It was very embarrassing, but she was starting to cry.
“A lot of the rings I saw looked like they were really designed for women who liked to imagine themselves as somebody’s arm candy, as if the ring was what gave them value, you know? And I wanted the ring to honor the value you already had.”
A little tear rolled down her cheek. And she couldn’t even remember to fight it. “Chase,” she whispered. She stroked the ring.
“When I was in BUD/S, at the start of Hell Week, one of the instructors said they were going to break us open. That we were just pretty clay pots our parents had made, but they would smash us and find out what was inside. And some of us would have nothing inside, and some of us would just have shit. But some of us would have Damascus steel. Like you do, Vi.”
And like him. She put her hand on that beautiful pure steel of him, that he cushioned with human muscle and with humor and warmth.
“Will you get me one?” he asked, quiet and deep, almost shy. “Because I saw one. A similar style with a broader band and a smaller diamond, as if it was this unbreakable strength that had caught something absolutely brilliant and glowing and precious. I…really liked it.” He dipped his head a little. Definitely shy.
She caught his hand, curling her fingertips into his, linking them tight.
Blue eyes met hers, so bright. So full of life and wanting and hope. And full of this certainty, with that strange brush of shyness to it, as if they had reached a point so vulnerable and so trusting that even Chase could not barrel his way brashly through it.
He had to just wait, all open.
Trusting for her to open just as much.
“I never thought I would say this about that enfoiré Abed, but he brought me so much luck,” Vi whispered, squeezing his fingers. Brought me you. All the way from Texas.
“You make your own luck, Vi. Luck’s just the world’s response to all the energy you put into it.”
“Then you, too.” She squeezed his hand hard. “You make luck, too.”
“Trust me, I know.” He looked down at their hands, his expression vulnerable and steady and wondering, and then took the ring out of the box. “I know exactly how lucky I am.” He slid the ring onto her finger. “And I’m willing to do everything I can to keep that luck.”
And they did.
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THE END
BUT IT’S REALLY THE BEGINNING
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Author’s Note
This started as an ode to Hollywood kind of story—a vision of leather and knives and banter and how much fun it would be to write a knife-wielding heroine like Vi. The counterterrorism plot was essentially a device for what was intended as a lighthearted caper. And then, about three fourths of the way through the writing of it, the November 2015 attacks occurred in Paris. This was a very dark time and, because of the similarities between what the hero in the “lighthearted” plot was working to prevent and the real world devastation, it made it very difficult to return to this book for some time. I think, no matter what, there are elements of darkness in it now that weren’t part of my original intention. But I hope that, just like in Paris itself, the life and energy win out. And I like to think Vi makes a good heroine for Paris…no one can keep her down.
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Thank you!
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed Chase and Vi’s story as much as I had fun writing them. Click here to leave a review. And don’t miss Lina’s story and those of some of Chase’s “buddies”! Sign up here to be emailed the moment they’re released.
Chase Me is the second book in the Paris Nights series. If you enjoyed the Paris setting, you can find Célie and Joss’s story in All For You. Or head south to a world of sun and flowers with the Vie en Roses series. (Keep reading for glimpses.) Thank you so much for sharing this world with me! For some behind-the-scenes glimpses of the research with top chefs and chocolatiers, check out my website and Facebook. I hope to meet up with you there!
And this book is lendable, so if you enjoyed it, feel free to loan it to a friend. Anything that encourages discussions around books makes the world a richer place. Kind of like love and chocolate!
Thank you and all the best,
Laura Florand
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Other Books by Laura Florand
Paris Nights Series
All for You
Chase Me
Amour et Chocolat Series
All’s Fair in Love and Chocolate, a novella in Kiss the Bride The Chocolate Thief
The Chocolate Kiss
The Chocolate Rose (also a prequel to La Vie en Roses series) The Chocolate Touch
The Chocolate Heart
The Chocolate Temptation
SunKissed (also a sequel to SnowKissed) Shadowed Heart (a sequel to The Chocolate Heart)
La Vie en Roses Series
Turning Up the Heat (a novella prequel) The Chocolate Rose (also part of the Amour et Chocolat series) A Rose in Winter, a novella in No Place Like Home Once Upon a Rose
Snow Queen Duology
SnowKissed (a novella) SunKissed (also part of the Amour et Chocolat series)
Memoir
Blame It on Paris