Chapter 3 #3
He’d hated hearing that she didn’t have any friends or family, but he didn’t think she’d told him that to gain sympathy.
She’d said it in the same matter-of-fact way she’d told him what her favorite restaurant was, that she liked vanilla macarons best, and what she did at her job.
For her, it was just a fact of her life, and that made Lefty want to show her what true friendship was all the more.
He wanted to introduce her to Gillian, to let her hang out with the other guys on his team, show her that she was likeable and worthy.
He’d tried hard to block out her admission that she was a virgin, but of course he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
He knew she was twenty-nine, and it blew his mind that she hadn’t made love to anyone.
The men around her must be complete idiots, which wasn’t exactly a surprise, considering she worked in political circles, but still.
She’d let a few more things slip as they’d talked over the last few hours, and from what he understood, she’d only had a handful of boyfriends in her life, but as soon as they started pressuring her for more than she wanted to give—whether that was physically, or even socially—she broke things off.
She’d admitted it was easier to take care of her own physical needs than have to deal with the men’s egos.
Lefty knew he’d be lying if he didn’t admit he wouldn’t mind showing Kinley what all the fuss was about regarding sex. But a few hours wasn’t enough to do more than try to cement the connection he felt between them.
Long-distance relationships sucked, and if he could at least be her friend, Lefty would be okay with that.
He kept his eyes on Kinley as she stared up at the tower. He had no idea what was going through her mind, and he found that intriguing as hell. He could just ask her what she was thinking, but he was enjoying simply watching her take in the world around her too much to interrupt.
After another five minutes or so, she blinked then turned her head toward him. “Are you bored?” she asked.
“Nope,” Lefty told her honestly.
She frowned. “Most people would be by now.”
Lefty shrugged. “I’m not most people.” He looked at his watch, then back at her. “We’ve got another two hours before we need to head back to the conference. If you want to spend that time here, staring up at the Eiffel Tower, that’s what we’ll do.”
“What do you want to do?” she asked.
“Whatever you want,” Lefty told her without hesitation.
She wrinkled her brow, and Lefty thought it was adorable as fuck. “You don’t care if I just sit here and don’t talk to you?”
“Nope.”
“If I ignore you totally?”
“Nope,” he said again.
She made a little sound in the back of her throat, then looked back up at the huge tower in front of them and didn’t say anything else. She scooted her butt down on the seat until her head rested on the bench behind them. Lefty got comfortable next to her.
Neither said a word, but when Lefty reached over and took her hand in his, she didn’t pull away. If this was Kinley being “weird,” then Lefty decided right then and there that he liked weird. A hell of a lot.
After another ten minutes of gazing up at the Eiffel Tower, she’d decided she was done.
He’d gotten her to stand still long enough so he could take a picture of her in front of it before she’d asked if Notre Dame was too far away.
He’d reassured her that it wasn’t, and off they went.
They didn’t talk as they walked. Kinley simply took in the sights and sounds around her.
Lefty wasn’t surprised when, upon arriving at Notre Dame, Kinley stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and simply stared up at the beautiful ancient building. He stood guard, making sure no one bumped into her as she took in the church.
“I cried when I watched the news clips of it burning,” she said after a moment. “I’m glad the stained glass made it.”
“Me too,” he said. Then, making a split-second decision, Lefty pulled out his phone.
He knew his mom was an early riser. A very early riser.
She went to bed around eight at night and got up around four every morning.
When he’d told her she was crazy one day, she’d just shrugged and told him she liked mornings because everything was quiet and still.
Knowing she’d probably be up, even as early as it was in California, he clicked on his mom’s number and put it on speaker. As it rang, he felt Kinley staring at him. He met her gaze as his mom answered.
“Hey, son. Everything all right?”
“Yeah, I’m good. I’m in Paris,” he said without preamble.
“Paris?” his mom breathed. “Please tell me you’re getting to do a bit of sightseeing.”
Lefty chuckled. “As a matter of fact, I am, which is why I’m calling. I’m going to FaceTime you, that all right?”
“Of course. It’s not like I’m standing here naked and decided I might as well answer the phone when my only child calls.”
