Paris With Dad's Best Friend - Flora Ferrari Page 0,1

I concede, my thoughts racing. The only thing I do know is that Dad can absolutely not know how I feel about Mark – and neither can Mark, for that matter, because he’s always going to see me as a little kid. Just like everyone else. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Glad to hear it.”

I turn at the sound of his voice, my eyes widening and a flush rushing to my cheeks. Because there in the doorway is Mark, live and in the flesh. I guess he was waiting here for Dad to tell me. He looks amazing. He’s dressed in black jeans and a casual black shirt, the top couple of buttons open to reveal his tanned skin. His smile is uncertain, but his eyes – that magnetic pale blue under his dark hair – are just as stunning as I remember them.

“Mark,” I gasp out. “Hi.”

“You ready for our trip?” he asks, and a thrill goes through my whole body at the thought.

Chapter Two

Mark

“You ready for our trip?” I ask awkwardly, trying to ignore just how fast my heart is beating inside my chest.

I knew this was a bad idea from the second my best friend, Paul, asked me to escort his daughter to a wedding. She’s eighteen, and probably doesn’t even need a chaperone. In fact, I bet I’ll be cramping her style. But that’s not it – the main problem I’m facing.

The main problem is that Sara has grown into one beautiful woman, far more beautiful than I could ever have imagined. I still remember what she looked like as an awkward, gangly teen with braces and acne but there is absolutely no trace of that adolescence left on her now.

It’s not like this was a complete surprise. I saw her not too long ago, at her graduation party – an event that I couldn’t miss, having been a friend of the family for so long. That night took my breath away. Her smooth and voluptuous body squeezed into that little white party dress, clinging to her body in all the right places, showing me once and for all that she had grown up. If I could ever have doubted it before, I don’t now.

I watched her dance at that party and I had to hold my drink down low to hide how stiff I was getting. Looking at her now, still in white with a camisole and shorts that hug her hips, I feel the same way. I fight to clear my mind and focus on the situation at hand, instead of getting hard again.

“Yeah, I guess,” Sara says, shrugging and giving me a small smile. “I’m all packed already.”

I was hoping for a better reaction, but I suppose she’s still adjusting to the news. She was probably looking forward to having a nice couple of days with her Dad before the wedding and then going off to college. If anything, I start to feel a little guilty about the fact that I’ll be stopping her from getting to have that. But it’s not like it’s my fault. It’s either she goes with me, or she doesn’t go at all, Paul made it pretty clear that he wasn’t willing to let her travel that far on her own.

I guess this is his last chance to be a real tight-leash parent before she’s away at college and can do whatever she wants. I don’t blame him. When I look at her, I feel that protective urge to make sure that everyone else stays away.

“I’ve got all the flight details, hotel booking, everything ready,” I say, waving a small folder Paul gave me with the full bookings so that we have everything we need. “Not that I can read half of it. You speak any French?”

“High school French,” Sara laughs. When she laughs, her whole face lights up. It’s like a bolt of pure life goes right through her body. That life, that energy – it’s one of the things I really like about her. I want to be a part of that. To feel it running right from her body and into my own, too. “I heard they speak a lot of English over there. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“That’s right,” I say, smiling warmly at Paul to reassure him. “We’ll be fine.”

I need to tell him that, and Sara too, so that neither of them worry. But even as I say it, I can’t be quite sure that it’s true.

Because the thing is, I need to