“You told me that you want to learn to dance and ride horses. What other things are you teaching yourself?”
She rested her hands on the leather armrests, her fingers grateful for the rest from the summary she’d been typing up.
“Well, I’ve always wanted to speak French and Spanish fluently. But I can’t seem to find the time to do that. Every once in a while, I study a verb or two, but I haven’t found a way for me to practice often enough for it to make an impact on my progress.”
“What else?”
She shrugged. “I want to know how to defend myself. As a single woman,” she didn’t add that she’d probably be single for a long time. “I know that it’s important to know how to fight off an attacker. So, that’s another skill I want to practice. I don’t have a regular schedule, so I can’t find a self-defense class where I can learn the skills.” She shrugged. “And that isn’t something I can learn online by myself.”
He nodded and she wondered what he was thinking.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for him to explain.
“I’ll teach you,” he announced.
“Teach me?”
“I’ll teach you self-defense in the morning before we start working.”
Rachel stiffened with horror. “Um…no, that’s okay.”
He shook his head, waving aside her argument. “I think it’s an excellent idea.”
Before she could argue further, his phone rang and he took the call. Rachel watched as he stood up, pacing as he spoke, circling the table where they were working.
She was fascinated by the way he moved with such amazing grace for a man so tall and muscular. He looked like a dangerous panther, but she also knew that he was a bit of a tease.
More humanity, she thought with a mental grimace. She needed to stop thinking like that. The man was gorgeous and all that, but he wouldn’t be interested in a mouse like her. She was too timid and she wasn’t glamorous like the women she’d see him paired with in pictures online.
Getting back to work, she focused on the project and not on the man who looked…decadently delicious.
They landed in Paris and were immediately taken to the hotel. But he didn’t give her a chance to open her computer again.
“We need to hurry,” he told her.
She looked up at him, startled once again. “We do?”
“Yep. Come along. You won’t need your work stuff.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, grabbing her tote bag, which also acted as her purse.
“The Eiffel Tower,” he announced.
They were back in the limousine and driving through the gorgeous streets of Paris towards the famous monument. “Why are we going to the Eiffel Tower?”
“Because it’s one of my favorite places,” he replied easily.
“Why?”
“Because I like it. And it fascinates me. I appreciate the way the design connects with the earth and enables the wind. It’s one of the ugliest and most beautiful structures in the world, in my opinion.”
She tilted her head. “Ugly?”
He shrugged. “It’s just a massive steel structure. Did you know that it was built for the World’s Fair?”
“Same with the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington,” she replied.
“That’s another one that I like to visit, but The Eiffel Tower is still my favorite.”
“You like this one even more than the huge, elaborate building designs that have emerged over the past few years?”
He nodded enthusiastically. “Think about it. The buildings that are going up now are all done with computers. The architects design something and then a computer does all of the calculations, another computer cuts the materials, and yet another computer monitors the construction. Back in the eighteen hundreds, when The Eiffel Tower was built, there weren’t any computers. All of the calculations were done by hand. They didn’t even have a calculator.” He shook his head, pausing to consider the architectural feat. “It’s amazing. I also think the massive cathedrals around the world are just as remarkable. Those were done by uneducated stone cutters without computers too.” He winked at her. “That’s why we’re also visiting Montmartre this afternoon.”
Her eyes widened. “We are?”
“Yeah. It’s another architectural feat.”
The limousine pulled up outside of the tower and a uniformed staff member smiled in greeting as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. “Bonjour, Your Highness,” the staff member greeted him. “Je m’appelle Elizabet et…” they had a rapid fire conversation in French while Rachel listened, irritated with herself for not having a better grasp on the language. Meanwhile, Tarin spoke the language like a native, fluently conversing with the woman, who smiled flirtatiously up at him.
At the end of the conversation, he put a hand to the small of Rachel’s back and led her towards the monument. “She said that the officials offered a private tour, but I explained that I’d already visited several times over the years and just wanted to visit the top.”
“And?” she prompted when he didn’t continue.
He looked down at her, amused at her annoyed expression, which only ruffled her further, and went on. “She said that we’ll have a private elevator to the top and can spend as much time as we’d like there, although other visitors will also be present.”
“Is that okay?” she asked, glancing at his guards who were walking in a perimeter around them.
“Of course,” he assured her. But Rachel wasn’t convinced. “But…”
He pulled her closer. “The security team is pretty good at what they do,” he assured her as they stepped into elevator. “But I’m flattered that you care. Maybe if you cared just a bit more, you’d actually use my name.”
She snorted. “Not gonna happen.”
He laughed and she shivered at the sound, hoping that he didn’t understand what that shiver meant. It would be beyond humiliating for him to know how she felt about him.
The elevator doors opened
