Page 24 of All the Gossip from Paris (Royal Fashion #2)
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“Have a safe flight, and I’ll see you in the new year,” said Liam, giving his mom one last farewell hug. It was three days after the wedding, and Brenda and Pete were flying home to the states. Liam, who was originally meant to go with them, had decided to stay on in Paris.
The official story for him remaining in France was that he was still looking for a gig for Haute Couture Week. But there was another more personal reason behind Liam’s change of travel plans.
He couldn’t go home until he got some concrete answers about him and Sophie. Where did they stand? Was there a chance that they could be more than just a one night fling?
Right up until the moment Patrice had gatecrashed their little party at the wedding reception, Liam had been wondering if perhaps Sophie was thinking the same as him. That they might decide to revisit the fantastic mistake they’d made when she’d been in New York.
He’d wanted Sophie in his bed. Had thought he was sending all the right signals. And she was not only receiving them, but signaling back.
But when she returned to his side after having spoken to Patrice, it soon became clear her mood had changed.
And it was not for the better. There was a definite cooling of the air between them.
Whatever Patrice had said to Sophie, and Liam had his suspicions as to what that might have been, it had certainly struck a chord with her.
He’d thought about it long after the last of the wedding reception guests had gone.
The past few years had seen him keep any potential relationship with a woman firmly at arm’s length.
But this time with Sophie had got him wondering.
Perhaps it was time for him to finally put his heartache in the past. To take a risk.
The options laid out before him were easy enough. He could go home to the US as planned and do his best to forget about Sophie. Or he could stick around and see if there really was something deeper to their connection.
It what could only be classed as a solid stroke of luck, Ryan and Camille had decided to delay their honeymoon. As soon as they heard he was considering remaining in Paris, they’d invited Liam to come and stay at the chateau.
If he was going to get the chance to talk to Sophie before she left for the annual Royal family Christmas vacation in Turks and Caicos, then her home was the best place to do it.
The worst that could come of it would be for Sophie to tell him she wasn’t interested. That she was heading off to the family’s private island with no regrets.
But for the first time in a long time, Liam decided it was worth taking a risk. She was worth it.
As soon as his parents had left, Liam went back to his room, and finished packing. Then he rang the butler to arrange for his luggage to be collected. The Royal Resorts hotel Paris had been nothing short of amazing, so he made sure to leave the team a generous room tip.
Following the porter to the door, he paused for a moment on the threshold, and bid a silent farewell to the luxurious Royal Suite. It was going to be tough going back to sleeping in fifty dollar a night hotel rooms after this trip.
At least I can say I’ve stayed in the best suite in the best hotel in all of Paris.
The elevator took them down to the VIP area of the parking garage. A town car had been arranged to take Liam to Chateau de la forêt. The porter looked left and right.
“I don’t think your driver has arrived as yet, Monsieur Collins,” he observed.
Liam gave the man a gentle pat on the back. “I think there might have been a change of plans.”
Striding across the garage, making her way toward them was Sophie. The smile on her face went straight to Liam’s heart. She waved and gave a cheery. “Bonjour!”
The porter glanced at Liam, who nodded. “That’s my friend. I’m assuming that if she’s here, I’m going with her.” He hoped that’s what Sophie had in mind.
Reaching them, Sophie bent and picked up Liam’s camera satchel. She swung it over her shoulder. “My old job from New York,” she said.
Liam burrowed a hand into his pocket, and handed the porter a sizeable tip. Everything on this trip had been paid for by someone else, today was not the day for him to be playing cheap. “Merci,” Liam said, as the man folded up a twenty euro note and stuffed it into his pants pocket.
Grabbing his suitcase from the luggage rack and lifting the handle, Liam asked Sophie, “I take it you are my ride this morning? I didn’t realize you moonlighted as an Uber driver.”
They headed across the garage to where Sophie’s car was parked. “I was coming into Paris this morning, so I thought it made sense to swing by and pick you up. You don’t mind if we do some last minute Christmas shopping while we are here, do you? It’s almost Christmas Eve,” said Sophie.
Christmas. Dang. I’d forgotten about Christmas.
“Not a problem. When are you flying out to Turks and Caicos?” he asked. If the clock was running down on the time left for him to talk to her, he had to know.
