Page 44 of All the Gossip from Paris
As soon as his parents had left, Liam went back to his room, and finished packing. Then he rang the butler to arrange for his luggage to be collected. The Royal Resorts hotel Paris had been nothing short of amazing, so he made sure to leave the team a generous room tip.
Following the porter to the door, he paused for a moment on the threshold, and bid a silent farewell to the luxurious Royal Suite. It was going to be tough going back to sleeping in fifty dollar a night hotel rooms after this trip.
At least I can say I’ve stayed in the best suite in the best hotel in all of Paris.
The elevator took them down to the VIP area of the parking garage. A town car had been arranged to take Liam to Château de la forêt. The porter looked left and right.
“I don’t think your driver has arrived as yet, Monsieur Collins,” he observed.
Liam gave the man a gentle pat on the back. “I think there might have been a change of plans.”
Striding across the garage, making her way toward them was Sophie. The smile on her face went straight to Liam’s heart. She waved and gave a cheery. “Bonjour!”
The porter glanced at Liam, who nodded. “That’s my friend. I’m assuming that if she’s here, I’m going with her.” He hoped that’s what Sophie had in mind.
Reaching them, Sophie bent and picked up Liam’s camera satchel. She swung it over her shoulder. “My old job from New York,” she said.
Liam burrowed a hand into his pocket, and handed the porter a sizeable tip. Everything on this trip had been paid for by someone else, today was not the day for him to be playing cheap. “Merci,” Liam said, as the man folded up a twenty euro note and stuffed it into his pants pocket.
Grabbing his suitcase from the luggage rack and lifting the handle, Liam asked Sophie, “I take it you are my ride this morning? I didn’t realize you moonlighted as an Uber driver.”
They headed across the garage to where Sophie’s car was parked. “I was coming into Paris this morning, so I thought it made sense to swing by and pick you up. You don’t mind if we do some last minute Christmas shopping while we are here, do you? It’s almost Christmas Eve,” said Sophie.
Christmas. Dang. I’d forgotten about Christmas.
“Not a problem. When are you flying out to Turks and Caicos?” he asked. If the clock was running down on the time left for him to talk to her, he had to know.
Sophie popped the trunk of her car, and Liam lifted his case and placed it inside. She carefully loaded his satchel on top. “I’m not going to the island. I’ve decided to stay home. I need time away from all the Royal family dramas.”
“Dramas?”
She nodded. “The relatives actually behaved themselves at the wedding. But I’ve been told that once they get to the island this Christmas, the gloves are coming off. I don’t need to spend my vacation having to put up with my cousins and their dick measuring contests.”
“They don’t really do that do they?” asked Liam. He hoped Sophie wasn’t serious about the measuring bit.
“Well no. The clothes do stay on. But the need to outdo one another is nuts. Last year we had the Greek and Italian yachts trying to run laps of the island.”
Liam burst out laughing. “That’s sounds insane, but lots of fun.”
Sophie shook her head. “I’m going to have a nice quiet time at home. And with my parents gone, the chateau will be a haven of peace.”
François and Marina Royal were not going to be at the chateau. This was good news. He might actually stand a chance of spending time with Sophie away from her relatives. “Are they going to the island?”
“No. Papa is a keen skier, so they are going to Villars-sur-Ollon, in Switzerland. The family has a chalet just outside of the ski village.”
She closed up the trunk, making a great show of dusting her hands. “They won’t be back until the week after New Year’s. Which means that over the holidays, it will just be the four of us at the chateau. You are still coming for Christmas, aren’t you?”
“If that’s ok.”
“Of course it is. I’m thrilled you’ve decided to stay.”
Her excitement was infectious. Liam found himself caught up in it. He’d hoped to spend time with Sophie—now it seemed his prayers had been answered.
“Come on, let’s go. We can grab the hotel shuttle service over to Galeries Lafayette to do our shopping and then come back here. Your luggage will be safe; this garage is very secure.”
Liam was certain his wallet let out a whimper at the mention of shopping at one of Paris’ most upmarket department stores. But it was Christmas, and he did like being generous with gifts.
What was he going to buy Sophie? How did a guy go about buying a gift for a girl whose family could afford to mess about in maxi yachts?
