never been to Paris.”
He considered her words for a long moment, his eyes taking in her amazingly beautiful features, clean of makeup with her hair twisted into the thick towel. A woman who didn"t want to spend his time in tedious shops and his money on clothes she couldn"t wear? Even more intriguing!
“What museums would you like to see?” he asked, ignoring the desire to ask her more questions about her dislike of shopping.
She bit her lip and gauged his reaction. “Well, would you m ind terribly if we went up the Eiffel Tower?” she asked. “I know it seems very touristy but I"ve never been. Nor have I seen the Champs Elysee and I"ve heard that the stairs go up a dark, scary hallway.” She wriggled her eye brows across the table at him, “I"ll race you!” she challenged, seeing that he was weakening.
Dharr laughed outright and shook his head. “How about if we compromise?”
She took a sip of her coffee and watched him from over the rim of her cup. “I"m listening.”
“I"ll take you to every tourist attraction you want,” he said, leaning back casually against the back of the chair, the epitome of a commanding male with his washboard stomach and sexy, not-yetshaved profile, “but then we patronize some of my favorite stores. Deal?” he asked.
Electra nibbled on a piece of toast, wondering what could be wrong with his agreement. Why would he be challenging her with a shopping trip? And he was definitely challenging her, she knew from the daring looking his eyes. He didn"t think she would agree and a part of her suspected she shouldn"t. But what harm would come of a simple shopping trip if it made him happy? He was willing to do what she wanted in the morning, she could meet him halfway.
Of course, she didn"t really need any new clothes but if that"s what he wanted, who was she to stop him? Maybe he wanted her to dress in more sophisticated outfits instead of the casual jeans she"d been wearing yesterday when he"d walked into the apartment. “Sure. Why not?” she finally agreed. The flare of triumph that came into his eyes made her hesitate but she couldn"t imagine what the problem might be.
Just as he promised, Dharr took her through all the Parisian tourist "s sites. Since she was in the back of the limousine with Dharr and the tinted windows made it a little difficult to see outside, she just enjoyed watching him as they talked about nothing in particular. If she"d made the effort to look out the window, she"d have seen the police escort which blocked off side streets, easing their way through the city to each of the major attractions.
They hit the Eiffel Tower first and Electra was thrilled with the wind whipping through her hair as they walked along the steel sidewalk at the top and looked down at all the people meandering through the park, looking like tiny ants from this distance. They hit the Louvre but only had time to see some of the larger exhibits such as the Mona Lisa or Napoleon"s “apartment”, then a walk down the street toward the Champs Elysee. Electra had spied the magnificent structure from the entrance to the Louvre and she"d thought a walk would be nice. But it was much longer than she"d anticipated.
It was still thrilling and she loved walking hand in hand with Dharr, asking him questions about his previous visits to the spectacular city and all the various other places he"d visited throughout his lifetime. She found that he was a very well traveled man and was impressed that he remembered so much about his visits.
Once in the Champs Elysee, she started at the bottom of the stairs and looked up. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, one eyebrow raised as he noticed her staring warily up at the dark, yellowed-withage corridor. “There"s an elevator off to the side which most of the other visitors take.”
Electra considered it for all of two seconds. Then she shook her head. “Nope,” she replied, still looking warily up at the corridor. “I want to do the stairs.” With another deep breath, she plunged ahead, almost racing up the stairs, eager to reach the top.
Halfway up, she stopped to catch her breath, her hands holding onto the railing. “I"m not sure this was such a good idea,” she laughed and saw what now seemed to be endless stairs.
Dharr stood behind her.