by J. S. Cooper
“I guess they don’t want to compromise the case.” Zane’s eyes looked thoughtful as he stared at me. “I just thought it was strange.”
“They should understand your need for closure.” I was angry for him. “They basically used you to bring Braydon and Angelique down and now they can’t even let you find out exactly what happened the night that he died? It’s not fair.”
“It’s okay, Lucky.” Zane issued me a crumpled smile. “I loved my brother and I will always honor his memory, but I need to live in the here and now. I nearly lost you with my focus on revenge. I’m not going to let it all control my mind anymore. I want to focus on us now, and making our relationship stronger.”
“Oh, Zane.” My eyes filled with tears at his words. He sounded so sincere and they were like music to my ears. “You don’t know how much that means to me to hear you say that.”
“I’ve noticed how distant you’ve been these last few days Lucky, and it has killed me. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to make this relationship work. Nothing I wouldn’t give to make this a forever love. I want to prove my love to you. I want the birds in the sky to chirp of my love for you. I want the pygmies in Africa to talk of my love for you. I want the fish in the bottom of the ocean to feel the depths of my love for you.”
“You’re going to make me cry.” I bit my lip and looked at the sincere expression in his eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I finished my song for you.” He laughed. “But it’s more like a poem. I’d like to say it to you, if you don’t mind.”
I groaned at his words. “Does that mean I’ll have to say mine as well?”
“If you want.” He laughed. “But you don’t have to.”
“I will, but you first.” My stomach turned over with nerves. “The genius has to go first.”
“Well, I’m glad you’ve finally admitted that I’m a genius.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you are.”
“Okay, here we go.” Zane turned around to face me and his blue eyes were full of emotion as he started to talk. I focused on his pink lips and the slight stubble on his chin as he spoke, because I was scared that if I looked into his eyes as he spoke, I would be a blubbering mess.
One day, people shall talk of this day, my love
One day, birds shall sing of my joy, my love
One day, the wind shall scream the truth to the world, my love
Ten years of our love is not enough, my love
Eternity is just a drop in time for our love, my love
You have the key to my heart and soul, my love
I don't want to walk a foot without you besides me, my love
I don't want to talk without seeing your smile, my love
I live for the moments when it's just us, my love
Give me forever to love you, my love
Give me your trust and your life, my love
I'll protect you and love you all my life, my love
One day will come when the whole world will talk of our love, my love
Be my love, feel my love, live my love, for today my love, is one day, my love
“Oh Zane,” I couldn’t stop the tears of joy from rolling out of my eyes. “That was so beautiful. I can’t believe you wrote that for me.”
“Well, believe it, my dear. And believe me when I say, I’m putting my all into being the man you deserve.”
“I don’t deserve or want anyone other than you, Zane.”
“Then how’s about we go into the bathroom for five minutes and you …” His eyes sparkled as he talked and he burst out laughing as I shook my head at his words.
“You’re incorrigible, Zane.” I growled at hm. “Sex, sex, sex.” I laughed and gasped as his hand crept up to my breast and squeezed me through my top. “Stop it.” I hissed.
“I couldn’t resist.” He winked. “You know us sex addicts.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you were a sex addict.”
“Agent Waldron did give me a pair of handcuffs.” He winked at me. “They’re in my suitcase. Maybe I’ll have to use them tonight and show you just how much of a sex addict I am.”
“Who says we’re going to have sex tonight?” I smiled at him demurely. “I may not have fully forgiven you yet.”
“Lucky,” he groaned, “don’t tease me. I can’t go another night without feeling myself inside of you. It’s torture having you lying next to me, feeling you against me and not being able to have my wicked way with you.”
“Well, I guess you’ll have to learn to deal with it.” I giggled thinking about the feel of him pressed up against me each morning. He didn’t know it, but it had been very hard for me every time I pushed his hand away as well. There was nothing I enjoyed more than feeling him inside of me. When we made love, I felt like we were one. Our bodies were fused together and when we moved, I felt like we were literally joining our souls together. I had never had that physical and almost spiritual moment with any other man and I think that was one of the reasons why our sex life was even more special to me. It wasn’t just that he was the best sex I had ever had, he was also the man who made me feel more alive than I had ever felt in my life.
