Tied Together (The Cade Siblings Duology #1)

22. Alana

CHAPTER 22

Alana

“Don’t worry, Lanie. I’ve got you.”

Six simple words that stun me into silence. I don’t recall a time anyone has ever uttered those words or even words of that sentiment to me. I can’t remember the last time someone took care of me. Sure, Charlie and Cami try but I don’t make it easy and they don’t push.

Alex’s hand presses into my back to move me forward and I go blindly, following his lead. We continue walking and as we turn a corner, he moves me so I am on the inside and he is closest to the street. It’s a move you hear about in books and see on television, but not one I have ever experienced in real life. Not that I’ve dated at all in the last year, but Brad didn’t even care enough to do that.

I get lost in thought as we walk. Most of the differences between Brad and Alex are obvious, but the subtle things that Alex does to make sure I’m cared for aren’t as loud. I’m starting to learn that he shows his care in small gestures and kindnesses, and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

The Eiffel Tower is on my left and I gaze at it as we walk. Even though I stared at it through the window for hours at dinner, it’s beauty is still breathtaking. Every hour on the hour, the tower sparkles in yellow lights for about five minutes and I know we’re coming up on another top of the hour mark.

“Let’s stay and watch the last one. It’s about to go off,” Alex says as he tugs my hand towards it. He must have done his research to plan out this evening and the timing of it all.

We stand there, side by side waiting, and minutes later the show begins, except it’s different from the times before. It isn’t shining the yellow lights like it has the rest of the night. This time, all of the lights on the tower are turned off and the only ones shining are white. They sparkle and shimmer in the evening sky and light up the shadows of the Eiffel Tower and it is absolutely incredible.

“Oh my,” I gasp. “Did you know it did this?”

Alex’s cheeks go a deeper shade of pink and he shrugs his shoulders. He timed this perfectly.

This show lasts about ten minutes instead of five and I stand there shivering for every second, the warming packs he gave me long worn off, unable to peel my eyes away.

When they stop and the tower goes dark, I turn to him and smile.

“Thank you for planning this. I feel like I’m living in a movie. It was perfect.”

“It was nothing,” he says with a self deprecating shrug. I notice his hands ball into fists at his sides and it makes me wonder if he’s just cold or if he feels the draw towards me that I’m feeling towards him, and is making an effort to resist that.

“Ready to head back?” he asks, breaking the tension of the moment.

“Yeah absolutely. I’m freezing.”

We walk back in silence and I turn the night’s events over and over in my head. I think we are becoming closer and deeper friends, and I also think I might be feeling things towards him. Things I haven’t felt in a long time. Things that, the last time I felt them, lead me to intense heartbreak. Things I swore I wouldn’t feel for someone again.

And that terrifies me.

But after everything he’s done and shown me in these short twenty-four hours—really ever since that first day in the office when I got turned around and he offered me chocolate—I’m wondering if he might feel something more than friendship too. And I’m wondering if it might be about time for me to work on overcoming these fears and start to trust him.