Page 32

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’s l’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 were heading 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 are very adventurous.”

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

Joel turned his blazing eyes to me as he hailed down a taxi to take us to the Eiffel Tower.

“You know, Mel, since I started spending every day with you, I’ve been having a lot less than usual. The … Rome was the first in … months.”

My heart skipped a beat.

“Oh, sorry, am I taking up too much of your valuable fucking time?” I asked in a sarcastic whisper.

Joel snickered. “No, Stink. I’ve just re-prioritised my life a little bit, that’s all. Don’t get me wrong, sex is still up there, but at the moment helping you with your career is more important to me.”

The closer we got to the tower, the more my excitement grew. I forgot about the conversation with Joel and sat staring intently out the window as the tower loomed closer and closer.

Joel asked the taxi to stop a little way out, where there was still a great view along the broad avenue towards the tower, shining like a beacon in the night.

“It’s so beautiful,” I whispered. Joel took my hand. I was so shocked that I didn’t try to brush him off. His fingers linked through mine, warm and strong. I realised I didn’t particularly want to let go.

As we arrived at the base of the tower, the line for the elevator was relatively short.

We took our place behind a couple who had their hands in each other’s back pockets.

I recognised them as the couple I’d been trying not to look at back on the bridge – the ones who hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other.

As I watched they turned to each other again and kissed, their tongues slipping into each other’s mouths.

I peeked up at Joel, finding him smirking down at me. I let my gaze slide away from him as if I had just been glancing around.

“What’re you thinking about, Mel?” Joel asked, his breath tickling my ear. I jumped and turned to face him.

“Nothing really. Just enjoying being here,” I lied, gazing up towards the top of the tower.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually enjoying hanging out with me, Stink,” Joel said in a mock scandalised tone.

I pursed my lips while I thought of an appropriate come back. “Well, it could be worse, I guess.”

Joel chortled. “Admit it, you’re loving every second you spend with me. ”

I huffed. “Maybe you should admit that it’s really you who’s enjoying being with me .”

Joel leaned closer. “Can’t we both … maybe … just admit that we like hanging out with each other?”

I’m sure that I would have come up with some incredibly witty retort, but at that moment we reached the front of the line for the elevator, and I was saved from having to reply as we stepped inside. We shared the ride with a few other people, including the canoodling couple.

I scowled at Joel as the elevator inched its way towards the top of Paris’s most famous landmark. He grinned back and reached out to pinch my chin gently.

“I’ve told you before how cute you look when you’re cross, haven’t I, Stink?”

I really couldn’t stay mad at him, even though he drove me nuts. I bit my lip to try and stop the smile, but it broke free anyway.

“You look cute when you’re smiling too,” he murmured, his fingers straying towards my cheekbone. I stopped breathing for just a second – long enough that the parts of me that I didn’t want responding to Joel started aching with desire.

The elevator doors clinked open, and I realised that I hadn’t even been paying attention to the views – I’d been so focussed on Joel. But it turned out that we were only on the first observation level, and we had to change elevators to get up to the very top.

Joel led me over to the other elevator, the canoodling couple following us.

I stared out at the twinkling lights of Paris below as the lift took us higher and higher, but my head kept wanting to turn to where I could feel Joel watching me.

When the doors clinked open at the top, I rushed out. My heart was hammering, I hoped from the excitement of being at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and not because of Joel.

“Oh, my God ! It’s sooo beautiful!” the canoodling girl exclaimed in a strong British accent. They headed straight to the edge, staring out over the city. I moved to the edge also, gazing down at the glow of Paris, spread far below. Joel stood beside me, his arm just brushing mine.

“Not as beautiful as you are,” the canoodling guy replied to his girlfriend. I smiled. What a clichéd line.

“Oh my God, oh my God !” the girl shrieked. I turned, wondering what she had seen that was so exciting.

Canoodling guy was kneeling in front of his girlfriend, holding out an absolutely ginormous diamond ring, while she fanned her face and looked like she was about to pass out.

“Jess, will you marry me?” the guy asked. Jess’s knees wobbled and she held out a shaking left hand, her ring finger extended.

“Oh my God, yes!” she squealed and he slipped the ring on her finger. And then he was on his feet and they were canoodling harder than ever.

“Oh,” I sighed, turning back to the barrier and the city far below me.

