Tied Together (The Cade Siblings Duology #1)

18. Alana

CHAPTER 18

Alana

My nose is practically glued to the window of the town car as we drive through the city.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, thank the heavens. I woke up when the pilot announced our descent and immediately remembered begging Alex to hold me.

I didn’t say anything to him about my mid-flight panic attack and he seemed content to leave it as well. I was thankful.

After we collected our luggage and walked outside, we found a short man with graying hair holding a sign with our names on it. He introduced himself as Marco and led us to a beautiful black town car.

I think Alex has tried to start a conversation with me a few times, but I am completely distracted by the hustle and bustle happening outside of our car as we drive. My eyes are peeled just in case I see a famous monument or something.

Once I got off the plane I automatically felt so much lighter. I am away from my ex, away from the city that was starting to feel suffocating and I have a clear path forward to level up my career.

I am also accompanied by one of the few people on this earth who doesn’t bother the hell out of me. My eyes aren’t on him, but it’s impossible to ignore his tall frame next to me. Impossible to ignore the heat of his body and the way mine wants to reach out for him without my permission.

I take a deep breath and remind myself why I’m here. I am not going to think about him. I am not going to think about how good it felt to be held by him or the way he makes me feel seen or the cute little smile he has when he looks at me like we share a secret. Thinking about those things will only lead to feelings that I do not want to allow myself to have.

I repeat the mantra to myself.

I will not fall for Alex Ashford.

Not only is this the most complicated time to start something with Alex because we are about to be roommates, I am dealing with way too much from my ex’s reappearance. It’s shaken me and brought up feelings that I thought were resolved.

I’m snapped out of the trance as Alex nudges his shoulder into mine.

“Lanie, look.”

He motions out his side of the window and there it is. The Eiffel Tower. Oh my gosh .

I told him this was one of my most anticipated things to visit and see while we were here. He had asked during one of our daily games of question and answer what I was most looking forward to in Paris.

I practically lay down in his lap trying to see through his window. I can only see the bottom part of it from the car and I almost ask Marco to pull over so we can get out and take a longer look.

Alex must see the torment on my face, because he grabs my hand as I sit back.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take you to see it tonight.”

“Really?” I ask.

“Really.” He smiles at me.

It’s currently around seven thirty in the morning, so we have the entire day ahead of us. I slept for most of the flight, but I feel groggy and dirty from the airport.

“You may want to be sure you pack a coat,” Marco says. His thick french accent sounds so sophisticated. I had almost forgotten he was in the car with us considering how quiet he’d been. “You’ve arrived in the middle of a winter storm.”

The white flakes fall gracefully as I watch from the safety of the car. It’s not usually this cold in Paris at this time of year, typically it’s just pretty rainy. While the snow can be a bit of a pain, it’s painting the city in the most beautiful blanket of white.

We pull up to a tall tan building that must be where our apartment, or flat I guess, is located. There are multiple balconies all along the front and there’s ivy climbing up all around them.

“Right, here we are,” Marco tells us. He opens my door and I follow him to the trunk where he removes our bags. We head inside behind him and are greeted by a doorman who introduces himself as Albert. He’s older, probably in his late sixties, and is wearing a suit and white gloves. His eyes are kind and the smile he gives me seems genuine.

I forget all about the friendly doorman though as I step into the lobby. My mouth drops open as I take in the space.

The room around me is adorned in gold colors. The ceilings are incredibly high, at least fifteen feet but probably more, and there is gold trim lining the walls. They’re covered in a deep forest green color with swirls of gold throughout them. The most beautiful artwork is hung all around the space and I feel like I could get lost for hours down here.

Marco walks us over to a woman standing behind a desk labeled registration.

“Maura, these are the two with Impress . They have unit 4B,” he tells her.

“Here are your keys,” she says with absolutely no emotion. “Elevator is on the left, fourth floor. If you need anything, I will not be here most of the time so try to catch me when I am.”

Alex and I exchange a look and thank her. She doesn’t respond.

Alex shakes hands with Marco as he walks back through the door held open by Albert and we head to the elevators. He turns to me as the doors close.

“Two things. One, this building is insane. Two, what is with Maura?”

“No kidding,” I say. “The building is insane. I can’t even imagine what the inside of the apartment looks like. This feels like a dream. Someone pinch me. ”

Alex reaches out and pinches me on my arm, causing me to jump.

“Ouch,” I say, rubbing the spot.

“You asked for it.”

Before I can come up with a response, the elevator dings and we step off and into a hallway with beautiful carpet. It’s a deep maroon with all different sorts of flower designs dancing down it, and the walls are lined in that same gold trim that I saw in the lobby.

We walk down the hallway and see a forest green door with ‘4A’ written on it in gold. Across the hall is door ‘4C’. We move further down, dragging our luggage behind us, and finally come to our door.

Alex inserts his key into the lock and we step inside.

I then do a complete repeat of the whole song and dance I performed in the lobby. Jaw dropped and eyes wide, I survey the space in front of us. Neither of us speaks or moves for a solid minute.

Heather told us her friend owns this flat and is allowing us to stay here in exchange for our plant watering abilities, but that suddenly doesn’t feel like nearly enough payment after seeing this gorgeous space.

“Holy…” Alex breathes.

“Yeah.”

“The rent here has to be like…”

“A lot,” I say.

The floors are a deep wood, placed in a design that makes them look like alternating arrows. There are two teal velvet couches in the center of the room with a glass table between them. Beyond the couches are two floor to ceiling doors that lead out to the balcony.

