Chapter 30: STOP CORRUPTING MY PURE THOUGHTS!
Alex’s POV
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Alright, I was pumped.
The fact that I was in Paris hasn’t fully registered yet, but I guess I was getting there after trying to read all sorts of street signs and failing miserably. They even spelled the Airport with an ‘e’ and an extra ‘o’. I’d never pass a spelling bee with this pronunciation.
After a long, tiring flight journey, it was a miracle that I was still excited right now but I sure as hell was.
Jensen was scared earlier during the take-off, and I almost couldn’t believe it. Doesn’t he like…fly all the time for work?
I offered to hold his hand and he just glared at me, as if I had somehow offended him by saying that, but soon we got to talking and the long hours passed before I could even complain about the seemingly never ending journey, though I did sleep through the majority of it and somehow my pillow was Jensen’s shoulder. When I woke up and found my head leaning on him it got a little embarrassing and awkward for me, but he didnt even mention it.
I was dreading the journey to begin with, but Jensen was surprisingly easy to talk to. I relaxed when he started to crack jokes and listened carefully to everything I said, that was the start of my good mood and I guess it is still persistent.
When the car we were in stopped at the huge gates I was suddenly broken out of my thoughts. We drove inside the gates of the hotel building and I peered out through the car’s window, from what I could see the place didn’t disappoint.
When we stepped out and stood there at the entrance as I tried to read the name of the hotel….’Elysées?’ I had no idea what that meant, so instead breaking my brain over it I walked inside alongside Jensen and approached the receptionist.
There was a young man at the reception, probably in his early twenties “Bonjour!” he marveled up at us with a wide smile followed by other complicated words.
Here’s a thing, I know that it means ‘Hello!’ but I had no idea how to reply to that. Do you just say it back? Maybe not?
“Au revoir” I said, trying to sound confident but I probably failed miserably because his face fell as he looked at me with confusion.
Jensen was trying to hold back an amused smirk as he leaned closer to me and whispered “That means ‘good bye’ Alex…”
What? Really? That was the only other word I knew.!
“I- I knew that” I mumbled, but the smirk on his face told me that I wasn’t fooling anyone.
Looking back at the frowning receptionist, I smiled and said “I’m kidding, joking… relax, you know…silly me” I waved my hand around, trying to make him understand.
Thankfully his confusion melted away and the smiling face resurfaced.
“Welcome to Elysées, Mademoiselle, Monsieur” he said acknowledging us in thick French accent. Those words were again followed by a lot of other weird tongue twisting words that I didn’t understand for the life of me.
Jensen then stepped in and inquired about our check-in details in fluent French. I think I gaped at him. He’s been doing this a lot, he even talked to some people at the airport and even our driver in fluent French.
I soon lost interest and looked around in awe, the humongous chandeliers, artistic vases and beautiful flowers placed in them and the pleasant smell of lilies and lavenders….all these mixed well together to make anyone smile.
“Let’s go” Jensen jerked me out of my thoughts.
“Okay…” I beamed. Jensen slightly shook his head at me and pulled me along with him to the elevator.
Jensen handed me my room key, which was a card attached to a keychain that read 203 in bold chocolate brown. He then pushed the button to the 7th floor and the elevator started to ascend.
“We really have nothing planned for today?” I asked him, just to make sure. There were only two events scheduled for the entire trip, first there’s a business meeting and then a dinner party.
“The meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, you can do whatever you want today, but I suggest you should just relax.” He said to me.
“Maybe… I just have too much energy to be doing nothing, I might go sightseeing.” I shrugged.
“Tell me if you wanna go out, I’ll come with, I don’t want you getting lost in this city.” He mused.
“I have maps on my phone, I’ll be fine…and who knows maybe I want to get lost.” I smiled up at him.
“Does that mean you don’t want me to tag along?” I tried not to laugh at the frowny face he was making.
“You’re welcome if you want to come along and get lost with me…” I said to him.
