Enchantment (27 page)

In her new vintage dress, brown boots, and an
almond croissant in hand—“one for the road”—Gray looked content as
a cat. Before following Adrian down the steps to the metro, Gray
stuffed the last piece of croissant inside her mouth and brushed
her hands off over a trash bin.

Adrian wasn’t usually out this early except
to grab a quick coffee. Not that the early hour deterred the horde
of summer tourists scurrying onto the train with their oversized
cameras and backpacks.

Gray had been up early, too. Actually, she’d
been in the shower across the hall from Nan’s room when Adrian
managed to get things under control and venture inside his own
living room.

After a restful night, thanks to a whiff of
the ol’ smelling salts, Adrian found himself eager to rise early
for a change. Another part of him had been eager . . . and rising,
as well.

Being in public was definitely the safest
option. Adrian loved the sights as much as the next traveler, maybe
even more. There was something magical about this city, and not in
the mystic sense, but on a cultural level.

The benches below ground were already filled.
Gray seemed to like standing in her new boots and dress, anyway.
She had that little smile on her lips.

As their train hurtled toward the station, a
wind blasted down the tunnel, causing Gray’s skirt to flutter and
stray hairs to blow back. They watched the train cars pass at a
rapid speed before slowing and coming to a stop with a squeal. The
double doors on the cars opened at once and people stepped off as
waiting passengers rushed to get on.

With the help of a little illusion spell,
Adrian and Gray got the last two seats together.

“I saw that,” Gray whispered once the train
started moving.

“Whatever do you mean?” Adrian asked, barely
containing a wicked grin.

Gray’s brow rose. “The coffee ‘spill’ on
these seats a second ago. More like coffee
spell
.” Gray
snorted, fighting back a smile.

She stared at the train line above the
windows. “Let me guess, our stop is the Louvre Rivoli.”

Adrian chuckled. “What gave it away?”

“I don’t know—Louvre?”

Adrian was about to laugh again when her
shoulder pressed against his. Good thing Gray kept track of the
stops because Adrian only had his mind on one thing at the
moment.

“Here we are,” she said, sounding pleased
with herself for navigating Paris’s underground train system.

Her abrupt rise off her seat left a chill
against Adrian’s left side. He moved beside her, grabbing the
overhead bar just above her head so that his body pressed against
hers. Gray turned her head slowly to look at him over her shoulder.
Her eyes lowered, taking in the way his body engulfed hers.

Just when Adrian realized she’d strained her
back against him, the damn train clattered to a stop. They were
shoved sideways as people hustled out. So much for being safe in
public.

“Come on,” Adrian said, slipping his fingers
through Gray’s.

They followed the horde up the stairs to
street level. Adrian slipped his sunglasses over his eyes the
moment they were outside.

“Oh my God!” Gray exclaimed as they
approached the Louvre.

The fountains erupted like geysers on either
side of the glass pyramid. From the courtyard they were nearly
surrounded by the museums complex of wings and pavilions rising
four levels into the blue sky. The Louvre Palace was as impressive
on the outside as it was in.

But Gray focused on the people surrounding
the pyramid.

“Look at that line! No wonder you need an
entire day to see the Louvre—half of it’s waiting to get
inside.”

Adrian snorted.

They walked up to the line which looked more
like a live barricade in front of the pyramid’s entrance down to
the Louvre’s main lobby.

Adrian leaned into Gray. “We don’t wait in
lines, remember?”

She hesitated only a second. The moment she
smiled Adrian knew she required no further convincing. Gray raised
a brow. “Should we erase ourselves from sight?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of
teleporting. I’ve never been good at the whole invisibility
thing.”

Gray turned, planting a hand on her hip.
“Why, Adrian Montez, you mean to tell me I can do something you
can’t?”

“It’s no big deal,” he said with a shrug.
“I’d rather be able to teleport.”

He didn’t like the way Gray grinned at him
now.