“Would you class that as a pretty romantic gesture then, Stink?” Joel whispered beside me. There was something odd in his tone.

I turned to him with an incredulous expression. “Yes, wouldn’t you?”

He smiled at me, his teeth glinting pearly white in the night. “It’s up there.” His voice took on a different tone. He sounded almost … nervous.

“Mel, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while now.” He stared at me intently. I wanted to look away, but I found that I couldn’t.

“What, Joel?” I breathed.

“Well, we’ve been spending a lot of time together lately, and, well, I thought that maybe, you and I … this isn’t coming out the way I’d hoped.” Joel sounded flustered – he never sounded flustered. I couldn’t breathe.

“Okay, I’m just going to come straight out and ask you.

” His hand went into his jacket pocket and he started fishing around.

My own hand went to my heart, which felt like it was about to take flight out of my chest. Joel had something hidden in his hand.

He started to lower himself down onto one knee .

“Joel, what are you doing?” I asked breathlessly. He couldn’t be … no he definitely wasn’t.

Except he was.

“Melanie Black, will you …” he paused for effect. I clapped my fingers over my mouth.

He reached his clasped hand up towards mine and turned it, so his fingers were facing upwards. His hand started to open.

“… share this Caramello Koala with me?” he finished, his palm flat, revealing a single wrapped piece of my favourite chocolate in the world. I let out the breath I’d been holding in a giant gust. Joel’s laughter burst from him. I slapped his shoulder.

“Get up and stop making a fool out of both of us!” I hissed. He got to his feet, still chuckling. I stomped away.

When you’re on the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower, there’s really nowhere to go except back down again. I wasn’t ready to do that – we’d paid enough money to be here, I wasn’t cutting my experience short.

So, Joel caught up with me quite quickly.

“Oh, come on, Stinky, it was a bit funny, admit it.”

I leaned against the railing and shook my head emphatically.

“Seriously, Mel, you didn’t actually think that I was proposing, did you?” Joel didn’t sound so teasing now.

I managed to turn and glare at him. “Of course I didn’t! I had no idea what you were doing.” I turned away, back towards the city below. A breeze gusted through and I shivered. Joel put an arm around me.

“I told you it would get cool tonight.” He picked up my hand and turned it over, putting the Caramello Koala into it.

“You don’t have to share it if you don’t want to, Stink.”

I looked down at the chocolate. “Good, I won’t!”

I unwrapped it, taking a bite from the feet first. In my head I replayed the look on Joel’s face as he’d gotten down to present me with the little chocolatey piece of heaven that I was devouring now.

I felt my lips starting to twitch. It was actually quite funny, now that I’d gotten over the shock of it.

I didn’t want it to be funny, but it was.

I wanted to be mad at Joel, but being mad at him was such hard work lately. It never used to be.

All I had left of the chocolate was the head, and I was all too aware of Joel’s arm still around me, his hand rubbing my arm, keeping me warm. I looked at the last little bit of deliciousness and I sighed, holding it out to him.

“Okay, I’ll share.”

“Really? The head’s your favourite part!” he replied, humbled. I took his hand and opened his palm the way he had done to me and popped the bit of chocolate into it.

“Yes, really. But how did you know the head is my favourite?” I asked, not daring to look into his eyes. He put the piece in his mouth.

“I’ve watched you eat enough of them to have worked it out, Stink.”

I did turn to him then. He wasn’t chewing – he was letting it melt in his mouth, just like I would have. He gazed at me, a fierce light glinting in his eyes. His body moved closer, his leg resting up against mine. I leaned closer. He leaned closer.

His Adam’s Apple bobbed as he swallowed the last of the chocolate. I could smell the sweetness of caramel on his breath. His lips were so full, if I just moved a fraction closer, I could have tasted them.

He moved first and there it was. The tiniest brush of his mouth against mine.

No, Mel!

I turned my head very quickly to the side, shivering, although I was feeling very warm right at that moment. I put my hand up and pulled my hair over my shoulders, as if it could protect me from the fierce need inside me.

“It’s getting late and cold. I don’t want to wake up cramped in the morning,” I muttered. I knew my cheeks were bright pink. For once Joel didn’t comment and I was grateful for that. I was completely incapable of coherent conversation.

“Okay, Stink, let’s get you to bed.” He used the business-like tone of my coach, but in my head all I could picture was him getting into my bed too.

And that was something I couldn’t ever let happen.