“How can I say no to an offer like that.” He leaned closer flirtily, making me blush. The elevator came to a halt and we both stepped out.
We quickly found our rooms which were adjacent to each other and I said “Adios amigos” before unlocking the door and walking in.
“That was not even French” Jensen complained, clearly amused at my random usage of Spanish. What? I didn’t take French in highschool.
“I know.” I called back and heard his fleeting laughter.
As soon as the door shut behind me I took in the beautiful view of the Eiffel tower in front of me, my gaze was fixated on it and I smiled. Now that’s what I call a view!
Again the pleasant lavender aroma hit me, and now I think they are just forcing the flower on me. I wasn’t tired at all, in fact I had so many ideas in my mind, that I thought I’ll explode.
There was a knock on my door and since it was open I told them to come in. ‘It’s probably just room service….’ A young man in the hotel staff uniform greeted me as he was delivering my bags, I tipped him and soon was left alone with my thoughts.
Deciding to freshen up, I locked the door and went to take a warm shower. Once I was done, I changed into a casual v-neck shirt and loose pants.
I towel dried my dark hair and let it down my shoulders, allowing them to dry naturally. Time passed slowly as I had nothing to do.
My stomach grumbled and I realised it was lunchtime when I looked at the table clock.
I wasn’t used to eating alone, it was always someone at the office Nick or Kate or both. And sometimes I just worked straight through lunch hour so I didnt have to worry about that.
Suddenly I missed them…oh well.
I debated with myself whether or not I should ask Jensen to join me? He probably likes to eat alone… Only one way to find out. Without a second thought, I walked up to his room, knocked on the door and waited.
“One minute…” he called from inside and then I heard footsteps nearing the door before it was pulled wide open.
Jensen stood there in the doorway with a small towel in his hands which he was running through his wet hair, a few strands of his dark hair fell onto his forehead and he wore casual sweatpants while his gray eyes looked at me with question.
But all I could think was ‘where is his shirt? Why is he not wearing a shirt! Where’s the freaking shirt?!’
“Alex?” He asked, obviously wondering ‘what the hell I was doing here?’
He looks damn fine without a shirt! Oh my god Alex, focus!
“You should put on a shirt.” I said plainly, amusing him further.
“Is me being half naked distracting you?” He asked, almost as a matter of fact, a flirty glint in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed.
Yes it is! Stop corrupting my pure thoughts! I wanted to yell, but I rolled my eyes instead.
“You know what, get dressed, I’ll be back later…” I mumbled, as I turned on my heels to return to my room. I closed my eyes, squeezing the life out of them. That was so embarrassing. We weren’t even pretending to behave professional anymore.
“No wait, Alex…” Jensen’s voice called, he reached out to grab my elbow before I walked away.
I was forced to stop and so I turned back around to face him “You need something?” He asked.
My eyes tried to steer clear of his shirtlessness as I looked into his grey eyes, almost forgetting that he had asked me a question, finally I answered “I-I just wanted to ask, if you’d like to join me for lunch?” I finally said, and looked up at him questioningly.
“Sure, what do you have in mind, do you wanna go out or you wanna order in?” He asked.
“I’d like to order in, if you don’t mind.” I said, focusing on his face.
“Okay great, let’s order here.” he smiled, “com’on in” he said as he pulled his hand back from my arm and ran it through his hair, I did a one shoulder shrug and followed him inside.
Jensen spoke up when I stayed quiet “So…I’m gonna go change, there’s the phone” Jensen said pointing at it, and then added “go ahead… order whatever you want… I’ll be back in a minute.”
“What do you want…?” I asked as he was walking away.
“Just order two portions of whatever you do, I’m not picky.” He said and then disappeared inside a door which I knew was the bathroom.
His room was the same as mine, the furniture was set in a similar way, the interior decoration was identical and so was the view.
I took deep breaths to calm myself. My heart was beating faster and my face was flushed. It’s official, Jensen Black is injurious to my health.
I opened the menu booklet which was left on the bedside table, probably from when he had flipped through it. I went through it to decide what I would like to eat.