Looking up, I find a huge chandelier that twinkles as the sun hits it from outside. The walls are a sort of salmon pink that highlights the gold in the room so well. The corners of the room are decorated with the same golden trim, but in here it swirls around and makes circular and winding designs in all of the corners. There are paintings on the walls and a huge golden mirror on one with a fireplace below it. I can’t help but think about Alex and I sitting on one of these couches, cuddled up by the fire.

I will not fall for Alex Ashford.

Moving into the dining room, there is a long glass table with ten placements and gorgeous velvet chairs in front of each one. There’s a large vase of flowers sitting in the center and green plants all around the room.

The kitchen has shiny marble floors and all of the decor and appliances are black and white. The refrigerator is stocked with all of the essentials, as is the pantry. There are double ovens and a large island with eight stools lining one side. I think about baking while Alex sits at the island and works or talks to me about our day.

I will not fall for Alex Ashford.

“Lanie, come look at this view,” he calls from the balcony. Every time he uses that nickname it does something to my stomach.

I head out onto the balcony and gasp as I look out on the city below us. We aren’t too high up, but we’re just high enough that we have a pretty great view of the street and shops below us. This is a prime people watching location.

“I wish we were on the other side of the building. I bet they have views of the Eiffel Tower.”

“Are you seriously complaining?”

“No, absolutely not. Just making an observation.”

He laughs as we head back inside and down the hallway to find a room. There are two bedrooms in the flat and one office. The primary is the first one on the left. It has a huge bed, bigger than a king, that has an opulent blue velvet quilt draped over it. There are nine of the fluffiest looking pillows on earth piled against the headboard and I almost moan as I think about slipping down into them.

Right across from it is another bedroom, slightly smaller than the first but still much bigger than my bedroom at home. This one is topped with a white duvet that reminds me of a marshmallow.

A little further down the hallway there is an office with two desks, just as Heather promised. There are two large cherry wood desks that probably weigh two hundred pounds each, facing one another. There are built in bookshelves lining the walls that are full of all kinds of books from vintage looking copies of Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Agatha Christie to more modern historical fiction and romance.

I know I’ll be spending lots of time roaming these shelves and I feel giddy as I run my finger along the spines, taking in all of the titles.

“Why don’t you take the primary Lana?” Alex says as he continues down ahead of me.

“Oh no you can have it, I don’t care which room I get.”

“You look like you want to live in those pillows,” he says to me as we stand in between the two rooms. “Go on, I can take this one.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, hesitating to take the best room from him.

“Positive. But as payment, I’m throwing you into those pillows.” He lunges toward me and I squeal, darting away from him on instinct. I begin to run around the room, laughing as I go, only to be snatched from behind by Alex’s strong arms.

He carries me bridal style and I cling to him with my arms wrapped around his neck.

“One…two…” he swings me back and forth as he counts, his hands tightening around my body before he shouts “three!” And tosses me onto the bed.

I land in the pile of pillows and they go flying all around me at the impact. I’m giggling, tears flowing from the corners of my eyes from laughter, and Alex leans against the doorframe with a smirk on his handsome face.

“Okay fine. I’m just going to take a quick shower and I might rest my eyes for half an hour or so, then we can go sightseeing.”

“Sounds good to me.”

He turns and closes the door behind him as he leaves. I lay on the bed for a few seconds more and squeeze my eyes shut, trying to stop thinking about the fact that he’s going to be sleeping just a few steps away, right across the hallway from me.

Talk about temptation.

I repeat my mantra to myself.

I open my suitcases up on one side of the room, pulling out my toiletries and head into the bathroom. I make quick work of the shower and find a robe that feels like a cloud hanging in the closet. I wrap my hair in a towel, pull on the robe, and practically run face first into the bed.

I’ll just close my eyes for a little bit and then I’ll drink an espresso and be on my way.

“Lanie? Hey, Lanie girl. Open your eyes.”

My eyes blink open and I feel a warm hand resting on my shoulder. After a few seconds, I remember where I am. I look up through my lashes at Alex standing above me. I have the sudden urge to sit up just a few inches and touch his lips with mine, but thankfully I snap out of it when my eyes move to the window and I realize it’s no longer as bright and sunny out.

“How long have I been out?” I ask, rubbing my eyes. I realize, then, that I am still wearing my hair towel and robe. Awesome.

“It’s been about seven hours,” Alex whispers softly to me.

“Seven hours? Why didn’t you wake me sooner?”

“You looked so peaceful and I know the flight this morning was pretty draining. There’s no way you got good enough rest. You needed it and I fell asleep too.” He is sitting on the edge of the bed next to me now. His hair looks perfectly messy and I have to physically restrain myself from reaching out and running my fingers through it.

“What time is it?”

“Around three thirty in the afternoon. I didn’t want you to miss the Eiffel Tower and I figured you might be hungry.” As if on cue, my stomach growls and he laughs. He remembered that I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower tonight. That does stupid things to my heart.

“Good idea. Let me get changed and see what state my hair is in. After being up in this towel for so many hours, who knows what it will look like.”

Alex gets up and heads for the door, pausing to look back at me once he reaches the threshold.

“I’ll wait for you in the living room.” He turns to leave, but pauses. I think he’s about to say something else, but then he keeps walking and shuts the door behind him. I almost don’t notice the chocolate square waiting for me on the bedside table.