“We’ll see.” He growled at me and we both laughed as the flight attendant walked past us and gave us a knowing look.
***
“Bonjour, alle le Hotel Opera Pelris.” Zane spoke slowly to the taxi driver and he looked at us blankly.
“Pardon?”
“Nous allons le hotel Opera Pelris?” Zane tried again and this time his voice was firmer, as if that was going to make the taxi driver understand what he was saying.
“Pardon?”
“Je alle le hotel Opera Pelris tout rapidemente.” Zane’s voice was brusquer now and I stifled a giggle.
“I take it you never took French in school?” I raised an eyebrow at him as the taxi driver stared at us with a blank expression. “You do realize that he has no idea what you just said. Was that even in French?”
“No. Well, I don’t know,” Zane grinned at me. “Do you know how to tell him to take us to the hotel?”
“No, not really.” I laughed. “And I did take French.”
“Are you two ready?” The taxi driver raised an eyebrow at us. “The meter’s running already.”
“You speak English?” Zane looked annoyed and the taxi driver shrugged. “We’re going to the Hotel Opera Pelris sil vous plait.”
“Oui, monsieur.”
And with that, we sped off. I stared out of the window in excitement, unable to believe that I was actually here in Paris. It didn’t seem quite real. Everything about the city was amazing to me so far. The tall older buildings all looked majestic to me and there were bakeries on every corner.
“I can’t wait to get some croissants.” I looked over at Zane and smiled. “And some hot chocolate.”
“Or you could get a pain au chocolat.” He grinned.
“What’s that?” My stomach grumbled and we both laughed.
“I think it’s a croissant with chocolate in the middle.” He licked his lower lip and frowned. “But I could be wrong.”
“Just as long as it’s not snails.” I made a face. “Or foie gras. Yuck.”
“How can you not like foie gras?” He shook his head. “It’s so delicious.”
“I guess that’s what happens when you’re a country bumpkin.”
“Do you like pâté?”
“Ewww. Gross.” I shook my head.
“And you consider yourself the next Julia Child? For shame. I’ll have to teach you to enjoy world class food.”
“Ha. That’s okay. I’m good with a juicy steak and a baked potato.”
“Aren’t we all?” He rubbed his stomach and leaned over and bit my lower lip lightly. “Thank God, we’re both meat eaters. I’m not sure what I would have done if you were a vegetarian.”
“That would have been a deal-breaker?” I looked at him curiously.
“No.” He laughed loudly. “But it would have made me fee
l guilty any time I wanted to eat meat.”
“You, feel guilty? Yeah right.” I scoffed.
He reached over to tickle me. “Shh you.” His hands tickled under my arms and I giggled and pulled away. “I tell you that I do feel guilty sometimes. Not often, but sometimes.”
“Uh huh.”
“You better be nice to me or I won’t take you to le Louvre.”
“The museum?” I made a face.
“Don’t you want to see the Mona Lisa?”
“Not really,” I laughed. “I’d much rather go to Versailles.”
“You are a girl, aren’t you? You want to see the glitz and glamour.”
“Actually, I want to see it because it was the center of Louis XIV political power before the beginning of the French Revolution. Versailles is the symbol of absolute monarchy in the old regime of France. All that opulence and all those riches are what helped to bring about the demise of the monarchy in France.”
“I forgot I was dating a historian.” He laughed. “I guess you’ll be my guide.”
“I don’t know if I know enough to be anyone’s guide. But I’m super excited to see the gardens and the Hall of Mirrors.”
“Hall of Mirrors?”
“It’s the most famous room in Versailles.” I laughed. “It’s one of the most renowned rooms in the world.”
“A room with a bunch of mirrors?” Zane looked surprised. “Okay.” He rolled his eyes and I saw the taxi driver shaking his head in disgust and stifled another laugh.