Sophie popped the trunk of her car, and Liam lifted his case and placed it inside. She carefully loaded his satchel on top. “I’m not going to the island. I’ve decided to stay home. I need time away from all the Royal family dramas.”
“Dramas?”
She nodded. “The relatives actually behaved themselves at the wedding. But I’ve been told that once they get to the island this Christmas, the gloves are coming off. I don’t need to spend my vacation having to put up with my cousins and their dick measuring contests.”
“They don’t really do that do they?” asked Liam. He hoped Sophie wasn’t serious about the measuring bit.
“Well no. The clothes do stay on. But the need to outdo one another is nuts. Last year we had the Greek and Italian yachts trying to run laps of the island.”
Liam burst out laughing. “That’s sounds insane, but lots of fun.”
Sophie shook her head. “I’m going to have a nice quiet time at home. And with my parents gone, the chateau will be a haven of peace.”
Francois and Marina Royal were not going to be at the chateau. This was good news. He might actually stand a chance of spending time with Sophie away from her relatives. “Are they going to the island?”
“No. Papa is a keen skier, so they are going to Villars-sur-Ollon, in Switzerland. The family has a chalet just outside of the ski village.”
She closed up the trunk, making a great show of dusting her hands. “They won’t be back until the week after New Year’s. Which means that over the holidays, it will just be the four of us at the chateau. You are still coming for Christmas, aren’t you?”
“If that’s ok.”
“Of course it is. I’m thrilled you’ve decided to stay.”
Her excitement was infectious. Liam found himself caught up in it. He’d hoped to spend time with Sophie—now it seemed his prayers had been answered.
“Come on, let’s go. We can grab the hotel shuttle service over to Galeries Lafayette to do our shopping and then come back here. Your luggage will be safe; this garage is very secure.”
Liam was certain his wallet let out a whimper at the mention of shopping at one of Paris’ most upmarket department stores. But it was Christmas, and he did like being generous with gifts.
What was he going to buy Sophie? How did a guy go about buying a gift for a girl whose family could afford to mess about in maxi yachts?
As he followed her back to the elevator and up to the main lobby of the hotel, Liam tapped away on his cell phone.
‘What do you buy a billionaire heiress for Christmas?’ When the answer came back, listing private jets or antique art, he amended his search.
‘What do you buy a billionaire heiress for Christmas when you don’t have much money?
’ The second response wasn’t much better than the first, leaving him to wonder.
What on earth does the internet think is a thoughtful, handmade gift?
* * *
The hotel shuttle service dropped them off out the front of Galeries LaFayette in Boulevard Haussmann, with the promise to come pick them up again in three hours. Sophie took one look at the Christmas shopping crowds and shuddered.
“Why does everyone leave their shopping to the last minute,” she muttered.
Liam leaned over to her. “Including us.”
“I did try to arrange the private buying service. But they are all fully booked today.” It was rare for anyone outside her family to tell her ‘no’ but apparently even the major department stores couldn’t muster up a miracle this close to Christmas. She was going to have to brave the masses.
At least I have Liam with me.
“Let’s get inside. I hate standing in the street when there’s this many people around. I always feel like I’m about to get my purse stolen,” she said.
Liam nodded. “Yeah, New York City at Christmas is pickpocket central. I never have my wallet in my pocket.”
They made their way through the throng and into the department store.
The first floor which housed all the perfume and makeup counters was a crush.
Sophie grabbed a hold of Liam’s hand and towed him toward the nearest escalator.
“Come on, let’s get out of this part of the store and upstairs.
Hopefully the crowd will have thinned by the time we get up a couple of levels. ”
Moving up through the elegant red and cream painted art nouveau building Sophie took the opportunity to show Liam the view. She pointed to the giant Christmas tree. It was suspended from the center of the glass topped dome which formed the roof.
“They have a different theme for decorating the tree each year. And the lights change color every half hour. It’s so beautiful.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” replied Liam.
She pulled her cell out of her cross body bag, and tapped away on the store’s app. When she was finished, she proudly announced. “I’ve just booked us a table for lunch. I’m thinking after an hour of shopping in this madness, we’ll both be needing food and a drink.”