Brothers of Paradise Series

“How do you mean?”

I bite my lip. This means putting things into words that I never have before. “That’s to say… I know other models who make this their identity. They’re terrified of the day they have to find another job. But I’ve already had that, in a way. Dancing was my true dream, not modeling.” I shake my head. “I know this is falling in the category of privileged problems.”

“Hey, we called a truce on that,” he says. “I honor all of my truces.”

A smile tugs at my lips. “I do too. So I take it back.”

“Good.” He pulls us to a pause in the shade of a large tree, right by the Seine. “We have an hour left. You decide what we do. I have suggestions, but…”

“I’m not sure we have time… could we go to the Louvre?” I ask. It had been highest on the list of what I wanted to see here, but I’d no idea we’d actually be able to do it. The schedule was tight enough as it was.

Something pleased flicks through Rhys’s eyes, giving me an inordinate amount of satisfaction, like I’ve given the right answer.

It makes me want to do it again.

“We have time,” he says. “And Ivy…”

“Yes?”

“About yesterday. I’m sorry for my cousin.”

I shake my head. “Don’t be. He was nice.”

The faint furrow in Rhys’s forehead doesn’t disappear. It makes me want to move closer, to rise up and press my lips to his cheek. It’s an impulse I’ve never had with anyone before. The memory of his arms around me comes crashing into me like a tidal wave.

Rhys’s lip curls. “Sure he was. I’m also debating whether I should apologize for what happened on the way home.”

My heart explodes into a stampede in my chest. “Why would you?”

“Just figured you might be regretting it.”

I wet my lips. “I’m not regretting it.”

Quite the opposite.This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .

Rhys gives a crooked smile. “Good,” he says. “Then I’m not, either.”

“Good,” I murmur. My mind is trying to find something else to add, something clever, but it’s like fighting my way through fog. His face is the only thing I can see. “Thanks for doing me a favor.”

“I’ve been known to be helpful every now and then,” Rhys murmurs. “Like right now. Let’s see the Louvre before we have to go to the airport.”

I force myself to nod. We start walking again, and while it’s in no way awkward, I feel like I missed an opportunity somehow. That whatever happened last night… well, the odds of it happening again have grown slimmer.

Rhys

I’m short with the hotel attendant. I’m short with Ivy, too, but she’s used to it after nearly twelve hours of traveling. The flight to Kenya had been a ride from hell. Like the Devil’s private roller coaster.

Turbulence after turbulence.

Ivy hadn’t seemed fazed, and I knew there was a possibility that my mind was over-exaggerating things… but fuck, I’m finished with flying after this trip. Done. Trains and boats for me from here on out, thank you very much.

I know my resolution won’t last. The urge to travel will win out.

It always does.

Ivy is talking excitedly with our attendant, named Joy. The drive out to the Rieler’s lodges is near an hour, the landscape changing dramatically as we make our way into nature. The view of endless grasslands and trees is nearly enough to bring me out of my bad mood. It’s been years since I was last in Africa, and Kenya had been… well, near on fifteen years.

It had been a family trip, us kids obsessed with the idea of going on a safari. My little sister had created bingo sheets for all of us with hand-drawn images of the animals for us to spot. It hadn’t really worked out-we all saw the animals together, after all, so we all got bingo at the exact same time. But it was cute.

Joy pulls the Jeep to a stop outside a beautiful lodge. I have to give it to Ben, his company has sourced some of the most beautiful places in the world. Dark wood, the lodge is nestled into the surrounding landscape, located on a hillscape.

The roof is thatched and thick, and wooden double doors beckon. “Welcome to your lodge,” Joy says, jumping out of the driver’s seat.

“This place is… wow. It’s beautiful,” Ivy says.

I lift her heavy bag out of the back of the truck. It’s still insane that the agency sent her with this amount of clothes, but… it’s starting to annoy me less.

Everything about her that once irritated me is starting to do so less.

“It’s the best lodge we have,” Joy says. “It’s top-tier. Come on, come on, let me show you…”

We follow her into the lodge, and what greets us is nothing less than the best Rieler has to offer. A giant bed is in the center, flanked by windows on either side that open up to the landscape beyond. Private, but right in the middle of nature.

I look into the other areas of the lodge. A living room, a giant bathroom… but only one bed. Ivy registers it at the same time as I do.

“Is there another bedroom?”

Joy falters, but only slightly. “No, sir. We were told to set you up in one lodge. Will that be a problem?”

“No, not at all.” I’ll grab the couch. Won’t be the worst thing I’ve slept on-not by a long shot.

Joy’s smile is back. “All right, then. I’ll leave you to get settled. There’s a golf cart outside your lodge, which you can take to go to the main house for breakfast and dinner. We’re just a call away if you need anything at all.”

“And our scheduled safari starts in two hours?”

“Yes, that’s right, sir.”

I sink down into the giant sofa. It’s amazing-it doesn’t hurl through the sky at ungodly speeds. Perhaps I could finally get a bit of shut-eye before we have to shoot. “Thank you.”

Ivy talks to Joy on the way out. It’s a long while until she finally makes her way back into the lodge, and when she does, I have to force my eyes open.

“Are you doing better?” she asks.

I close my eyes again. Something about her noticing that I disliked flying rankles me. It shouldn’t, but it does. Almost as much as the fact that she’d thanked me for doing her a favor by kissing her.

“I’m fine,” I say.

I’m not. The idea of sleeping just a few feet away from her in this lodge creeps through my system like a disease. It meets with the memory of her lips against mine, heat exploding beneath my skin.