“It’s not just some cheap ten dollar mirror you get at Walmart or Target, Zane.”
“I don’t shop at Walmart or Target.” He scoffed.
I pinched him for being a snob. “Zane, that’s not important.” I rolled my eyes. “The point is, it’s not just a room full of crappy cheap mirrors. These are opulent, gold-framed and gilded mirrors. And the hallway is huge and it overlooks the gardens. It’s beautiful.”
“You’ve seen them?”
“No, but one of my ex-boyfriends went with his family and he showed me some photos.”
“Oh.” Zane pursed his lips and frowned. “What ex-boyfriend?”
“My first boyfriend, actually. He was my high school love.”
“I see.” His voice turned cold. “Why did you break up if you guys were in love?”
“Oh Zane.” I shook my head at his obvious jealousy though it made me feel warm inside. “We broke up because I got pregnant and he didn’t want to help me look after the baby.”
“What?” He looked furious.
“Sorry, that was a bad joke.” I touched his shoulder. “He went to Princeton in New Jersey and I went to UM. Geography made it hard for us to keep dating.”
“You could have tried long distance.”
“We could have, but we didn’t.”
“I guess the love wasn’t that strong then.” He looked into my eyes searchingly.
“He was my high school boyfriend, Zane. Our love was juvenile and nothing more than a crush. I mean I was devastated when we broke up and I cried for a week straight but as soon as I got to Miami and starting make new friends and hanging out I forgot about him.” I laughed. “And now, I can barely even picture his face.”
“I guess it’s easy for you to get over guys huh?” Zane’s face was cold and I sighed. He really was a big baby sometimes.
“Zane Beaumont, are you really going to give me a hard time about my high school boyfriend? Especially after I forgave you for not telling me that you slept with Angelique.”
“I didn’t love Angelique; that was just sex.” He frowned at me and his voice was matter-of-fact.
“That doesn’t make it better.” I glared at him. “In fact, that’s worse.”
“How is it worse?” He glared back at me.
I rolled my eyes. “Are you kidding me? It is …”
“We are here. Hotel Opera Pelris.” The taxi-driver interrupted our conversation as he parked. “That will be 60 Euros please.”
“Here we go.” Zane opened his wallet and handed the man some notes. “Keep the change.”
“Merci.” The taxi driver gave us his first smile of the day as he glanced at the notes and hopped out of the car in order to open the door for us.
“I guess money talks everywhere.” I whispered to Zane and he laughed.
We walked into the hotel and I looked around in surprise at how normal it seemed. I had expected Zane was going to go all out and take us to some 5-star glittery hotel, but this was far from 5-star.
Zane walked up to the front desk and a man jumped up. “Bonjour and welcome to Opera Pelris.”
“This is Opera Pelris?” Zane’s voice was gruff and the man’s face paled a little as he nodded. “This is the Opera Pelris where all the biggest stars in Europe stay?” Zane’s voice rose. “This is the hotel of choice of all the aristocracy?”
“Yes, monsieur, this is Opera Pelris, one of the finest hotels in Paris.” The man gulped and looked down at the desk in front of him. It seemed to me that even he had a problem saying that mistruth.
“Is this a joke?” Zane’s voice grew louder and the man looked like he was about to faint. “This doesn’t look like the photos on your website.”
“Non, monsieur. Checking in?” The man averted his gaze and looked down.
“Where is the Seine?” Zane frowned and his voice was spiky. “Where are the crystal chandeliers in the lobby? In fact, where is the grand lobby with the doorman?”
“I, uh, I’m not sure I understand you, sir. My English is not that good.” The thin man swallowed and looked at me with a wide smile. “Madam, welcome to Paris.”
“Thanks.” I nodded and smiled back weakly. I felt bad for the man; Zane looked like he was about to blow a gasket. I laughed at the analogy I had made and bit my lip as Zane turned around and glared at me.
“I want to see your manager.” Zane glared at the man. “This was a case of fraud. I am not staying here.”
“Come on Zane. It’ll be okay.” I touched his shoulder. “I just want to go lie down for a bit.”
