Page 95 of All the Gossip from Paris
He kissed her ever so sweetly on the brow. “Though we might need to rethink the lease on my apartment in New Jersey. Even I think it’s a dump.”
She lay a hand on his chest. Over his heart. “Did I forget to mention that I own the apartment next door to this one? We could use that as a base.”
“Paris would be a perfect location for us. I do a lot of work in the UK. It’s only an hour by plane from here. It would also mean you are close enough to see your family when you want.”
She imagined that after today, things with her parents were going to be strained for some time. But when tempers and expectations eventually cooled, she’d be ready to talk.
“Speaking of planes, I’m still on standby for a coach seat to New York tonight. I don’t suppose you’re able to fly that soon, are you?”
“How about you cancel that standby ticket. We can take the morning flight tomorrow. I have my passport. My credit cards. My back up credit cards. And the phone number of the First Class concierge service at Charles de Gaulle.”
Liam chuckled. “Loving the plan but I’m not sure if my travel dollar stretches to First Class. I’m usually stuck at the back of the plane.”
She raised her eyebrows, and gave him a ‘don’t give me any of your nonsense’ look. Their first argument was not going to be over travel arrangements.
“Part of my job as your assistant will be to sort out the flights, and hotels. If I say we are traveling in style, you’ll be a good boy and take all the indulgence you can handle.”
“It sounds like a tough gig. Though I should warn you that some of my photographic assignments involve having to go off-road. Some places don’t have a five star or even a three star hotel.”
Sophie shrugged. She’d learn to adapt to this new life. The prospect of finally breaking free from her cage was both thrilling and scary.
“As long as I’m with you, I’ll be fine. Who knows? This grand adventure might change me from being a pampered princess to a real world traveler.”
He glanced at her suitcases. “If you’re hauling those cases up and down stairs, you’ll soon have the muscles to prove it.”
Sophie laughed. She wasn’t sure if it was at Liam’s joke or in pure relief. She really was about to blow up her life. To see where loving this man would take her. And for the first time in her life, she was content with that. With just being Sophie.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Charles de Gaulle Airport
The following morning
“Ok. I’ll admit it. You were right to make us wait and take the morning flight,” muttered Liam. “Not that we got a lot of sleep last night.”
Seated in the First Class suite next to his, Sophie smiled sweetly at her man. He hadn’t complained when they’d gone for round three of hot and heavy sex. She wasn’t giving Liam an ounce of sympathy.
“You poor thing. I made you sleep in my Paris apartment and when you woke you had a long hot shower. Then we went to the Royal Resorts hotel with my sister and your brother for breakfast where you attempted to single-handedly eat the entire hot buffet.”
“Ryan helped me.”
She’d give him that. The brothers had attacked the bacon and pancakes like it was their last meal.
This morning she and Liam were flying to New York. They were going to spend a few days packing up his apartment in New Jersey. Anything he wanted to keep was going to be shipped to Sophie’s apartment in Paris.
Once they were done, they would fly to São Paulo, Brazil. To Liam’s next photographic assignment.
A heady mix of fear and excitement bounced around in her stomach. While the Collins brothers had eaten their fill this morning, Sophie had barely managed a coffee and a small pastry.
They had been one of the first people to board the plane. She didn’t want to sit in the First Class lounge, or even linger at the gate. If she was going to blow up her old life, she wanted to be started on her new one as soon as possible.
Sophie’s cell pinged. She glanced at it. The screen read the same name as the last ten messages had.
Papa.
Her father had been calling since just after dawn. No doubt he’d figured she wasn’t at the chateau. And if Sophie wasn’t at home, there was a good chance she might be late for their eleven o’clock meeting. The meeting where her father and Patrice intended to set out the rules of her future.
But Sophie wasn’t going to be able to make that meeting. By the time eleven o’clock rolled around, she would be somewhere over the North Atlantic. On her way to New York.
