Love on Lexington Avenue - Lauren Layne Page 0,83

Scott?” Audrey asked sympathetically. “Yeah, honey. I think we all do. In those final days before he left, you had a frequent sex glow, but it was the other stuff at the beach house that made me realize it was more than that. The way he looked at you like you were the best gift he’d ever received. The hand brushes. The food sharing.”

“You and Clarke share food.”

“Because Clarke can barely feed himself. It’s different, and you know it.”

Claire wasn’t so sure it was different, but she wasn’t exactly in a position to be lecturing anyone about romance right now. She’d barely recovered from the reality of her crappy marriage before getting her heart broken all over again. Hence the spontaneous trip. She’d decided that this time, she wasn’t waiting an entire year to heal. She needed a shortcut to resetting her life, and a new environment seemed the way to do it.

Plus, it gave her an excuse to take a break from the FaceTime calls with Scott. They were the highlight of her entire existence, and that wouldn’t do. At this rate, she’d have to have another bonfire next year to get over Scott.

“I’m sorry,” Audrey said, her brown eyes worried. “I hate that you’re hurting. Again.”

“My fault,” Claire said with a smile. “The guy did warn me from the very beginning that he wasn’t sticking around. And Naomi warned me a million times. I should have trusted the pact, trusted you guys to pick out the heartbreakers when I couldn’t.”

“Well, actually,” Audrey admitted, “I sort of feel like I let you down. Naomi knew that Scott was one of the heartbreakers. I, on the other hand, thought he was the one. Why do you think I insisted Oliver invite him to the beach house?”

“Audrey! That was you?”

“I know! I’m sorry. But you and I had such good luck with Naomi! Remember when she was dating Dylan, and we were like, ‘Hello? Oliver?’ I thought Scott was your Oliver. I was so sure . . .” She sighed. “Naomi would be a gloating terror if she ever found out that she was the one who was right.”

“It’ll be our secret, but maybe next time don’t get so . . . involved?”

“Done,” Audrey agreed.

Claire looked at her watch. “Okay, I’ve gotta get going. Just let me say goodbye to Bob.”

Five minutes later, after an extremely emotional goodbye to the dog, Claire loaded her suitcase into the truck of a cab and climbed into the back seat. “JFK, please.”

The taxi started its slow crawl through traffic, and Claire looked down at her iPhone, double-checking her boarding pass for peace of mind.

JFK to CDG. Nonstop.

She was finally off to see the Eiffel Tower properly.

Chapter Thirty-One

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12

It was a gray day when she arrived at her hotel, but Claire didn’t mind in the least. In fact, it suited her slightly melancholy, jet-lagged mood. And though she’d thought she wanted nothing more than to go straight to bed after a sleepless red-eye flight, it was morning in Paris, and as she stepped onto the small balcony of her hotel room, she realized that the excitement of being in a new city provided a surprising source of energy.

She inhaled as she scanned the Paris rooftops, then let her breath out again when she caught partial sight of the Eiffel Tower in the near distance.

As she’d known it would, it made her think of Scott. Of his fondness for the city, his obsession with the structure. It had occurred to Claire when she booked the trip that there were other destinations where it’d be easier to get over him. Places that he hadn’t mentioned, where she wouldn’t be thinking of him every time she passed his beloved Eiffel Tower.

But she didn’t want to do what she’d done with Brayden. To lock all of her feelings in a room with a closed door. She wanted to face the emotions, knowing that even though there’d be pain, there’d also be memories. The good kind.

Claire needed to figure out how to be okay with how she and Scott had ended up—her being in love, him not so much. Paris had seemed like a good compromise. To be reminded of him without having to see him. By the end of the trip, her goal was to be able to think of the man without her chest aching.

It was a tall order, but she was determined.

Claire sent a text to her parents and Naomi, letting them know she’d arrived safely.