Lefty chuckled, and he loved the giggle that escaped Kinley’s mouth. He clicked on the button that would let his mom see him.
“Hey, baby,” his mom said softly when she saw his face.
“Hey, Mom,” Lefty said. “You look great.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Always the flatterer,” she accused.
“You know I never lie,” he said. “Before I get to why I called, I have someone for you to meet.”
“Gage, no,” Kinley whispered, but he ignored her.
“Mom, I’d like you to meet Kinley Taylor. Kinley, this is my mom, Molly.”
“Hello, Kinley,” his mom said as Lefty pulled Kinley into his side so her face would be on the screen with his. “I love your hair! The black color looks positively radiant in the sun.”
“Um…thanks. I washed it this morning,” Kinley said, and Lefty felt her stiffen as if she was embarrassed over what she’d just blurted out.
But his mom didn’t miss a beat. “Good for you. I swear I’m addicted to that dry shampoo stuff. Kaden, my husband, has to force me to get in the shower some days.”
Lefty felt Kinley relax next to him. “I haven’t tried it. Does it really work?”
“Oh, honey,” his mom said. “Yes. It’s amazing! I’ll have Gage give me your email, and I’ll send you names of the ones that I’ve found work best. They aren’t all made equally, you know.”
“Thanks,” Kinley said.
“Anyway, Mom, I wanted to call because we’re standing in front of Notre Dame right now,” Lefty said.
“You aren’t!” his mom exclaimed.
Lefty chuckled. “Would I call you from Paris and lie about something like that?”
“Not if you wanted to live to see tomorrow,” his mom retorted. “Lemme see! I get to see your ugly mug all the time. I’ve never seen Notre Dame in person.”
“Just for that, I don’t think I should show you,” he teased.
He turned to Kinley. “My mom loves Notre Dame. As long as I can remember, she’s been in love with this building.
There were times I thought she loved it more than me when I was growing up.
For her birthday one year, I managed to get a buddy who was coming here on assignment to pick up a street artist’s drawing of the cathedral.
I thought my mom was gonna die when she opened it. ”
“Shut up,” his mom complained.
Lefty kept teasing, drawing out the moment for his mom. “She’d planned to come to Paris with Dad one year, but she had to have an emergency appendectomy and they missed it.”
“Gage,” his mom threatened. “Turn the damn phone around or I swear I’ll tell Kinley about the time you peed your pants while you were waiting in line at Disney to see Mickey Mouse.”
“I was four,” he told Kinley with a wink. “And Mickey was my hero. Of course I peed my pants.”
“Gage!” Molly Haskins whined.
Before he could put his mom out of her misery, Kinley took the phone and turned the camera around, pointing it at the iconic building. “From this angle, you can hardly tell there was a fire,” Kinley told his mom. “Look, the stained glass is almost perfect still.”
Then, as if she gave tours of Notre Dame all her life, Kinley proceeded to give his mother the thrill of a lifetime by walking around and showing her every little thing.
Lefty didn’t mind in the least. He loved that his mom and Kinley were bonding over the building. He’d always thought his mother’s obsession with Notre Dame was a little odd, but seeing her love for it being nurtured by Kinley was a gift.
“And look, you don’t see this in any of the pictures of the chapel,” Kinley said, pointing the phone toward their feet.
They were standing in the square in front of the church, looking down at a compass engraved into the stone.
“Point zéro des routes de France,” Kinley said, then translated, “point zero of French roads. This exact spot indicates where all distances to and from Paris are measured.”
He heard his mom sigh in contentment. “Thank you for the tour,” she told Kinley after she’d brought the phone back up to look into the camera. “You have no idea what this has meant to me. I’m gonna get there someday, but seeing it today, and hearing you tell me all about it, was special.”
Lefty saw Kinley had no idea how to respond, so he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side, reaching out and taking the phone from her. “Anything you want to know about anything, Kinley can probably tell you,” he told his mom. “She’s super smart.”
“What I want to know is when my boy is going to find the time to come visit his parents,” Molly quipped.
Lefty chuckled. “Hopefully soon, Mom.”
She looked at Kinley. “That’s what he always says. I bet you don’t tell your parents that.”
“I don’t have any,” Kinley said bluntly.