Page 85 of Thirty Days in Paris

‘Of course. But I would have understood if you’d chosen not to.’

‘I wasn’t doing anything that important.’

‘But I’ve ruined your stay. How many days have you got left?’

‘Just a few.’ She thought of the apartment she’d abandoned. She’d give anything to be back there now, tapping away at her laptop, the curtains open to the moon shining on the rooftops opposite. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘You look different, you know.’

She touched her hair. ‘I cut my hair.’

‘You smell different, too.’

‘That’ll be the garlic.’

‘No. Not garlic.’

She lifted her wrist to her nose. ‘I’ve got a new perfume.’

She didn’t tell him the name of it. French Lover. As she breathed it in, she imagined it mingled with Olivier’s scent. Oh God.

‘You haven’t gone and fallen in love, have you?’

His tone wasn’t accusatory. It was teasing. She looked over at him.

‘I think I have. But not with a person. I’m in love with Paris. It feels like home to me. I feel as if I belong. I love everything about it. From that first sip of coffee in the morning to the last digestif at night.’

Her eyes were shining as she spoke and Stuart was watching her.

‘I haven’t seen you look like that for a long time,’ he said. ‘You should go back.’

‘How can I? I can’t leave you like this.’

‘Of course you can. I’ll be fine here with Nate. He’s going to stay on until Christmas.’

‘He is?’

‘Go and live your dream, Juliet. I don’t want to hold you back.’ He looked down at the coffee table. Their phones lay side by side on it. Identical methods of communication containing all their secrets.

She smiled. ‘Are you waiting for a text?’ she asked.

‘Maybe.’

‘The A and E consultant?’

‘Looks like she’s going to come in handy.’ He grinned. ‘She’s already devising my rehabilitation programme.’

‘Is that what she calls it?’ She couldn’t help teasing him back. ‘Is she nice?’

‘She is. She works way too hard. But I’m working on that.’

‘I’m really glad.’

‘Maybe I should have her as my emergency contact. I mean, it shouldn’t be you anymore, really, should it?’

Juliet didn’t reply for a moment. ‘OK,’ she said carefully. Somehow, that felt like the final unmeshing. ‘But I would always be there if you needed me.’

‘I know.’

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