Mix 'N Match (No Match for Love) (20 page)

Zoey laughed as Mitch’s shoes sunk into the puddle. His curls had flattened against his head, and his suit hung limp on his shoulders.

“What, you don’t think I know how to have fun?” he asked.

“Oh, absolutely not. I fully expect you to come to your senses sometime in the next thirty seconds and realize we’re both acting like children.”

Mitch leaned down, his hands hovering over the puddle.

“Don’t you dare.” Zoey took a step back.

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t—”

Mitch scooped the water into his hands and flung it at her. Zoey squealed, running down the sidewalk. Mitch chased after her, and she felt his arms wrap around her waist from behind a second before she was lifted into the air.

Zoey laughed, grabbing hold of Mitch’s arms. “Put me down!”

“You think you know me so well, but I might just surprise you.”

“Okay, okay! You’ve totally surprised me.”

Mitch’s breath tickled her ear, and his arms tightened around her waist. Then her feet touched the ground, and his grip loosened. Zoey turned in his arms. She ran her hands up his wet lapels and linked them behind his neck, pressing closer. Her entire body ached for him.

Mitch dropped his hands and looked away. “If we hurry, we can make it to the Eiffel Tower before sunset. I bet it’s a spectacular view from the top.”

“Yeah. Of course.” Zoey ran a hand through her soggy hair, disappointment making her eyes water. So he’d loosened up for five minutes. Big deal. She’d read too much into the moment, and now he was pulling away.

It was probably for the best.

They dripped their way to the metro station and waited for their train in silence. Zoey’s mind swirled with confusing thoughts and emotions. By the time they exited the metro, the rain had stopped, and steam rose from the ground as the summer sun warmed the wet concrete.

“Thanks for your help today,” Mitch said, his tone freakishly perky.

Did he think she was an idiot? Talk about a desperate attempt at a subject change. He was trying to bury the moment between them like it had never happened.

She never should’ve told him about Brooke, or Toujour, or makeup. Of all the people to bare her soul to, why had she picked him?

He pulled his wet suit away from his body and ran a hand through his hair, causing the curls to fluff back up. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you. I never realized how little I knew about weddings.”

“You would’ve figured it out.” Okay, so he was changing the subject, but she didn’t have to be petty about it. Maybe she’d read too much into the moment.

“Yes, but you’re a natural at it. Brooke will love your selections, which means Luke will be happy, which means I’ll be happy.”

“As long as we can keep Alan away, right?”

“He won’t give up, but that’s okay—we’re smarter than him.” He reached out, brushing a strand of wet hair away from her eyes. The movement was so quick, she almost worried she’d imagined it. “We’ll stick with the plan if it comes to that. We can make him believe the wedding is ours.”

What was he doing? One moment he was pushing her away, the next he was stroking her hair.

He was worried Alan was watching. That had to be it.

Zoey cleared her throat and looked away, focusing on the sidewalk. “How’s Jasmine? You never did tell me how her first day went.”

“I think it was kind of a disaster. Sounds like she’s already made enemies with an assistant that’s making her life miserable.” Mitch sighed, rubbing a hand over his curls. Zoey had the sudden urge to reach out and wrap that hand in hers. “I wish she’d go back to school.”

“Everyone has to go through some crappy times to get to the good ones.”

“I understand that logically, but I wish it didn’t have to be that way. She’s my kid sister. I don’t like to see her hurt.”

Zoey did reach out then, taking his hand in hers. He looked at her in surprise, but didn’t pull away. Zoey kept walking, urging them along. Her hand burned at his touch, but it was a good kind of fire, one she didn’t want to extinguish.

If Mitch wanted to play it up for Alan, so could she.

“You want to give her everything you didn’t have, and that’s admirable,” Zoey said. “But she’ll appreciate it more when she’s earned it for herself. Jasmine’s a risk taker, but she’s also smart—she’s only going to take calculated risks with a high likelihood of paying off.”

Mitch gave her a lopsided grin and gently squeezed her hand. “I guess she’s a lot like you in that way.”

“You don’t think I’m an idiot to want to quit Toujour?”

“No. I think you’re brave.”

Zoey looked away, her cheeks burning. She didn’t feel brave.

Mitch dropped her hand and pointed. “There it is,
mademoiselle
. The Eiffel Tower.”

Zoey stared at the tower, a golden beacon against a setting sun. She let out a laugh, bringing a hand to her chest. “I can’t believe we’re really here. This whole experience is so unreal.”

“Want to see it up close and personal?”

“Absolutely.”

He motioned to the grassy field directly across the street from the tower. “We could take a picture there first. The lighting will be gone by the time we get off the top.” He smirked. “I’m assuming you want to go to the top, right?”

“Uh, yeah. You can’t come to Paris and not
go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.” She poked his arm, struggling to regain the playful banter that used to be so easy between them—that had returned in the rain. “Unless you’re you, of course. Then you come to Paris twice without bothering to make time for one of the most iconic monuments in the world.”

“Third time’s a charm, right?”

“Come on, Mr. Don’t Seize the Day. That sun’s not slowing down, and I don’t want to lose the light.”

Zoey picked the perfect photo spot, and they asked someone to take their picture. Mitch wrapped his arms around Zoey and pressed his cheek close to hers, and she struggled to maintain her smile while her mind whirled with the possibilities of what this could mean.

He had to be playing it up in case Alan was somewhere nearby. She had hurt Mitch so badly. He’d allowed himself to be vulnerable—something she knew wasn’t easy for him—and she’d responded by kissing another guy. The worst part was he probably thought she’d done that because she was flighty and not interested in a real relationship.

