“WHAT’S UP?” I ASKED Crow.

He was the one who had wanted to talk to Polly, but I’d ended up doing all the talking. What was up with that?

Crow glanced at Damo and the two of them grinned, but this was our together time we were talking about. I needed to protect that.

“Are you going to make a color-coded schedule of your time off?” he asked. His eyes sparkled with amusement.

Even though he was joking, I could see the merit in the idea.

“Well, that would be a grand idea. Then I could plan ahead. How about it, Polly?”

Polly shrugged. “Do you think I have time for that?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I think you do. I need to be able to plan ahead. Otherwise, you can spring surprise rehearsals on me at any minute. If we have set times, then it’s easier for everyone. Jax, too. We need work/life balance, here.”

“I’m with Fay,” Damo said. “I’d like to plan ahead too.”

Polly tsked and looked away. “Anyway, the next rule,” she said.

“Do you have to call them rules? It sounds like I’m 12 years old and need a curfew. Please, do not say I have to have a curfew.”

Polly grinned. Jeez, now she’d want to give me a curfew just to torture me. “No curfew, but you have to turn up ready to play.”

“I always do.”

“And no sneaking around.”

Wasn’t that the whole point of this meeting? So I didn’t have to? More like, the point was Polly stretching out her torment for as long as possible.

I plastered on a big grin. I’d fix that. I had things to do today.

“I think we’ve covered enough, and I’m sure you and Damo want to be alone to enjoy your day off.” I winked at Damo, and he grinned. “So, Crow and I will get out of your hair so we can see some of the fine sights of this city. It’s stupid to be in Paris and sit around talking about nonsense.”

I stood up, ready to leave. I thought Polly would have more to say, but she didn’t try to stop me.

“Be careful,” was all she said. “This city is notorious for pickpockets.”

“Yeah, it’s notorious for beheadings, too, but I’m not worried.”

Wow, that had been so easy.

“So, we’re official,” I said to Crow after we left Polly’s room. “We need to do something to commemorate.”

He grinned. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

But I left it at that. He didn’t seem too overjoyed by the idea. Maybe it’d been a stupid thing to say. Something high school kids did, not adults. But I would love to have something to remember today by. I guessed things would be different dating a guy like Crow. He wasn’t like the other guys I’d dated, that was for sure.

“Let’s explore the city,” I said. “We have so much to do, and the weather’s so perfect. We can walk for miles and see everything.”

“Didn’t we do that in Amsterdam?” he said with a laugh.

“We’ll do it in every city. Isn’t it fun? Walking around a new city, exploring all those new sights, smelling all those new smells, eating all that new food.”

“It’s fun when it’s with you,” he said.

My heart jumped. It was fun with Crow too. We fit together so well.

We headed out, stopping to poke around in little vintage shops. I wanted Crow to try on a psychedelic shirt from the ’70s, but he shook his head.

“Come on. It’s so you,” I said.

He laughed. “Does it come in black?”

Then I found a street market and bought a red beret. It worked perfectly with my outfit.

We explored old churches and little art galleries. We walked until my feet hurt.

“We have to see Notre Dame,” I said. “It’s the most important.”

“What about the Louvre?” he asked.

“Nah, those big art galleries leave me a bit cold. Too many people. You can’t even see the paintings. I’d rather go to small places.”

We got to the cathedral looming by the river. I wasn’t really a tourist type of person, but when I went inside, it took my breath away.

“This place is amazing,” I whispered. It seemed like the sort of place for whispering.

“What now?” I asked Crow after we left the church.

“Lunch.”

Now that he mentioned it, I was pretty hungry myself. We wandered around until we found a cafe. It was all Frenchy, with checked tablecloths and whitewashed walls. The exact kind of place where you’d imagine eating lunch in Paris. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to eat there. It was perfect.

Before we could enter, Crow grabbed my arm. “Can you speak French?” he asked. “How will we know what to order?”

Good question. I hadn’t worried about that in any other city. We seemed to always find someone who spoke English, but this place didn’t look like it catered to tourists.

“It’s okay. We can work it out. Use Google Translate or something. What’s the alternative? Get Mickey D’s? I’m not eating a Big Mac in Paris.”

“True.”

We entered, and the waitress pointed to a table. That much was easy. I understood pointing.

Even though it was daylight, this place had a romantic feel to it. The waitress had put us in a little nook away from the main room, as though she’d known we wanted privacy. Not that there were many other people in the place, since it was late in the afternoon.

I picked up the menu. Yikes, it was all in French, but there were some words I recognized. Some I guessed at. The waitress walked over, tapping her pencil on her pad. She said a few things in French. I had no idea what they were, but she sure sounded cranky. But I wasn’t used to French people. Maybe they sounded cranky no matter what they said.

We ordered soup and pointed to a few other things.

“What if they’re weird things?” Crow asked.

I shrugged. “We don’t eat them. It’s not like it’s the end of the world. If it’s too disgusting, we can ditch this place and get a baguette and some cheese somewhere.”

We didn’t have to worry, though. All the food was great. My belly had stretched with all the food by the end of it.

“But I need crepes. I can’t come to Paris and not have crepes. And macaroons. Oh, there are too many delicious foods.”

Crow’s eyes sparkled. “You have five more days. You don’t have to eat the entire city out of food today.”

I liked his logic. “Should we go?” I asked him.

“Just a minute.”

He fumbled with something in his pocket. I had no idea what. I was too busy trying to figure out our check. And did we need to leave a tip? I wasn’t sure on the system here. I should check online, or maybe it was easiest to leave a standard ten percent. I was going to ask Crow, but he didn’t meet my gaze. Weird.

“Ah, Fay, I have something,” he said.

“Umm?”

I still was only half paying attention. Then he handed a small box across the table. That got all of my attention.

“For me?” I asked.

He nodded.

My heart fluttered as I opened up the box. Crow didn’t seem like a jewelry-buying kind of guy, so this gift was all the more precious.

It was some kind of pendant.  At first, I couldn’t work out what was on the silver chain, then I turned it toward the light.

“A firecracker!” I laughed.

“Yep.” He didn’t look at me.

“I love it. It’s perfect. You acted so weird when I said we needed to get something to commemorate today, but you had this all along. That was sneaky.”

He looked up and gave me a huge grin, his teeth gleaming through his beard.

I wanted to put it on right now. No, I wanted Crow to put it on me. That was the proper way to do things.

“You have to do it,” I said, handing the box back to him.

He stood up and fastened the chain, his fingers grazing the sensitive skin on the back of my neck. Every touch sent shivers of anticipation down my spine.

When he’d finished, I put my hand up to touch it.

“Thank you so much,” I said. “I’m going to wear it every day.”

Wow, Paris really was the city of love.