And although there were plenty of other tourists enjoying the view from the platform, he felt as if the two of them were alone in a little bubble of time and space.
When Roland finally broke the kiss, he felt almost giddy and had to keep holding her tightly. And then he recovered his customary aplomb and told her more about the tower and pointed out more of the landmarks in the city. Just because if he kept talking, then he’d be able to stop himself kissing her stupid.
Back at the hotel, he had to damp down the urge to carry her across the threshold and straight to his bed. That wasn’t the deal. And, even though he was pretty sure she wouldn’t say no, it wouldn’t be fair to her. So he kissed her good night at the doorway to her room—making very sure he kept the kiss short enough so it didn’t play havoc with his self-control—and went to bed alone.
And he spent the next couple of hours lying awake, thinking of Grace.
What if she was the one who really could make him live again?
But the biggest question was, what did she want? And, if they did try to make a go of things, would their relationship splinter in the same way that his marriage had? Would she want children, to the point where nothing else mattered?
It was a risk. And he wasn’t sure he had the strength left to take that risk.
So he’d stick to the rules.
Despite the fact that he really wanted to break them.
CHAPTER EIGHT
HOW DID YOU sweep someone off their feet without losing your own head in the process? Roland still didn’t have any clearer ideas the next morning. But after breakfast he took Grace to Montmartre. As he expected, she was charmed by the gorgeous Art Deco Métro signs, loved the beautiful church and the amazing views over the city, and enjoyed walking through the crowded square where the artists sold their wares and did charcoal portraits of tourists. He got her to pose on the steps next to the funicular railway and took a photograph of her; when a passing couple offered to take a photograph of them together, he enjoyed the excuse to wrap his arm round her shoulders and for her to wrap her arm round his waist.
They stopped at one of the street vendors for a cinnamon crêpe, then wandered further through Montmartre, looking for the plaques to show where the famous turn-of-the-century artists had once lived or painted.
‘Bella would love it here,’ Grace said.
And for a moment Roland could imagine the two of them coming here with Hugh and Bella, Tarquin and Rupert, lingering at a table outside one of the cafés and talking and laughing until the early hours of the morning.
He shook himself. That wasn’t going to happen. His next step was dating again, not finding his true love. And who was to say that he would find The One? Maybe one chance was all you got, and he’d already had that with Lynette. Wanting a second chance was greedy. And he had to look at it from Grace’s point of view, too; even if he wanted to try making a go of things with her, she wasn’t ready to rush into another long-term relationship.
So he kept it light and fun and did touristy things with her for the rest of the afternoon until it was time to catch the Eurostar back to London. This time their journey was swift and businesslike rather than slow and romantic, the way the Orient Express had been. Which was a good thing, because the brisk and businesslike feeling would stop him doing something stupid.
‘Thank you, Roland,’ she said when they were back in Docklands. ‘I’ve had the nicest time ever.’
‘My pleasure,’ he said, meaning it.
He used the excuse of catching up with work for Friday evening and the whole of Saturday, in an attempt to cool his head again; but on Sunday afternoon, when she diffidently suggested that maybe they could go to the Science Museum in search of the seaweed ‘plank’, he found himself agreeing. And again he ended up holding hands with her as they walked round.
Disappointingly, they couldn’t find the plank.
‘Let’s go next door,’ he said.
‘Because you want to see the dinosaurs? Or because it’s one of the most gorgeous buildings in London and you want to drool over the architecture?’ she asked.
He loved it when she teased him like this. Grace really seemed to get who he was and what made him tick. ‘Both?’ he suggested.
‘Pfft. It’s the brickwork all the way, with you,’ she said with a grin. ‘But let’s go and see the dinosaurs as well, because I loved those when I was a child.’
‘And I bet you used to count the bones,’ he teased back.