She feigns an over-the-top yawn. “I do have a hard time staying awake when you talk.”
I scoff-laugh. “If I didn’t have way too much self-confidence, I’d be offended.”
She pats my arm. “I had a feeling you had extra stores of confidence.”
“Yes but enough about little old boring me. Do you see your brother and his family often?”
“I try to go back to the States a couple times a year to see him, and my parents too. And my brother usually comes here in late summer.”
“Are you close with him?”
“In some ways. He’s always sort of looked out for me in a ‘big brother’ way, even though we don’t live in the same country.” Absently, she fingers a charm necklace with an Empire State Building on it.
I tip my forehead to the necklace. “Did he give that to you?”
She laughs and looks down at the silver building. “He did. He actually bought this last time he was here.”
“He bought you a New York icon in Paris?”
She smiles. “He’s been doing it since we were kids. He finds it amusing to come here and track down trinkets that represent where I grew up.”
“That’s sweet. A nice way for you two to connect.”
“I think so too. I have quite a collection of New York charm necklaces he’s tracked down in France. Though I’m missing the first one he ever gave me: a taxicab.”
“Maybe someday fate will send it back to your doorstep.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Fate doesn’t care about my taxicab necklace.”
“So, your brother is six years older, which makes you thirty-four,” I say, scrubbing a hand over my chin.
She cocks her head and gives me a sharp look. “Why are you saying that?”
I hold up a hand. “What? You don’t seem like the type of woman who gives a flying fuck if I mention her age.”
“You’re right. I don’t. I was just curious if you were trying to impress me with your arithmetic skills or mentioning it for a reason. That’s why I asked.”
I lean in close. “The reason is rather simple. I like older women.”
A look of skepticism crosses her eyes. “Is this a kink of yours?”
I shake my head. “No. I like when a woman knows what she wants. When she’s experienced some of the world. And when she isn’t afraid to call me on my shit.”
“Because you do get called on that a lot.”
I laugh. “I do.”
“You deserve it.”
“I do deserve it. And this is why I like someone to challenge me.”
“You would like me to continue being a challenge for you?”
“Yes and no.”
“I’ll stick with challenging. Also, unlike you, your age isn’t a kink for me. I don’t have a thing for younger men.”
“But you do have a thing for me, don’t you?” I wink.
We stop at the metro station, and our hands slip apart. She stops and stares at me, her eyes eating me up. I fucking love the way she looks at me. She parts her pretty lips and answers, “I suppose we’ll find out.”
“We will.”
She steps closer. She doesn’t give me a kiss though. Instead, she lowers her nose to my chest where my T-shirt is a little bit sweaty. She raises her face, and her eyes have that hazy, sexy look. “You have nice sweat.”
I loop an arm around her waist. “We could get sweaty together.”
“Are you always so relentless?”
Dropping my other hand to her hip, I yank her against me, her body flush with mine. “Would you like me to stop being so relentless, Elise?”
She looks to the sky as if considering it. But she wriggles the slightest bit closer, lining up against me. She shakes her head. “No. Don’t stop at all.” She takes a beat then slides a hand between us, resting it on my chest. She runs her fingers from my pecs down over my abs and stops at the waistband of my running shorts.
Her touch is electric. I grab her hand, press it harder against my flat belly. “Don’t you stop either.”
She meets my gaze, letting her fingertips dance a little lower, then lower still. “Like this?”
A groan rumbles up my chest. “Like that,” I rasp out.
