“I can’t believe you’re leaving!”

Lily wipes a tear from her pretty green eyes and I give her a warm, tight hug to remind her I’ll be back soon enough.

“It’s only two weeks,” I try to console her. “Just a few nights of sleep and I’ll be back at home, don’t you worry.”

“I know,” she sniffles. “I hope you have an amazing time, I’m just going to miss you so terribly.”

I kiss her cheek and turn to my older sister, Lexi. She looks troubled, but then again, that’s nothing new for the eldest of us three siblings. Lexi has been taking care of the three of us since our parents passed away in an awful car accident seven years ago. I was only twelve when they died, and Lexi was eighteen. Poor little Lily was just ten. I know raising us has been a struggle.

I spent most of my teenage years working in a sundae shop down the road. I helped out Lexi with money, but I also put every cent I could aside. I’ve always had this dream of going on a Euro trip - discovering Europe with a backpack and seeing all the sights my parents told me about when they were younger. Mom and Dad used to travel all the time, but after they settled down with three girls, they rarely even went out of the state.

I blink away my own tears as I give Lexi a squeeze. It’s going to be a hard trip, thinking of my parents every step of the way. But at the same time, I know it’s something I need to do. It has been my dream for so many years to see the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, the Acropolis… I need to do this, for both myself and for my parents.

“Stay safe,” Lexi says, fussing over me as I put my backpack over my shoulder. “Remember, Cassandra, not everyone is your friend.”

“I will,” I promise her, though my life philosophy differs quite a bit from my sisters. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”

After our tearful goodbyes, I walk into the airport and wave my sisters off. Just a few moments later, they’re nothing but two figures waving me off as I join the security line at the airport.

I will admit I am a little nervous. I’ve never been abroad, hell, I’ve never even left the state. But I’m going to have fun on this trip no matter what. I’m going to enjoy myself, and I’m going to finally see the world like I’ve always dreamed of.

A smile is firmly plastered on my face as I make my way through the security checks, and the Duty-Free section where I sample expensive perfume I’ll never be able to afford. I ignore the sales assistant’s dirty looks, choosing instead to give her a bright smile and hopefully make her day a little better. She seems surprised by my smile, and it makes me wonder if people have truly come to expect the worse of one another. Surely one little smile couldn’t hurt her, right?

I leave the shop section and settle on a chair in front of a huge window that overlooks the piste. My eyes are wide as I watch the planes taking off, something I’ve rarely seen in person. Our parents were struggling for money after Dad got laid off from his work, and he couldn’t find a new job for years. When they died, they left us with a mortgage on the house that took all of Lexi’s and mine efforts to cover.

This vacation will be the first time I’m not working, and I’m looking forward to the sense of freedom that’s already put a bright smile on my face as I wait for our gate to open.

My first stop is Paris. I pull out a traveler’s guide from my backpack and immerse myself in the rich history of the country I’m going to visit. I’m so excited to see all the landmarks, to explore little bookstores along the river Seine, and enjoy a croissant at one of the French cafés I’m bound to find on my journey.

I’m reading when I hear commotion in the airport, and I raise my eyes, my finger marking the line where I stopped reading as I watch a slew of security guards filling the small waiting area of the airport.

Excitement flows through my veins and I wonder whether this will be the very first time I come face-to-face with a celebrity. What a rush! My sisters will freak out when I tell them about the star that’s bound to come out any second now.

I keep looking at the entrance to the area where I’m sitting, and sure enough, a couple of moments later, somebody appears and causes a commotion.

Cameras come out of nowhere, snapping pictures of the mountain that comes through the door. He’s enormous. Huge. So big he makes me blush and avert my eyes for a split second, embarrassment burning my cheeks like an old friend. I’m transported to my school days when I was an awkward, gangly girl with too long limbs and a retainer. He ignites every part of me with something I only barely remember, like the crushes I used to have in school but intensified a thousand fold.

I risk another look at him. He’s not only tall, he’s also dark and handsome - just like the saying goes. He has hair that’s a medium shade of brown, slicked back in a perfect businessman style. He’s wearing an expensive-looking suit with gold cufflinks, but I can’t make out the pattern on them from where I’m sitting. His shoes are highly polished dark leather.

And he’s looking right at me.

I try to look away, but there’s something between us that won’t let me. Instead, I swallow thickly as he stares right into my eyes. It feels like he’s reading me like an open book, like not a single one of my secrets is hidden from him. He smirks at me then, and I turn my head away feeling more ashamed than ever.

I watch the commotion around him as it suddenly starts moving to me. I sit up a little straighter in my seat, wondering if he’ll meet my eye again when he passes.

But really, why should he? A man like him is probably used to all kinds of supermodels and gorgeous actresses hanging off his every word. Why would he care about the opinion of some Southern girl from the middle of nowhere?

