God, he smelt so good.
I’d thought the same when I’d sat next to him on the rooftop. Because we were out in the open air, I assumed I’d be fine. But every time there was a gentle breeze, it carried Gabriel’s scent and I couldn’t help but inhale it.
Now in this lift, there was no escape.
‘It’s not moving!’ I said, panic rising in my voice.
Gabriel stretched out his muscular arm and pressed the ground-floor button again. He had very big hands. I wondered whether what they said about men with big hands was true?
Just as my mind started taking an unauthorised trip down forbidden thoughts street, the ground-floor button lit up and the lift descended.
Thank God.
Imagine if we’d got stuck in this confined space together.
What felt like hours rather than seconds later, we reached the ground floor and when the doors opened, I exhaled.
‘I will speak to reception about arranging a car.’
‘Car?’ I repeated, the panic returning to my voice. ‘Can’t we just walk? It’ll be better for the environment.’
‘We will have a lot of walking to do when we arrive and with the extra locations we will visit, so it is better to save our energy. And the hotel only uses electric cars, which have less impact on the environment.’
‘Oh,’ I said, when I really wanted to sayshit.
Travelling in a car with Gabriel was exactly the kind of close-proximity situation I was trying to avoid.
Gabriel strode over to reception, started talking at a million miles an hour in French before walking back to me with a smile on his face.
‘We are the first couple, so there is already a car waiting for us. Come.’
I followed him reluctantly to the shiny black Mercedes.
A woman dressed in a smart grey suit and cap greeted us.
‘Bonjour, Madame, Monsieur. I am Daphné and I will be your driver. Please.’ She opened the car door and gestured for us to get in.
‘Merci,’ I said, before sliding onto the plush leather seats.
A privacy screen rose up, obscuring Daphné’s view of us on the back seat.Very cool. It was irrelevant though, because there was nothing I’d be doing with Gabriel that wouldn’t be acceptable for her to see.
Once we were strapped in, Daphné set off.
‘Wait.’ My face crumpled as I faced Gabriel. ‘How does she know where to take us? I thought we wouldn’t be allowed to leave until we told her?’
‘I replied to the message with the clue and had to confirm the destination with reception who then told me that we were cleared to have a driver.’
‘Oh.’ I nodded, thinking that made sense. ‘Actually, I don’t even know where we’re going.’
‘Would you like to?’
‘Now that I think about it, it doesn’t really matter. Based on the clue, I’ve probably never heard of it, so maybe it’s better if it’s a surprise.’
‘D’accord,’ he nodded, which I remembered meantokay.
Silence filled the air and I stared out of the tinted windows, taking in the sights.
As a flurry of impressive monuments came into view, some I recognised from TV shows or internet research, others that I didn’t know, I gasped. I still couldn’t believe I was in Paris.