“Oh?” His eyes darkened as he stared and me and sighed. “We’ll take the room for now. But we may be checking out tomorrow.” He turned back around and glared at the man. “You better give us your best room.”
“We only have one room left monsieur.” The man swallowed, but smiled at me gratefully.
“Well, then you better hope that it meets my satisfaction.” Zane looked around the drab entryway we were in and sighed. “Sorry.” He mouthed at me.
“It’s okay.” I squeezed his arm and smiled. We were in Paris, that was all I needed. It didn’t have to be perfect. We didn’t have to have a room at the Ritz. We didn’t have to hobnob with the stars. I kept my mouth shut but I was a little worried we would be sleeping with the rats instead.
“I love you.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “You’re such a sweetheart.”
“Hey, I like hotels with character.” I put my arm around my waist. “I’m just happy to be here with you.”
“Madam, you will love it here.” The man smiled at me again. “We also have breakfast in the restaurant from 7 a.m. - 10 a.m.”
“Is room service open before and after then?” Zane interrupted.
“Well, we don’t have room service.”
“Are you joking?” Zane’s voice rose and I pinched him.
“Be nice.” My face flushed in embarrassment. “He’s just the front desk clerk Zane.”
“Just give me my keys.” Zane muttered and the man quickly gave us a key attached to a piece of wood.
“This is the key for your door. You’re on the second floor. A wonderful room. The elevator is just up the stairs and to the right.” The man beamed. “Have a nice stay.”
“Who helps us with our bags?” Zane looked around and sighed as he picked up our suitcases. “I guess that was a lie as well.” He muttered to no one in particular.
“I can help.” I reached over to take my case and he shook his head.
“No, I’ve got them.” I watched as he struggled with both cases and just sighed. Let him be the big macho man, I wasn’t going to fight him just so I could give him some help. I walked up the red-carpeted stairs and to the elevator. It was an old-fashioned elevator and I had to manually open the door. As I looked inside I realized there was no way that Zane, myself and the suitcases were going to fit in. In fact there was no way that anyone would fit in with either case. I took a deep breath before stepping back and allowing Zane to see inside the interior of the elevator. I was scared that he was going to completely lose it but he just muttered something under his breath when he realized that it was too small to be of any use.
“So, I guess I’ll just carry these up the stairs.” He sighed and I gave him a wide smile.
“You can do it, Superman.”
“Not helping, Lucky.”
“Sorry.”
“You can make it up to me.” He gave me a lascivious stare and then started up the stairs with the suitcases. I wanted to tell him to take one at a time, but I didn’t think he was in the mood for any suggestions. Thankfully, the second floor wasn’t too far of a hike and we made it there before Zane let go of the cases and called it a night.
“Let me get the door.” I grabbed the key from him and fumbled with the lock.
Finally I opened the door and walked into the room. I looked around the room in dismay. It was small and cramped and the king-sized bed was made up of twin beds pushed together. I plastered a smile on my face so Zane wouldn’t see how disappointed I was. I walked over to the windows and opened them widely, hoping to catch a glance of the Eiffel Tower, but all I saw was some scaffolding on the building directly across from us. I turned back around to check out the bathroom, maybe there would be an old antique claw-footed bathtub that I could soak in and relax. I opened the door to the bathroom and there was no bathtub at all, just a shower and a sink.
“What the fuck is this shithole?” Zane dropped the suitcases on the floor and cursed under his breath. “I’m sorry, Lucky.”
“It’s okay.” I stood in the bathroom wondering how I was going to tell him that there was no toilet. “Let’s just relax, yeah?” I turned around quickly and grabbed the remote control and turned the TV on. I smiled when I saw Sheldon from Big Bang Theory on the screen. “Yay, they have American TV.” I grinned at him, but my smile became frozen as they started speaking in another language. I kept the smile plastered on my face and sat on the hard bed while flicking through the channels. I got all the way through 105 channels before realizing that there was nothing in English. I looked up and saw Zane staring at me and the TV screen with a smirk on his face.
