The Liberation of Alice Love - Abby McDonald [9]
“A whole decimal point?” Nathan shook his head. “You rebel, you.”
“That’s me,” Alice agreed wryly. “I’m living life on the edge.”
There was another pause, but this time Alice thought she better not linger. “I should…” She pointed vaguely farther into the house.
“Oh, sure.” Nathan gave an easy smile. “I’ll send out a search party if you don’t make it back in, what, an hour?”
“Right.” Alice smiled. “I’ll see you out there, I’m sure.”
She turned but had only taken a few steps further down the hall when he called to her. “Wait, Alice.”
She looked back. Nathan was still there, framed by the afternoon light streaming through the far door.
“I was thinking…” He paused, as if assessing her. Then he reached some decision and asked, “Do you want to get out of here?”
Alice stared, taken aback.
Coming closer, Nathan gave her a mischievous smile. “I’m pretty much ready to leave, so I thought, maybe you’d like to come.”
“Come where?” Alice was still confused.
He shrugged. “Dinner, drinks… I know a great hotel in Paris, if you’re in the mood for a trip.”
“Paris?” Alice laughed, humoring him.
“Sure, cute little place, in the Fifth Arrondissement.” Nathan played along. “We could stare meaningfully at art and have blazing fights in restaurants.”
“Over red wine and macaroons?”
“I’m more a pain au chocolate man myself, but sure, whatever you want.” He grinned, skin crinkling warmly at the edge of his eyes. For a moment, Alice let herself be amused, but then she realized…
“Wait, you’re serious?”
“I never lie about pastries.”
“I mean, Paris?”
Nathan just nodded, utterly at ease. “Why not?” He began to hum, an old Cole Porter song. “I love Paris in the summer, when it sizzles…”
Alice wanted to just laugh it off as an outlandish joke, but he was still watching her, something new in his eyes. A note of challenge.
The proposition suddenly became clear.
“I…I don’t even know you,” she said slowly, surprised to feel a faint thrill.
“What’s to know?” Nathan waited, casual. As if he did this all the time. “It’s what, a two-hour trip on Eurostar? Plenty of time. I’ll start at the beginning, if you want: the toilet-training years. Or, we can skip ahead, to first grade. Miss Kellan, if I remember right…”
Alice smiled, despite herself. “That’s OK,” she stopped him. “I get the picture.”
“So what’s the holdup?” Nathan began to back away, beckoning. “We should say our good-byes before your sister starts that croquet game. She was saying something about pink sashes for team uniforms…”
He really meant it.
Alice’s mouth dropped open as she finally realized the truth. For all his joking and easy charm, this man really meant for them to leave for some foreign tryst together. Now. She felt herself blush, aware of his presence in an entirely different way. The smile that had been so casual took on new meaning; the friendly banter between them was suddenly loaded and reckless. Alice was suddenly self-conscious in a way she hadn’t felt in a long while, a delicious sense of possibility shivering down her spine. For a brief, tantalizing moment, she imagined it just as he suggested: the charming little hotel, the romantic restaurant, strolling arm in arm down the Champs-Élysées…
But just soon enough, her brain snapped back to life.
“I can’t,” Alice said, flustered. “I mean, you’re a complete stranger!”
Her voice came out louder than she intended, ringing with disapproval. Straight away, Nathan gave a shrug. “Hey, no problem. It was only a thought.”
Alice didn’t know what to say. She thought she should feel offended—this wasn’t a drunk, lurching pass, this was…polite. Almost daring. “Well…thank you?” She managed at last.
His lips twitched with amusement. “You’re welcome.”
“Enjoy, um, the rest of your evening.”
She backed away, and then turned, wandering down the hallway in a daze. After making a couple of blind turns, Alice found herself in the kitchen, drifting in the middle of a sea of polished granite countertops.
Do you want to get out of here?