“Perfect. Now I don’t have to steal them from your house one at a time, like I planned. Although.” He looked at me sideways. “Does this mean I can’t shower here anymore?”
“Not at all. You can get naked and wet here any time you want, Officer Dwyer.”
“Mmm.” He slipped one hand to the back of my neck and kissed my lips, soft and sweet. “I’m about to take you up on that, but first it’s your turn.” Setting the towels aside, he picked up the gift for me and placed it on my lap.
I unwrapped it carefully, smiling when I saw the SJ Lingerie on the box. Inside was a beautiful ivory lace corset slip and pearl thong. I held up the thong and smiled slyly at Charlie. “Is this a hint that my white cotton underwear is not sexy?”
He nodded but said, “No, of course not.”
Laughing, I punched his shoulder, then kissed his cheek. “It’s beautiful. Thank you. Want me to put it on?”
“Yes. But I have another gift for you.”
“Another gift! But you already gave me the skates, too. This is too much—you’re spoiling me.”
He kissed the tip of my nose. “I like spoiling you. But I’m not sure if you’ll like this gift.”
I dismissed that with a wave of my hand. “If you picked it out for me, I’m positive I’ll adore it.”
“Don’t speak to soon. This one might be a little shocking.” He reached over and took his coat from the back of the couch, pulling something out of the inside pocket.
Something that looked like…a ring box.
My stomach whooshed. Oh dear. Oh dear. What was he thinking? We weren’t ready for that! I picked up my whiskey and took a sip. Oh my God, what would I do if it was a ring? What would I say? How dare he do this to me!
Looking slightly sheepish, he handed me the little box. “I hope I didn’t jump to any conclusions here.”
My heart was pounding. I couldn’t think of anything to say so I just unwrapped it. It was a plain white, hinged box, and when I opened it, a huge jewel winked at me from a black velvet cushion. I gasped, barely looking at it, and slammed it shut. “Charlie, are you nuts? It’s way too soon to—”
“Take it out, Erin.”
I pulled it out, discovering that the other end was a small, silver, torpedo-shaped ball.
It wasn’t a ring. It was a butt plug.
“Oh my God.” I looked at Charlie and we both burst out laughing. “Oh my God, you asshole!” I hit him with it. “Do you know what I thought this was?” He was laughing too hard to answer. He had tears. “Jesus, Charlie, I thought I was going to have to reject your proposal right here at our non-Christmas!”
“I know,” he managed, wiping his eyes. “It was hilarious.”
“No, it wasn’t. Oh my God.” My heart refused to calm down. “I want to kill you right now.”
“Ah God, I’m sorry.” He set his whiskey on the table and pushed me onto my back, stretching his long, hard body over mine. “Are you mad?”
His weight felt delicious and warm over me, and I wrapped my legs around him. “No.” I kissed him, feeling a tingle right down to my bare toes. “And I’ll even try it.”
At that, Charlie’s face lit up. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. You make me want to do all sorts of things I’ve never done before.” I narrowed my eyes. “But someday, I will get you back for this. Mark my words.”
He lowered his lips to mine, a soft moan rumbling in his chest. “As long as we have a someday, sweet thing. That’s all that matters.”
“Come on, Erin. We’re going to miss our chance to go up there if you take any more pictures down here.”
“Just one more!” I’d probably taken twenty already, but it was the Eiffel Tower, for heaven’s sake. And the one time I’d been here before, it had been a hazy, rainy summer day. Pretty and all, but today, with snow dusting every surface, darkness falling, lights coming on across the city…the entire scene was a fantasy in black, white, silver, gold, and evergreen.
If only it weren’t so damn cold.
“No. Enough.” Charlie took the camera from me and shoved it into my bag. “Let’s go. We have to do this now if we’re going to make our reservation.” His words puffed out in white wisps as he took my arm and dragged me over toward the entrance at the base of the tower.
“I don’t see why we had to make reservations, anyway. We could have just played it by ear.”
“Hush. Lucas said reservations are necessary at this restaurant.”
“Where is it again?”
“In the Latin Quarter. Apparently it’s where he took Mia on their first date.”
“Really?” That made me happy. When we’d originally planned this trip, we’d been hoping my friends and their husbands could join us, but the timing hadn’t worked out. Mia had said the dates weren’t good for her dad and stepmom to watch the baby, and Coco said Devine Events had a huge wedding this weekend. “I didn’t realize that. OK, then. Let’s do this. I promised Maddie a picture from the top.”
On our way up, I leaned back against him in the elevator. “I kind of wish she could have come with us, don’t you?”
“What? No,” he said firmly. “An eight-year-old does not belong in Paris.”
“But she’d love the sweet shops and the toy stores and the carousels. I saw a flyer for a kids cooking class, too. She’d have been in heaven. Oh!” I looked at him over my shoulder. “Remind me to pick up that little shirt with the frog on it that says la grenouille. It’s at that children’s store on the way back to the hotel.”