“Teleporting trumps invisibility any day,” he
said.

“Yeah,” Gray replied slowly. “But I can do
both
.”

Adrian gave her a playful poke on the side.
“Think you can outmaneuver me, do you?”

Gray lifted her chin. “I think I can get to
the lobby before you.”

With a final grin, she disappeared.
Minx.
In this case, Adrian had the advantage. Unlike Gray,
he’d visited the Louvre before and could picture the lobby in
detail. He lowered his lids and concentrated. When Adrian reopened
his eyes he was standing inside the lobby. He pushed his sunglasses
onto his head.

He didn’t see Gray.

Adrian’s eyes drifted to the descending
escalator. Perhaps Gray had gone invisible and was on her way down.
He listened for her approaching steps, but none came. Adrian tapped
his foot against the floor.

Damn it. He should have known to bring
candles. In Gray’s case, he needed them for a locator spell.

Just as he was beginning to fret, her smile
caught his eye. She entered the lobby through one of the exhibit
rooms, smiling sheepishly as she walked up to him.

“What happened?” Adrian asked.

“I ended up in a room full of mummies.” Gray
shook her head. “Should have gone invisible.”

Adrian chuckled and took her hand. After her
little disappearing act it would be hard to let go again. “How did
that happen? Is Egypt next on your travel itinerary?”

Gray shook her head again. “It must have been
that glass pyramid outside. It was the last thing I saw before I
ended up next to a sarcophagus.”

“Well, now that you’ve taken the tour of the
Egyptian collection, what do you want to see next? Let me guess!
The
Mona Lisa
?”

“How did you know?” Gray asked, batting her
lashes in exaggeration.

They walked hand in hand to the museum’s
collection of paintings. As they approached the infamous Lady Mona,
Gray exclaimed again. “This crowd’s worse than out front!”

A horde stood ten feet deep in a semicircle
around the
Mona Lisa
.

“What now?” Gray asked, turning to Adrian.
“Are we supposed to float our way to the painting?”

When Adrian looked down at Gray he felt the
mischievous glint in his eyes.

“I have a better idea.”

Gray’s mouth opened to ask, but before she
could, Adrian bent in front of her and reached for the back of her
legs. Gray threw her arms around his neck just in time. Adrian
lifted her onto his back. The sound of her laughter echoed inside
the room.

As Adrian made his way into the crowd, people
moved to avoid getting thumped by Gray’s legs. He kept going until
only a couple rows of bodies remained, but from here they could
both see Mona Lisa’s smile.

Adrian could almost swear it was aimed at
them.

By the time they got back to the apartment, night
had replaced day and set Paris aglow once more like magic.

Gray flopped down on the couch before
unzipping her boots. Her cheeks hurt from smiling. This had been
the best day of her life. She couldn’t remember ever having this
much fun or being around someone who understood her the way Adrian
did.

Her lashes lifted as she watched him move
around the kitchen.

He pulled a cork screw out of a drawer before
taking a bottle of white wine out of the fridge. When he noticed
Gray watching he asked, “Would you like a glass?”

Probably a bad idea since Gray had shared a
bottle with him at dinner.

“Sure,” she said. She walked barefoot to the
kitchen and leaned over the granite countertop, resting her arms on
the cool surface.

“
S
anté,” Adrian said, handing
Gray a glass and raising his own.

Gray loved it when Adrian
spoke French. He sounded so suave and sexy. He could give Frenchmen
a run for their money that’s for sure. Europe could keep their
Europeans. All Gray wanted was one particular American
wizard.

She took a sip of wine and
set the glass down. “Thank you for a wonderful day.”

“My pleasure. Tomorrow
night I have us booked on a bateaux mouche.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Neither can I . . . to see
you in your new dress.”

Gray shivered
involuntarily. She picked the wine glass up and started drinking
faster.

Adrian sipped his wine
slowly, before setting his glass down. “Well, it’s getting
late.”