They stood close but not quite touching as they crossed the street, bought tickets, and rode the elevator to the top.

She should tell him that she’d freaked out after their kiss and handled it badly. Maybe, if he knew the truth, he’d be able to forgive her.

The elevator doors opened, and Zoey pushed her way through the crowd. She pressed up against the wire mesh providing a protective barrier, threading her fingers through.

Zoey gasped. Buildings sprawled below them, like tiny dollhouses. The sun sank low in the sky, casting an orange hue over the entire city. Cars zipped along the streets, and she could just make out the sound of a car horn.

The Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame had been spectacular, but nothing compared to this.

“In about twenty minutes, we’re going to witness a beautiful sunset.”

Zoey jumped. Mitch’s breath tickled her ear, and his arm brushed against hers as he pointed at the horizon. She shivered despite the warm air drying her wet clothes.

Maybe it was more than an act for him, too.

Slowly, she gazed up at him. “I had no idea you could live so fully in the moment.”

“I’m learning to. You’re a great teacher.”

Zoey blushed, looking away.

“What happened, Zoey? I’ve been thinking about it for months, and I can’t figure it out. I really thought that . . .” Mitch rubbed a hand over his head. “But I guess I was wrong.”

Anxiety pooled in her stomach, a murky pond filled with floating leaves and litter. It was one thing to think about telling him the truth, and another to actually open her mouth and say the words. She wanted to run down the tower and away from this conversation. But instead she took a deep breath.

“You weren’t wrong,” she whispered. “After that night I just . . . I freaked out. When you didn’t call me, things spiraled.”

“I meant to call you, but work was insane that day, and I didn’t have a spare minute. When I called you at lunch, you didn’t pick up.” He laughed, the sound hollow. “I guess I know why.”

“You could’ve sent me a text to let me know.”

“I thought I was being chivalrous and letting you sleep in.”

The words were a slap to the face. She’d thought he slighted her, but instead he’d been sweet. And she’d freaked out and stuck her tongue down some random stranger’s throat. Her stomach curdled with disgust for her actions.

“I’m sorry,” Zoey said. “I never should’ve done it. He meant nothing to me. I don’t even remember his name.”

Mitch gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. His skin was nearly as dark as her hair, and she shivered as his knuckles glided over her cheek. “What are you so afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid.” Except she was afraid of everything. She knew how to be spontaneous, how to live in the moment. How to enjoy life. But she didn’t know how to do the hard stuff. The serious stuff. The relationship stuff.

“You don’t strike me as the kind of girl who gets all neurotic when a guy doesn’t call her back the day after a kiss,” Mitch said.

“Maybe I am.”

“Please, Zoey. Let me in.”

“It’s stupid.”

“Just say it.”

Like it was as easy as reciting a grocery list. But he deserved an explanation. She took a deep breath, then tried to make her voice flippant. “I guess I wasn’t ready for the emotions kissing you triggered. I reacted badly, and I’m sorry for the pain it caused you. If you haven’t figured it out by now, overreacting is kind of my thing.”

She didn’t like the way Mitch stared at her, as though his eyes could penetrate her soul. “You’ve kissed lots of guys. What about kissing me was so scary?”

Zoey looked away, heat flaming her cheeks. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

“I do, and I think I’ve earned the right to this conversation.”

She brushed a strand of hair away, playing with the ends of her ponytail. “I’d never felt a kiss that deeply, okay? I wasn’t prepared for what it would do to me, emotionally or whatever you want to call it.” Could she be any more of a girl? It had been one kiss. One. Silly. Kiss.

“It wasn’t just a fling for me.”

Her breath caught, and she couldn’t exhale.

“I was ready to go all in that night, even though it terrified me.
You
terrify me.” Mitch cupped her face in his hand, running his thumb up and down her cheek. “But it was the good kind of scary, and I thought you were worth the risk.”

Zoey was scared to move, scared to breathe. She blinked up at Mitch, trying to read his expression. His eyes brimmed with emotions she couldn’t read, and she simultaneously wanted to let herself drown in them and swim desperately for shore. “And now?” she whispered.

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He lowered his head toward hers, then paused, as though giving her permission to pull away.

She reached out, resting her hands on his arms. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer still. Her head spiraled with memories of their last kiss. Surely she’d built it up in her mind over the last few months. There was no way a kiss could be that perfect.

Mitch paused, his lips a hair’s breadth away from hers.

“The Eiffel Tower at sunset seems a little cliché,” Zoey murmured.

“We can put this off until we’re somewhere else if you’d prefer.”

“Not a chance.” Zoey rose on her tiptoes, bridging the last millimeters between them.

And then their lips met. His were just as soft and full as she remembered. His hand tightened at her waist, pulling her closer as he deepened the kiss.

She was dancing through clouds, skating on ice, floating on air, and her thoughts were a scattered mess of fragmented emotions she didn’t know how to piece together. Zoey brought her hands to Mitch’s cheeks, urging him closer. His skin was rough with whiskers beneath her palms, and she pressed her body against his, wishing this moment would never end.

Mitch broke the kiss first, leaning his forehead against hers. “What am I going to do with you, Zoey?” he whispered.

A camera flashed, the bulb blinding in the near-darkness. Zoey pushed away from Mitch, her heart pounding so loudly she could hear the blood rushing in her ears. What was she doing? What was she
thinking
? She couldn’t go down this path with Mitch. They were too different. They’d end up making each other miserable. He’d try to change her.

The camera flashed again. Zoey took another step back, her stomach sick with dread.

Alan, with a camera to his eye and an evil smile on his lips.