of your valuable time already.”
“Sorry, but my mama raised me better than that. You’ve suffered a shock, and I intend to see you safely back to your hotel.”
Oh, wow. He not only looked like a god, he knew the right things to say to make a girl melt into a puddle. She’d be a fool to resist a display of gentlemanly manners by a heroic figure like Drew, especially when she’d just been mugged by two guys from the shallow end of the gene pool. “Thank you. That would be wonderful. Where are you parked?”
“In a garage.” He pulled out his phone, punched a speed-dial number, and said something in French. Then he tucked the phone away again. “Henri’s on his way.”
“Henri?”
“My driver.”
“Oh.” Of course he’d have a driver on call. She’d have to remember all the details of this adventure to tell Astrid and Val over drinks next week. “Are you here for long?”
“Two weeks. How about you?”
“Five days.”
“That’s all? Five days will go by like lightning.”
“I know, but this was supposed to be a girls’ trip with my two friends, and that’s all the time we felt we could manage for now.”
“And they didn’t come after all.”
“No.”
He studied her. “I admire your gumption, Melanie Shaw.”
She basked in the warmth of that gaze. She even imagined that she saw interest there, but she didn’t know him well enough to tell for sure. He might give everyone that same warm glance.
In truth, she did feel proud of herself, even if she had managed to get her backpack stolen within two hours of landing. “Thank you.”
“And there’s Henri.” Drew gestured toward a black Mercedes sedan that had pulled up to the curb. Immediately a uniformed driver hopped out and opened the back door.
“Where was he, around the corner?”
“More or less. Hop in.”
She slid onto the soft leather and wondered if Henri had ever chauffeured a woman wearing white gym shoes. Probably not. She buckled her seat belt.
Drew climbed in beside her and Henri closed the door. Inside the car, Melanie became more aware of the scent of Drew’s aftershave. She didn’t recognize the spicy aroma, but then again, she didn’t hang out with rich guys. Plus he might have bought it here.
Drew glanced at her. “Where to?”
She gave him the name of the hotel.
“Never heard of it, but Henri probably knows.” He leaned forward and spoke to his driver in French. The chauffeur nodded, and Drew settled back against the seat. “He’ll get us there.” Reaching inside his jacket, he took out his phone and handed it to her before buckling his seat belt.
“Thank you.” She dialed Val’s cell and got her voice mail. Damn it. She didn’t want to leave a message that would worry Val. So she left a cheery greeting saying that she’d arrived and was having a great time. Then she disconnected and sighed.
“Not available?”
“Unfortunately not.”
“I’ll be happy to go online and look up the number for the credit card company if you want to go that route. They should be able to wire you some money to tide you over, too.”
“Oh.” She blinked. “Right. I’ll need money until the new card gets here. I must be jet-lagged, because I didn’t think of going online for the number. If you’ll look it up, that would be awesome.”
The Mercedes drew alongside the curb in front of her hotel and Drew peered out the window. “Is this the place?”
“Yes. If you wouldn’t mind getting that number for me, I’ll make the call and then you can be on your way.”
He glanced over at her. “Melanie, you can’t stay here.”
“It’ll be fine. I gave them my credit card number earlier, and although that card will be cancelled, I can probably get a new one by the time I check out.”
“I wasn’t thinking about that. I don’t like the looks of this place.” He studied the hotel again before turning his blue gaze on her. “You need to stay somewhere else.”
Her chin lifted. “This is what I can afford. Besides, I don’t have a new credit card yet, so I can’t book a different hotel. I have to stay here.”
“Have you inspected the room?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter. I can deal with whatever. It won’t be the first lumpy mattress I’ve slept on.”
“What about bedbugs?”
“You think they have bedbugs?” Those grossed her out. For some reason she hadn’t anticipated bedbugs in the City of Light.
“I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“If they do, I’ll demand a different room. As I said, this place fits