The French didn’t eat as
late as the Spanish, but by American standards a nine p.m. sit-down
was still very late. By the time they had polished off the last
course and ridden the train home it was approaching
midnight.

Gray watched Adrian as he
took her wine glass along with his to the sink and washed
them.

“Do you need anything
before I turn in?”

Gray shook her head slowly.
“I’ll probably watch a bit of TV then go to bed.”

Adrian smirked. “Working on
your French?”

“Something like
that.”

“All right then,” Adrian
said, coming around the corner. “I’ll see you in the
a.m.”

Gray thought maybe he’d
kiss her—at least on the cheeks in the customary French way, but
Adrian veered off toward his bedroom without a backward
glance.

Gray sighed as his door
thumped shut. She didn’t bother using the bathroom in the hallway
to change—she had the entire living and kitchen area to herself.
Instead, she faced the window, overlooking the Eiffel Tower rising
into the dark Paris skyline, alone like her. Gray pulled the dress
up over her head then put on the tank top and cotton shorts she’d
purchased after their trip to the Louvre.

She really needed to watch
her spending, but some essentials were necessary.

Now that she was
comfortably attired, Gray flopped down onto the couch and snapped
the TV on. The drone of the French actors made her feel even more
lonely. Gray snapped it back off. She stared into the dark TV
screen, trying to work up her nerve. It felt as though an eternity
passed as she fought with herself as whether to stay put or take a
leap of faith.

She stood and approached
Adrian’s bedroom door with quiet footsteps. Very gently, Gray
turned the handle—she would have died of humiliation if he’d locked
it—and slipped inside the room.

All the lights were
out.

Gray’s heart thumped inside
her chest, climbing up her throat the closer she got to Adrian’s
bed. When she reached him, she didn’t hesitate. She peeled back the
blankets and slipped inside.

“Gray?” Adrian snapped on
the bedside lamp. He propped himself up on one elbow. “What are you
doing?”

Gray couldn’t tell if he
was hiding a smile or grimace. She averted her eyes, suddenly
taking interest in the texture of the bed’s top blanket.

“Gray?” Adrian
prodded.

She met his eye. “I want
you.”

Adrian sucked in a
breath.

Well, if he could get away
with saying it in Barcelona, Gray ought to be allowed to say it in
Paris.

The expression on his face
made it difficult to discern whether he’d embrace her or kick her
out. His gaze made her heart thump wildly against her ribcage.
Adrian leaned forward, nearly touching his forehead to hers. “Are
you sure?”

Gray felt as though she
could fall into those wide brown eyes and know happiness. Maybe she
wouldn’t love him next year or even next month, but such was the
case for any woman, whether or not she was under a love spell. All
that mattered was she loved him now.

“Yes,” Gray breathed,
putting her whole heart into that one word. “You can do a
protection spell?” she asked shyly.

Adrian nodded. In the next
instant he began kissing her with hungry lips.

Gray snapped the light
off.

Adrian snapped it back
on.

Gray snapped again,
engulfing them in darkness once more. One moment her lips knew the
sweet satisfaction of Adrian’s on hers. The next she was kissing
the air. Adrian had pulled back.

He snapped the light back
on and stared into her eyes. “This time I want to see
you.”

A shiver coiled its way
down Gray’s spine, tickling her toes. Her eyes darted around the
room before landing back on Adrian.

He grinned. Not the goofy
grin he’d sported most of the day while they made their way through
the Louvre, but the dangerous smile she knew so well from the past.
He leaned in to kiss her again, adding tongue. French kissing—why
not? When in Paris . . .

Gray stifled a giggle. All
traces of amusement left her lips when Adrian whispered languidly
in her ear, “I want to see you. I want to feel you. I want to
remember . . . everything about tonight.”

Gray tried unsuccessfully
not to gasp. His words were worse than his teasing tongue. If this
was how he addressed his lovers, the man had no need of love
spells.