had a nice smile to add to the other plus points – thick dark hair, grey eyes that somehow gave off both sexy sharp and deeply melty. ‘I do not want you to think I gave you that map so I could follow you around Paris.’
That thought hadn’t actually crossed Keeley’s mind. But was that what he had done? Was this statement bravado and bluff about it? How clever! Or frightening! Maybe her hair was still chemically ridden enough for her to use it to defend herself if necessary. He opened his mouth as if to speak again before she could think about how to reply.
‘I really did not do that,’ he said. ‘I can see you are thinking that might exactly be something someone would say if they had done that.’
Gosh! He had read her thoughts. That was scarier than the idea of him trailing her around the French capital.
‘So,’ he continued, delving his hands deep into the pockets of his coat and wavering a little on his feet, ‘I am going to stop talking now and you are going to tell me what you think about the carousel.’
‘Oh,’ Keeley said. It was an impulse ‘oh’ to buy her a breath of time before answering. ‘It’s… definitely not something I… would have thought I would see here.’
He laughed then, and it was such a warm, hearty sound, bursting the cold air, it felt like the gentle timbre of it was spiralling itself around her in a whirlwind of a touch that almost seemed to put its arms around her. She moved her feet to break the feeling. It was too intimate to feel that way about a laugh…
‘I was a little drunk when I made some of the pinpoints on the map,’ Ethan admitted in a whisper, like it might be a covert secret. ‘But it is one of my favourite places.’
‘From when you were young?’ Keeley queried.
‘You do not like it,’ he seemed to surmise.
‘No… I do think…’
‘You do think…’
‘That it’s…
‘It’s…’
‘Different,’ Keeley managed to finish.
‘I will not accept only that,’ Ethan said, his eyes now giving a flash of challenge. ‘Come on.’ He held out his hand to her.
‘What?’ Keeley gave a nervous giggle, the kind she usually thought was ridiculous when displayed by anyone else.
‘I do not know of anywhere else in the world you can ride a carousel on animals that have long-since died.’ He took her hand then and his skin was so warm compared to hers. She had given the gloves her mum had packed a hard stare before she left the hotel suite and decided to brave the elements without them. Rebelling in all the little ways still felt satisfying.
‘But,’ Keeley said, moving with him towards the roundabout that had stopped moving. ‘It’s for children, isn’t it?’ She looked at the size of the animals. There was no way she would be able to get inside the dodo. She wasn’t even sure her bum would fit on the seat of the something that looked half-leopard, half-giraffe.
‘Who is it that says children should be the only ones to have fun?’
‘But, Ethan, there are no adults on it.’ Suddenly she felt conspicuous. Like she was doing something really wrong and everyone was watching. Except it wasn’t very busy here. It had to be near to closing time and the city had better things to do than watch her spin around on a ride. Was she actually going to do it?
‘You are frightened to have fun?’ Ethan asked, turning to look at her.
‘No,’ she answered immediately. She wasn’t frightened to have fun. Was she?
‘Then, take your choice,’ Ethan offered, placing out an arm as if he were giving her a personal introduction to the animals.
Keeley eyed them all up. The lion had a flattish space she might be able to sit on without breaking any parts of the roundabout. It seemed the only sensible choice. Apart from obviously getting off the ride completely.
Then there was Ethan’s laugh again, followed by a whoop of excitement. ‘I have not ridden this one before.’
Keeley turned away from the lion and saw he was already aboard his stead – a large bird that looked a little like a giant ostrich. His legs were dangling over both sides of the beast, almost touching the wooden floor. He looked both ridiculous and yet still so attractive…
‘This is really silly,’ Keeley remarked, her cheeks reddening as she climbed onto the back of the lion. ‘We might be so heavy the ride isn’t able