Chapter 10

Streets of Paris

Lee and Amanda walked quietly. Both lost in their thoughts. They were trying to straighten out the jumbled mess of thoughts that they were both experiencing in their minds. Every now and then, Lee would point out spots of interest for Amanda to look at, and he would explain them to her. Suddenly, Lee pointed to a small cafe and asked. "What do you think about this place, Amanda? It doesn't look too busy."

"It looks fine, Lee." Amanda agreed softly.

They walked into the cafe and were seated out on the patio. They ordered some drinks and quietly looked over the menu. The waitress returned with their drinks and took their order. After what seemed like forever with the silence, their food finally arrived. It was almost a relief that they had something to do. Lee was the first to break the silence. "Amanda, I wanted to say how deeply sorry I am for my actions and especially my words back at the hotel. I truly didn't mean any of it. Can you forgive me?"

"Lee, I'm sorry, too." Amanda stopped Lee from interrupting her. "I said some things that I'm not proud of either, Lee. We are both at fault here." Amanda smiled. "And yes, I forgive you." Lee smiled with a look of relief on his face. "Do you forgive me?"

"Absolutely!" Lee proclaimed. "Do you feel like another walk when we are done here?"

"Oh, yes, I think that will be lovely. Are you familiar with this area? Are there any sites that are must-sees?" Amanda questioned.

Lee thought about it for a while. "Yes, actually, there is a river not too far from here that is just spectacular at night."

"That sounds lovely. Do you think we will have time to do any other sight-seeing while we are here?" Amanda questioned.

"Oh, definitely. We will have the weekends and evenings free to do whatever we want. The conference only takes up our weekdays and is usually over by 4:00 each day."

Amanda wiped her mouth with her napkin and placed it on her plate. "That was delicious. Thank you for suggesting this. I guess I didn't realize how hungry I was."

"You're welcome. Are you ready to go see the river?"

"Absolutely," Amanda answered excitedly.

Lee offered his arm for Amanda once more as they walked towards the river. After a while of walking in comfortable silence, Lee was concerned that Amanda was holding something back. "Amanda, are you okay? I mean, it seems like there is something more on your mind than our fight. Are you sure there isn't anything else that is bothering you? You don't seem entirely like yourself."

"Lee, I'm completely over our fight. Yes, it was a big fight. We both had a lot of frustrations that we were both holding back, and I believe that fight needed to happen, or we were not going to make it. That has nothing to do with my mood now." Lee let out a breath of relief but still worried that Amanda was holding back.

"Okay, so tell me what else is wrong? Please talk to me."

Amanda looked up to Lee and saw the concern in his eyes. She took a deep breath and continued. "Well, yes, there is something else on my mind, or rather someone." Amanda paused to see what kind of reaction she would get from Lee. When she didn't get one, she knew she had to continue. Amanda walked up to the bridge as they approached the river, leaned her forearms against the railing, and stared into the water. Lee could tell that this was something that Amanda wanted to talk about, but he knew he couldn't rush her. So he walked closer to her but stood behind her to give her the space she needed to get this burden off her chest. Lee patiently waited.

Amanda took a deep breath and quietly replied. "There's this guy that I've known for a while now that I haven't been able to get off my mind, and I don't know what to do about it."

Lee's heart dropped from his chest. He couldn't believe that he was too late. Amanda was already involved with someone. Now her problem with sharing a bed with him made perfect sense. Lee calmly commented, "I didn't realize you were seeing anyone."

Amanda softly chuckled. "I don't know if I would call it seeing someone. I don't think he knows I exist."

Lee decided to take the high road and be there for Amanda. Right now, what she needed was a friend, and he was going to be just that. "Amanda, any man in their right mind would notice you. How many times have I left you at a party to meet a contact and returned to some man by your side trying to get to know you? You are definitely noticeable," Lee supported. "Why don't you tell me about him, and we'll go from there." Lee didn't know if he wanted her to answer that, but he wanted to be supportive and let Amanda know that he would be there for her.

When Amanda heard Lee's question, her thoughts went back to her conversation with her mother, but couldn't make herself turn to look at Lee. She continued to stare out into the water, took a deep breath, and continued. "Well, as I said, I've known him for a few months now, and he's charming, attentive, sweet, brave, and extremely handsome. I haven't had so many different types of feelings towards one man in my life. Not even Joe. I tried to let him know that I'm interested without being blunt, but I don't seem to be getting through to him." Lee now wished he hadn't asked the question. This guy seemed like the perfect gentleman. He was definitely too late to try to win Amanda's heart. That's when he heard Amanda continue, and something clicked. "He can also be so understanding one minute and dismissive the next. As well as the most infuriating, condescending man I know. He doesn't even realize how mean he can be. He has such a huge wall built up around his heart; I don't know if I'll ever be able to break it down."

