Page 80 of Ace My Heart

“I’m making you dinner,” he replied with a smirk. “Same as I do every night when we’re travelling.”

I leaned back against the railing and watched. Finally he pulled out a bottle of red wine and two plastic wine cups. He poured a small one for me and a slightly bigger one for himself.

“That’s all the wine you’re allowed tonight, seeing as you have a quarter to prepare for, so you’d better make it last,” he warned in a teasing tone. He clinked his cup against mine and took a sip. I stared down at the wine, at the array of beautiful food, and then back at him.

“This feels a little too much like a date for my liking,” I muttered, sure that he could hear the thunder of my heartbeat. I looked away from him, straight at a couple who were kissing each other like there was no tomorrow, their hands wandering to places that it just wasn’t appropriate for them to wander in public. Definitely the wrong place to look – it made me wonder what it would be like to be doing that with Joel.

“Don’t get too excited, Stink. It’s just dinner.” Joel was already filling a plate with food. He passed it to me and then made one for himself.

I ate in silence. Joel was up to something. Even when I wasn’t looking at him, I could feel the warmth of his eyes on me.

It wasn’t until I finished my wine and felt the alcohol singing gently in my blood, that I decided it didn’t really matter what he was up to, and that I should just enjoy a nice evening out with him.

“What’s that building over there?” I asked, pointing towards the domed structure I’d noticed earlier.

“That’sl’Institut de Francais,” he replied. “It’s a museum – it used to be a learning academy.”

“And that’s …” He pointed to the other side of the bridge we were on, where another equally spectacular building was nestled behind some trees, “Musée du Louvre.”

I gasped, more at the husky purr of Joel’s perfect French pronunciation than at all the incredible things that would be inside that building.

“You want to do the most touristy thing possible in Paris?” he asked, clearing the empty containers back into the paper bag. I couldn’t help the grin that spread on my face.

“Really? It’s open at night?” I didn’t try to hide the excitement in my voice, and Joel beamed at me.

“Yep, it’s open until late. The views at night are incredible.”

I leapt to my feet. “What are we doing then, let’s go!”

Joel’s laughter bubbled over as he stood up, folding up the blanket we’d been sitting on and draping it over his shoulder. He put a hand on my arm and swung me so that I was facing the water of the river. He pointed towards the tourist attraction we wereheading off to see. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed it when we arrived.

“Watch,” he whispered. I kept my eyes locked on the Eiffel Tower, which suddenly twinkled with what looked like millions of fairy lights. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from it, but at the same time I was all too aware of Joel’s arm pressed up against mine as we both leaned on the railing.

The show went on for a little while, and then the twinkling stopped, and the Tower went back to glowing in the Paris night.

I turned to Joel, who seemed to be trying not to laugh – his lips kept twitching further and further up at the corners.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, my voice dreamy. Joel’s smile widened.

“Just watching you is entertainment enough for me tonight.” He started walking back towards the street and I followed. I wanted to know what he meant, but I couldn’t find the courage to ask.

“When did you learn to speak French?” I asked instead.

“I spent a year here on an exchange program in high school,” he replied carelessly, tossing the paper bag into a rubbish bin as we passed it.

“Really? What did your dad think about that?” I asked.

“He didn’t mind so much. I stayed with a tennis family, so I played a lot. He didn’t care where I was, as long as I was keeping up with my training. Mum was the one who pushed me to do it; she could tell that I needed some time away from Dad. We were constantly arguing back then.”

“How old were you?” I asked.

“Sixteen.”

“What else did you do, apart from play tennis?”’ I asked.

Joel chuckled. “Oh, I had a lot of sex,” he murmured. “French girls areveryadventurous.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course you were having a lot of sex!” I snapped. “That seems to be all you ever do!”

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