Chapter 5
Chapter 5
T he Champs-élysées had so much to offer that Emily could hardly keep track of it all. There was so much to see on the main avenue, but also the side streets as well.
There was no way she was going to be able to take everything in on one day. The designer stores alone left her wanting more, and she hadn’t even been to half of them. This was a shopper’s paradise, and for the first time she was going to allow herself to enjoy it.
“I guess I’m going to have to make a repeat visit,” she mused, as she looked into a boutique window. The handbags were fantastic and the designs so quintessentially French. She was definitely coming back to get one of those, maybe even two.
“See something you like?” a male voice said from over her shoulder.
Emily looked up, but hadn’t the chance to turn around, before the speaker’s reflection in the glass caught her gaze. He was tall, with carefully coiffed black hair, hazel eyes with dark rimmed glasses seated on a straight nose.
Then there was the smile, one she’d know anywhere, but still Emily couldn’t believe he could actually be there.
“Patrick?” she said in disbelief, forcing herself to turn around and see for sure.
“Hello there,” he replied, with the same grin. “This is a surprise.”
Emily could hardly speak she was so shocked. “Yes, it is.” She needed to catch her breath. “I really can’t believe it’s you. Were you in the Renault a little while ago too? I thought I saw someone who looked like you, but convinced myself it couldn’t be.”
“That was me,” he chuckled. “When I saw you from up the street I wasn’t sure it was you either, but I decided to take a chance. When I got closer I absolutely knew it was. You still bite your lip when you’re thinking about something.”
“Oh,” she replied, raising a hand to her mouth unconsciously. “I suppose I do still do that.”
“Glad to see everything hasn’t changed,” he laughed.
“But some things have. You look great! I would hardly have recognised you. You’ve become a real … man,” she mumbled, still a bit tongue-tied.
“Are you saying I wasn’t when we were together?” he teased with a raised brow.
“Ah we were both children,” she defended quickly.
“We were eighteen. I’d hardly call us children,” Patrick corrected, before adding wickedly. “And we certainly didn’t act like it.”
Emily’s cheeks blushed at the inference. He was the first boy she ever really loved, and the first she’d slept with too, both reasons to never forget him.
And she hadn’t, even though life had pulled them in different directions.
“Do you have time to get a coffee?” he asked, inclining his head.
“Only if I get to pick the place.”
He laughed. “Typical Emily. You always liked to run the show.”
She smiled. “As you said, some things haven’t changed.”