As soon as Lee heard that last part, he knew that Amanda was talking about him, but he didn't want to interrupt where Amanda was going with this. He decided to play along.

"Amanda, how do you feel about him?"

Amanda smiled, even though Lee couldn't see her. "How do I feel about him? When I know I'm going to be seeing him, I can't get there fast enough. When I do see him, my heart skips a beat, and I don't want to have to leave. And when we depart, I can't wait to see him again. I fantasize about what my life would be with him in it permanently."

Tears started to form in Lee's eyes as he stepped closer to Amanda. He was now right behind her, and all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her, but he had to wait for Amanda to confirm it was him she was talking about. He waited patiently again.

"Lee, what do you think I should do?"

Lee smiled to himself. He couldn't take it anymore. He put his arms on each side of her with his hands on the railing. His mouth was right next to her ear, but he wasn't touching her. Then he spoke softly. "I think you should tell him exactly how you feel about him. He'd be a fool to turn you away."

Amanda shuddered as his warm breath tickled her ear. She had to catch her breath from what Lee had said. Amanda turned to face Lee. Lee backed up just enough so that Amanda had enough room but not too far away to disrupt the moment. Lee's hands moved to her elbows. Amanda looked up into Lee's eyes and put her hands on his chest. She was lost in those beautiful hazel eyes for the longest time. She took a deep breath and moved her right hand up to his cheek. "So you think I should tell him, huh?"

"Oh, yes, Amanda. This man needs to hear it from you." Lee proclaimed. They both smiled at each other.

"Lee, I want to tell you, no, I need to tell you how I feel about you. I can't continue the way things are right now. I'm not sure if I should be feeling the way I feel for you, but I can't stop it. I've tried, but it just won't go away. You are all I think about. I can't get you out of my mind." Amanda paused and saw the same emotions in Lee's eyes as she felt. This gave her encouragement to continue. "I know this may sound funny or that it's too fast, but I can't lie anymore. Not to myself or to you. I love you, Lee. With all my heart."

They both smiled and just looked into each other's teary eyes. After what seemed like forever, Lee grabbed Amanda's hand that was on his face and brought it down to her waist along with her other hand as well. "Amanda, this may surprise you, but…" He moved his right hand to her cheek and, with his thumb, slowly brushed the tears away. He smiled again. "I love you too." Amanda let out a breath of relief. "I can't get you out of my mind either. I think that's why I've been fumbling around with my words so much lately. Nothing came out the way I wanted it to. It was because I had such strong feelings that I didn't know what to do with them. I've never felt this way before. I didn't know what to do."

"Oh, Lee, I was so worried you were going to reject me. I didn't know if I was ready to take that chance or not."

"Well, I'm delighted you did. I don't know if I ever would have," Lee confirmed. They continued to stare into one another eyes and were lost in the moment. "Amanda, I would really love to kiss you right now. May I kiss you?"

Amanda smiled, "I would like that very much."

They moved together like old lovers. Right before their lips met, Lee hesitated just a little as if to confirm he was still okay to proceed. The look he received from Amanda was all he needed to continue. Their lips finally met for the softest, most loving kiss either of them had experienced. Lee pushed Amanda back just slightly to where her back was up against the railing and moved his hand to the back of her neck to deepen the kiss. Amanda responded by wrapping her arms around his neck. A soft moan escaped both of their mouths. Lee's tongue teased her lips, asking for entrance. Amanda responded and opened her mouth to accept the offering. The kiss seemed to last forever. Lee finally pulled away to look into Amanda's eyes. He leaned his forehead against hers so as not to break contact. They both let out a deep breath, needing to take a minute to catch their breath. Lee spoke first. "Amanda, that was incredible. I've never had feelings like that before with any other woman. You are so beautiful!" He kissed her again. This time Amanda broke the kiss. The look Lee saw in her eyes was one that he had never seen before. Such desire, such love.

"Lee, take me back to the hotel. I need you!"

Lee shook his head, no. "Amanda, I don't want to rush this." Lee pulled back and looked into Amanda's dark chocolate eyes. He needed Amanda to see how much he meant what he was about to say. "This means too much to me to go too fast. You don't know how bad I want to pick you up and carry you back to our hotel room and make love to you all night. But I won't do that. I won't make you go against your principles. Please don't ask me to!" Tears started forming in Amanda's eyes again. "Oh, Amanda, please don't cry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Amanda shook her head and explained. "Lee, you didn't upset me. You just made me love you that much more. The fact that you want to wait is amazing. All though, I honestly can't tell you how much longer I can wait." They both laughed. "I've wanted you for so long, but if you want to wait for a while, I'm okay with that." They kissed again. "We should probably head back to the hotel. It's getting kind of late."

Lee agreed, stepped back, and reached for Amanda's hand. They walked back to the hotel, hand in hand with thoughts of what's to come in the next step of their relationship.