Page 17 of Christmas in Paris
“Sorry. I didn’t think.”
“It’s okay.” Ray tugged on their linked hands, his smile not particularly wide, but at least it looked sincere. “Let’s go in here, okay?”
Simon looked where Ray was pulling him, glad for the distraction. It was a charming little hole-in-the-wall place, utterly untouched by the tourist nonsense that was in so many of the other shops. They had gotten far enough away from the main drag, and that was a bit of a relief.
Instead of rainbow light-up Eiffel Towers, there were books. Lots and lots of books, many of them clearly old. In short, it was exactly the sort of place that Simon would find fascinating, and he had no problem with nodding his agreement and following Ray’s lead into the store.
“I love that smell,” Ray confessed, as the sweetish scent of old paper and glue washed over them both. It was the smell of libraries, old ones, and it was the sort of thing that Simon was a complete and total sucker for. It only made him want to fall for Ray more than ever.
They had so much in common, though. How was he supposed to resist? And yet, he reminded himself, as Ray wandered over to look at a display of classic French books, he somehow had to try.
But two things caught his eye, and he found himself drawn to them in a way that he couldn’t logically explain. He didn’t need these things for himself, so why would he …
And then he got it. He and Ray hadn’t talked about Christmas presents, but that didn’t stop these two things from being the best possible things for him to get the other man.
Ray was so lost in his browsing that he didn’t even notice as Simon quietly, without fanfare, purchased the books, with a finger to his lips so that the older woman running the shop knew not to say anything. She gave him a secretive little smile and a nod as she slipped his purchases into a discreet paper bag.
“I’m starving,” Ray said, and he turned around seconds after the presents were safely hidden away. “What’s that?”
“Nothing,” Simon said quickly and then smiled at the other man. “Come on. Let’s go have lunch.”
Chapter Thirteen
Ray
It was probably a stupid idea. Ray had so little disposable income. Okay, so more truthfully he had pretty much none. But he ended up, while Simon wasn’t looking, buying him a Christmas present. So what? It wasn’t any big deal.
But it weighed on him. What if Simon thought it meant something that it didn’t? The most confusing thing about that was that Ray wasn’t even sure what that meant anymore. What did he want from Simon?
More than sex. And he didn’t want this trip to be over, not only because he had fallen as much in love with Paris as he might have thought, but also because once he went home, he was going to have to come to grips with the fact that he wasn’t going to be seeing Simon much at all. Certainly not every day—not waking up in his arms.
Which had always been the deal, right? That was why they worked at all because they wanted the same thing. Light. Breezy. Sex. A fling, in short, and that should have been perfect for Ray. That should have been exactly what he needed.
And it was. But maybe he just needed a bit of distance. So after dinner one night, Ray caught Simon’s eye and leaned in to murmur to him.
“I’m going to go for a walk. I won’t be long, and you have my number.”
It was a bit of a surprise to Simon, Ray could tell, but he didn’t say anything. He just looked at Ray thoughtfully and then nodded slowly. But it seemed unlikely that he minded, because after all, why would he?
It was a cold night, though, and Ray found that not only were his fingers and toes cold, but he missed Simon. What exactly was he trying to prove here? He didn’t have so many nights with Simon that he should be wasting one of them. Besides, he could be warm and wrapped in his arms, which sounded a lot better than freezing his ass off.
When he came in, he walked right past her. He simply didn’t see her. It seemed like the rest of the kids were in bed or at least in their rooms, or so he thought until someone spoke from directly behind him.
“Ray, can I talk to you for a second?”
It was Mandy, and Ray smiled at her. Truth was, he felt a little bit sorry for the girl. She seemed to be a bit of an outcast, which was too bad because she was very sweet. He’d chatted with her a fair bit, and it hadn’t taken her long to open up to him, at least more than she did with most people.
So it wasn’t entirely unexpected that she should seek him out. But she’d never done it this late at night before. It had always just been during the day. It might mean something serious, and this was, after all, the job he had been sent here to do.
“Of course.” He went to sit in the lobby, a lovely area that overlooked a central courtyard. It was obviously too cold to be out there right now, especially since she didn’t even have a coat on, but it was still nice to be so close and still toasty warm. “What’s up?”
“I …” Mandy flushed, then clamped her mouth shut, like she might not speak at all. Ray made sure to look very calm and didn’t let his lips so much as quirk up at the edges, but internally, he was trying to figure out which of the students had caught quiet Mandy’s eye. Because he remembered being a teenager well enough to know what was going on here, he thought.
Mandy had a crush. He couldn’t help but be a bit touched that she had even considered talking to him about it. Ashley had always thought he was too much of a dork, he suspected, to talk to him about that sort of thing. Or maybe it was just different when it was your actual father.
Still, he didn’t press her. He just looked at her politely and attentively, and slowly, her shoulders unclenched and dropped down from where they had been hovering around her ears.
“I like someone. I think he might like me.”