Just as I finished placing my order, I disconnected the call and went out to the balcony to look at the cityscape.
Jensen walked out, he was now wearing a navy-blue button down shirt (thank-god) and black pants which made him look awfully formal, even if he wasn’t trying to be.
I couldn’t help but imagine his broad shoulders and muscular torso and….stop! Alex, play it cool…be casual and just look natural.
He came and joined me at the balcony and we both just looked out in silence.
I was holding the railing in a light grip while he just casually rested his elbows on it and his fingers were woven together as he slightly leaned forward.
“Beautiful view, isn’t it?” I said, breathing in, as the chilling wind breezed past my hair.
“Indeed, it is” he agreed and turned to face me with a small smirk. “This is gonna be hard to top.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, clearly confused with his train of thoughts.
“I wanted to take you out on a date somewhere nice, but we’re here on this business trip and it’s way too good, it’s kinda ruining my plans…” He shook his head to himself.
I had to laugh. “Wow, I didn’t realise you had such plans.” I said, smirking at him.
“Well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg… I have quite a few plans for us.” He smirked at me.
“Is that so?” I raised a brow playfully.
“Umhmm… Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He winked.
“I feel like you just stole my line…” I said and he just smiled.
“What are your plans?” He asked, and I looked at him confused.
He shrugged, “You know…. I’m surprised you don’t have any extravagant ideas like getting on top of Eiffel tower….”
“Who says I don’t?” I challenged, with a mischievous smile of my own.
“I just assumed…you know, since we came here, you seem so…tame” he brushed off my words lightly as his grey eyes took in my reaction.
Tame? Me? Impossible!
“Don’t you go putting ideas in my mind Jensen, you might regret it” I told him, almost slyly.
“Not what I was intending” he said and shook his head as his lips tugged up at the corners.
Would he mind accompanying me to the top of the Eiffel? Maybe…or maybe I’ll have to change his mind very meticulously. I smiled at the thought “Don’t you worry, I have my plans.”
“Actually… you saying that worries me a little bit.” He said, while having the decency to actually look a little concerned.
“As you should…” I chuckled a little “I could let you in on the secret,” He leaned closer “but if I tell you then I’ll have to kill you.”
Jensen laughed as I smiled.
I liked his laugh, it was genuine. He suddenly looked so carefree and happy, and I wondered what happened to him otherwise?
“Not even a hint?” He asked jokingly and I shook my head, but then added just to tease him.
“I’m not so sure you can keep a secret.” I shrugged. His stormy grey eyes met my brown ones in that instant and he took a step towards me closing what little distance there was between us.
“What are you talking about, I’m great at keeping secrets.” He looked offended.
“I haven’t seen proof.” He took my small cold hand in his warm ones and curled all my fingertips inside except for my forefinger. He then raised my hand to his chest and marked an ‘X’ where his heart was with my lone fingertip and said “cross my heart, hope to die.”
He was still looking into my eyes and I’m sure I stopped breathing a while ago. My heart was hammering at an unhealthy rate and I shivered but it wasn’t from the cold, his eyes fell down to my lips before returning to my eyes while I wordlessly gazed back at him, anxiously anticipating his next move.
A knock on the door pulled us out of whatever trance we fell in. Jensen dropped my hand and took a step back, he sighed and mumbled “I’ll get that.”
I stared at his back without uttering a word and finally breathed, sucking in air to my deprived lungs.
What is happening to me?!
There was a small dining setup at one side of the balcony and we both settled in our chairs to have lunch.
It was too quiet after what just happened. I had no idea what to say, it was like all my social skills abandoned me and fled.
The food was amazing, the classic French cuisine didn’t disappoint and I shoved spoonfuls in my mouth as an excuse for not talking but internally I was dying to break the ice.
“So, tomorrow’s party, It’s going to be a long evening huh?” I tried not to let the worry I felt seep into my words.
Yeah, nice try at small talk. my conscience mocked sarcastically.