I stare at the ground with my cheeks burning up as I see the same shoes I’d been admiring moments later stop in front of me. The leather is even shinier from up close. But I can’t bring myself to look up. Even breathing seems to be a problem with him this close to me. He smells like soap and pine, deliciously fresh and masculine at the same time.

I feel a strong hand wrap around my chin, and the moment it does, my head jerks up and I look into his piercing eyes. They’re dark brown and intoxicating, and I’m a goner the second our eyes meet. His hand drops to the side when he has my attention and I yearn for it to return to my chin, to hold me and make me keep looking at him.

“Name?” he growls at me.

His voice is pure caramel, smooth and enticing and so dangerously delicious.

“My name?” I repeat, swallowing the lump that has suddenly appeared in my throat. “My name is Cassandra, but everyone calls me Cassie…”

“Cassie,” he repeats like he’s trying the name on for size.

His voice is seductive, low and growly like it’s meant only for me despite the audience around us. I can see the cameras flashing, making me blush even harder. His security team is trying to look busy, but I know everybody is listening to our exchange. The airport is tiny, with only a couple dozen people besides us, and I can feel everyone’s eyes on me right now, which is making me scared.

“Where are you going, Cassie?” he asks next.

The way he keeps repeating my name sends shivers down my spine and makes me wish he’d never stop doing it. I’m addicted to the way my name sounds on his lips.

“Paris,” I whisper, and he chuckles at my shyness which makes me blush even harder. By now, I’ve probably turned into a beetroot. “I’m going for two weeks… I saved up for years to go on this trip. My sisters were really upset to see me go. I have two. I’m the middle one.”

God, and now I’m babbling. Why won’t my mouth just shut? I’m about to tell a stranger all my plans… Who knows, he might try and take advantage. Part of me hopes he will, and another part is twisting and turning because of my wishful thinking, trying to convince me to be a good, well-behaved girl. To be fair, that part is pretty small, and I’m doing my best to shut it up.

“How lucky,” he says with a big grin. “We’re headed to the same place.”

I give him a doubtful look, not really sure whether I should believe him, but he merely laughs in response.

“Are we on the same flight?” I ask politely, glancing at his entourage.

My flight is to a bigger airport, and I’ll have to change plans three times to get to my destination. I’m exhausted just by thinking about it.

“I don’t think so,” he replies smoothly. “But we will be if you want to be.”

I give him a questioning look, and he drops to his knee in front of me. My heart starts beating quicker. Panic sets in, mixed with delicious, fluttery anticipation as he takes my hand and raises it to his lips. He plants a kiss firmly on the back of my hand, and my stomach does this weird flip-over thing that makes me all dizzy and nearly makes me produce a sound I’d be very embarrassed about.

“Would you do me the honor of coming with me?” he asks gently as if sensing this is scaring me. “I have a private jet, and you have nothing to be afraid of. We’ll take good care of you.”

I look into his eyes and something tells me he won’t take no for an answer, not that I particularly want to deny myself the pleasure of coming with him. There’s something about this man that’s calling my name, my daring inner voice whispering for me to take him up on his offer, to do something utterly unexpected for once in my life.

I find myself smiling at him and cocking my head to the side as I nod.

“Will I be in Paris tomorrow?” I ask gently, and he grins at me, a satisfied look in his eyes.

“You will,” he promises. “I guarantee it in front of everyone here.”

That’s the other thing - he can’t really hurt me, with all these people knowing I went with him… But still, accepting his offer might’ve been the most foolish thing I’ve done in my entire life, and now I feel a little afraid. But not enough to back out of his offer. Not enough to deny this man, who is so incredibly handsome he’s sending butterflies fluttering in my stomach, desperately begging for me to move closer to him.

“Okay,” I say softly. “I’ll come with you.”

My heart pounds with the decision I’ve just made. I must be crazy to leave with a stranger like this. But there’s something inside me demanding I go through with it. A small voice telling me this was a good decision… and I won’t regret it.

He takes my hand and helps me up, and the spot where we’re touching is making me shiver. I think he notices it too because he gives me an affectionate smile that makes him look less menacing. To be fair, he only looked that dangerous and… well, bad… from afar. Up close he looks compassionate, caring and dominant. Like he’s going to take care of me and protect me from every bad thing in the world.

“You won’t regret it,” he tells me in that growly voice I’m starting to get to know.

He leads me out of the main area of the airport on shaky feet, and I wonder what I’ve just gotten myself into.

I turn back one last time and see everyone still staring at me, some of them with their mouths open. A question brews inside me but I’m too embarrassed to ask, and as we walk outside onto the piste where a small plane is waiting, I realize I don’t even know his name…