I know she wants to see the Eiffel Tower. She hasn’t asked about it. I know she’s let me take the lead on showing her the city, defaulting to my expertise, but there’s no way I can let her leave without seeing the view from it.

I have no desire to do it, but that shouldn’t stop Chloe from experiencing it.

As we walk, Chloe talks about how much fun she had yesterday and how she still can’t believe that we came to Paris for the weekend.

“Oh, I should grab something for Jules. She’s going to freak out. And my family. Maybe an ornament? Or shirts? What do you think?”

“We’ll hit the souvenir shop after.”

“After what?” she asks.

I nod in the direction we’re headed.

Chloe’s eyes light up. “The Eiffel Tower?”

My answer is to take her hand and lead her to a small building on the side.

“Isn’t the line over there?” she asks.

“I had Bea arrange this,” I tell her after I check in with the security guard.

“You both going up?” he asks when he returns.

“No, just her,” I say, dropping her hand so she can follow him to the entrance. “I’ll wait here.”

Chloe grabs my hand. I look from where our hands are joined up to her face.

“Come with me.”

I want to share everything with her, but I can’t do this.

I shake my head. “I can’t.”

She lifts up on her toes and takes my face in her hands.

“Barrett, do you trust me?”

I hold onto her wrists.

“Of course. It’s not about that.”

“Isn’t it? I got on a plane not knowing where I was going, because I knew if I was with you, it would be okay.” She looks around. “And it’s better than okay. I get it. You’re scared, and you might freak out, but if you trust me then you know that you’ll be okay because I’ll be with you.”

I look into Chloe’s eyes and I know that I’m falling for her. Now I’m not sure if the fear twisting in my gut is from thinking about being nearly a thousand feet off the ground or fear that she doesn’t feel the same way. And if she does, can we make this work? There’s a reason I needed a fake girlfriend. Business has always come first.

I decide to not focus on the latter right now, and be in this moment with Chloe.

The confident look in her eyes is what does it for me.

“Okay,” I say. Chloe jumps into my arms and presses her lips to mine. “You can return the favor later.”

Her eyes go wide, then she presses her lips together, fighting a smile. “Looking forward to it.”