“Tiring for sure” he agreed “In my opinion, it’s just a media and marketing spectacle but supposedly, you’ll be left behind if you refuse to keep up appearances.”
“I’m amazed at your ability to make this whole thing sound like a narcissistic scheme” I said, making him laugh.
“Didn’t mean to do that, but I’ve been to one too many such events, and they all seemed similarly tedious to me,” he explained. “Let’s not talk about work, talk about something else,” he insisted.
I stared at him with surprise and pure amusement, “Can I record that maybe? I don’t think I’ll ever hear you say that again.”
He rolled his eyes “You make me sound like I’m some kind of a work machine.”
“Aren’t you?” I teased, “You seem to have a very serious relationship with your laptop and that entitles you as a ‘workaholic’.”
“Well, somebody has to work…” he remarked, slyly.
“Now, wait a minute. What do you mean by that?” I quickly jumped to defend myself “I’ve never missed a deadline till date and you know it. Just cause I’m not always drowning in a sea of paperwork doesn’t mean I don’t work!”
“Okay, okay… Jeez woman, I wasn’t accusing you of murder” he said jokingly.
“You should have known better” I smiled lazily.
We talked some more about work, but mostly I concentrated on the huge amount of food that I had ordered.
“What do you wanna do after this?” Jensen asked.
“Hmm, walk around the neighborhood maybe…” I suggested. And so we did just that.
The city was alive and dynamic bustling with people, there were more tourists than Parisians on some streets and among the busy crowd we were just two more people walking aimlessly under the clouds and among the mildly humid wind.
My eyes found exquisite architecture everywhere I looked, Jensen and I walked side by side, not too much distance between us, our hands occasionally brushed together once, then twice and before I could realise what was happening he enveloped my slender hand is his and I felt tingles shoot up all over my arm.
Would it always be this way?
My concentration shifted and settled on our intertwined hands, on the gentle pressure of his fingers between mine, the smooth texture of his thumb, the warmth that he always emitted, it felt so right, my heart felt heavy and light at the same time.
I looked up at him, only to see his deep grey eyes were focused on me. A small smile tugged his lips up in a crooked curve. “What?” He asked.
“Nothing…” I smiled.
The streets became narrow as we walked on, there were numerous restaurants along the side of the street and shops that sold beautifully crafted artefacts. The city had a charm that reeled us in and we didn’t resist in the least.
“Are we sufficiently lost yet?” Jensen mused.
“Not yet, but we will be.” I replied, as we walked on, for I was referring to the state of mind when I said ‘lost’.
We stopped multiple times at a books store where most books were in French and of course Jensen could not only speak fluently but read it too, I looked through gift shops to get something for Kate and my mom, we also briefly stepped into a nostalgia shop looking through vintage memorabilia they had to offer.
We bought things we didn’t need and just strolled through Paris streets like a couple of tourists.
The sun was setting and slowly the lights were being switched on in every corner. I was in no hurry to return back to the hotel and Jensen seemed like he didn’t mind. We decided to eat in a restaurant right around the corner. We both entered the doors. The place was nice but it was bustling with customers for obvious reasons.
A waitress showed us to our table and we soon placed our orders.
Jensen was looking at me weirdly and I couldn’t understand why.
“What?” I asked him.
“Do you always do this ‘getting lost’ thing every place you visit?” He asked.
“Not really, Paris is special and it was on my bucket list, so I can just strike it off now” I told him excitedly.
“Bucket list, huh?” He mumbled lowly, “people actually do that?”
“Yea…you don’t have one?” I sounded genuinely curious.
He shook his head ‘no’.
“Don’t worry, when we get back, we’ll write something in your bucket list, so you can have a reason to live.” I assured him jokingly, as I reached forward and patted his shoulder lightly and Jensen kept a straight face, but I could see amusement is his deep gray eyes.
“What else is on this bucket list of yours?” He asked.
“Well, the next is getting on top of Eiffel tower…” I told him.
