hold. I hoped to keep it a surprise. Although, if her radiant joy came from knowing what I had planned, I had to admit that put a huge puff of wind in my sail. I wasn’t ready to beat my chest, but God, I prayed I was in full-on caveman mode by eight thirty tonight.
With the ring uncomfortably in my pocket, I took Cora’s hand and led her out the door and into the last December day of the year. The sun shined so brightly it created a halo around everything in the distance, and the warmth it offered was unseasonable yet welcomed. There was no breeze or bite to the Paris air, and the birds sang happily as traffic eased by at what seemed an unusually slow pace. I chose to believe Mother Nature had orchestrated a perfect day and the world was in cahoots with her, but instead of thinking beyond the sounds of silence, I opted to enjoy the company of the woman at my side.
“You going to tell me where we’re going?”
“Down the road a piece.”
We walked in relative silence other than the few things Cora pointed out along the way or the architecture she couldn’t resist. I knew long ago that my ability to enjoy Cora’s company without words or something to occupy us was a connection I’d never shared with anyone else. Simply being next to her was enough.
As we approached the Pont des Arts, Cora squeezed my hand. I wished we’d made this trip before the city quit allowing lovers to add locks, but she’d understand the meaning and why I’d chosen this particular location to drop to one knee. It wouldn’t matter that we couldn’t put our own lock on the ironwork, the sentiment would remain.
“Up until a couple years ago, we could have had a padlock on the bridge.” The comment managed to come out as smoothly as I’d hoped…by the grace of God.
“I’ve read a little about it. The weight threatened the integrity of the bridge.” She turned to look up at me, still holding my hand. “Somehow, it’s like we have one here anyhow. All I feel is love and romance. Silly, huh?”
We weren’t where I’d intended to be on the bridge, and the water wasn’t as visible from this location as I’d hoped, but Cora had stopped here, and I took that as my cue. I said a quick prayer while I stared into her emerald eyes, and without dropping her hand, dug the black box from my pocket and took a knee.
If she was aware I was going to propose, I couldn’t tell. Her free hand touched her lips in shock, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Cora didn’t pull away or tell me no. She didn’t look around to see who might bear witness to my request. She honed in on my eyes and refused to let go.
“I had planned to ask you this two years ago, but think maybe you were right. Maybe we both needed to explore who we were to establish who we’re meant to be. There has never been a
question in my mind of whether or not you were meant to be in my life; I’ve known since that day in the cafeteria when we were seventeen that there would never be anyone else.”
She blinked, sending the tears that pooled in her eyes cascading down her pink cheeks. They clung to her jaw with the same anticipation that lingered in her eyes. Her emerald irises were smiling, even if her expression was that of shock.
“I don’t want to go another day without knowing you’re mine. Eighteen months has been a year and a half too long. Will you marry me? I promise to love you endlessly, care for you faithfully, and protect you at all costs.”
She nodded, although her head barely moved. “Yes,” she croaked, and it was the most glorious sound I’d ever heard. “Yes. Yes. Yes. A thousand times, yes.” The smile that hung in her eyes took over her face, and the tears that had held on let go at the last possible second.
I dropped her hand to remove the ring from the velvet and then slid it onto her slim finger. Before it was even fully on, I stood to take her mouth in an uninhibited kiss that would embarrass old ladies. But I didn’t care. Cora Chase had agreed to be my wife despite my downfalls, stupid mistakes, and transgressions during our time apart. I’d shout it from the mountaintops as soon as I reached a peak.
When I finally allowed Cora to breathe her own air, I glanced around and noticed the area was primarily deserted. No one appeared to have witnessed our monumental moment. And somehow, that seemed perfect. I watched as Cora stared at her hand in awe, her gaze shifting to me then back repeatedly, and I tried to commit every moment to memory.
The details of the remainder of the day paled in comparison, but the cruise down the Seine and the sights we took in only added to the experience. We were both on cloud nine throughout our time on the river and our four-course meal that followed. The sights of Paris at night were nothing short of breathtaking and completely different than they’d been during the day. Chelsea had been right; the Eiffel Tower alone was worth the trip. We kicked off the new year together, engaged, and all was right in the world as the fireworks exploded over the city in what I’d forever remember as a celebration of us.
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