“Your list is kinda cliche don’t you think?” He asked.
“Well, it was your idea so I blame you.” I told him sternly.
“My idea?” He asked, baffled and leaned back like I just accused him of being unoriginal.
“It wasn’t on my list, but when you mentioned it today I just had to add it didn’t I?” I smirked.
“I see…” He nodded. “Maybe I should have suggested something else then…”
I didn’t miss his flirty tone and asked, “like what?”
“Like…” He trailed off. “Like something….You’ll just have to wait and see for yourself.”
“What are you planning?” I asked, he definitely was up to something.
“Nothing… yet.” He smirked, with his vague answer.
I was about to speak up about how he was being very suspicious, but the waitress returned to serve our food, and all was forgotten.
After dinner we walked back at a leisure pace. There was a giddy smile on my face as I walked with Jensen, hoping we were heading in the right direction. He seemed to know because he was able to read the street signs. Many of them were in English so I didn’t feel too out of loop.
As we were crossing a bridge, it suddenly started drizzling, umbrellas sprouted open and the streets began clearing out, they emptied out faster than I could blink.
Jensen looked alarmed as he searched for the nearest temporary shelter “come’on let’s get inside” He suggested, glancing at me to meet my doubtful brown eyes.
“Are you kidding me?” I looked at him like he suggested something crazy, “No way am I missing this!” I denied straight out, with an excited smile. The shopping bags I had were getting drenched but those were the last thing I worried about.
“You are going to get sick” He told me, trying to make me see reason.
“I don’t care!” nothing he said was going to change my mind. Now I know what they meant by Paris in the rain. It truly was amazing.
The drizzling soon transformed in heavy rain, but we just stood where we were and the rain slowly but surely pelted down on us.
I was facing up at the sky with my eyes closed as I wholeheartedly welcomed the rain drops with a smile to drench me. I turned to look at Jensen, to see he was staring at me, almost like he was transfixed.
I yelled, so that I could be heard over the sound of the rain “what are you looking at?”
He vaguely gestured to all of me with his hand “Just…how crazy you are.”
I stuck my tongue out at him like a child “I love rain…sue me” He chuckled and mumbled something under his breath that I couldn’t hear. “What? I didn’t hear you.” I hollered, telling him to speak up.
“I said, I can’t believe I’m attracted to you.” He repeated, walking closer, and I blushed despite the cold, my clothes were now sticking to my body uncomfortably but I still didn’t care. I looked into his gorgeous grey eyes as he walked closer, so close I could feel his warmth as I looked up at his face.
My damp brown hair, which now appeared almost black stuck to my face and he reached out to tuck the strands to one side, his hand lingered on my cheek, not pulling back and the heat of my blush thawed his cold fingertips.
“Gosh,you’re beautiful…” He murmured, but I heard him clearly because of how close he was, his warm breath fanned across my neck with every word, making me shiver with everything else but cold. The drenched city was a huge blur behind him, as I focused on him alone.
He was breathtaking. His brown hair now looked darker, his eyelashes were long and tiny raindrops clung to them for dear life as he blinked.
There was a strange energy in the air as our eyes connected, and that instant was long enough for his bottomless eyes to defeat something deep inside of me and I didn’t even know what it was as his lips came crashing down on mine gently and stealing my breath with an enchanting kiss.
I stood still for a moment too long but then un-suddenly my hands moved to his chest, to pull him closer as my eyes fluttered shut. All my senses went haywire and I let myself get pulled in by the electrifying feeling that he had sparked inside of me.
Jensen’s warm hand held me around my waist and his other hand cupped my cheek as he continued to kiss me fervently and I kissed him back with the same intensity.
My hands that held shopping bags now ended up winding around his neck, as I pulled him impossibly closer and ran my fingers through his soft hair.
A freezing chill ran down my spine when he slowly licked my lower lip and without a second thought I parted my lips allowing him to deepen the kiss.
The kiss turned slow yet more passionate and I lost track of reality as I was wrapped up in all that was him.
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