We both sway to the music as the crisp Paris breeze intimately lifts my short hair away from my neck. The sudden surge of coolness causes me to shiver in Beau's arms, to which he draws me closer.

"Are you cold?" he asks gently into my ear, his breath causing another shiver to flick down my spine. My heart lurches at the reaction, fingers tightening on the sleeve of his umber-colored leather jacket.

I can't seem to find an appropriate response to Beau's question, as I stare deeply into his jade eyes. Deja vu suddenly makes me speechless for another reason, as I realize that the way my heart races and my skin tingle reminds me of how Greyson used to make me feel...

"Harper?" Beau asks, concern swimming within his eyes as I suck in a startled breath and take a step away from him. Beau's eyes flick to the floor suddenly as he begins to withdraw his hands from my waist. "I'm sorry, maybe I'm taking things too fast,"

I pause, stiffening in his arms as another wave of deja vu hits me. "What do you mean too fast?"

Beau's eyes widen slightly as I continue to stare at him, waiting for an answer. Finally, he fully steps away and breaks our contact. "How about some more champagne?" he asks gently, a strained smile on his face.

I don't respond, mind reeling as Beau picks up our champagne glasses from the floor, but not before he shrugs off his leather jacket and places it around my shoulders, just like that day in the park when we were doing our morning jogs.

He gives me another attempt at a smile, but it feels forced as he turns to walk away and leaves me feeling like I did something wrong. Was I too stiff? Did I make a weird face? What does he mean by taking it too fast? Am I... ready for whatever this is?

I take in a shuddery breath as more questions bounce about in my brain. Does Beau actually... like me? Do I like him? I frown and bite my lip, thinking of the last question. No, I don't think I do... but I certainly could... do I want to like him? Am I ready to move on from Greyson?

"Excuse me!" a small voice near me says, before someone tugs on the fabric of my slacks. I look down to see Bailey and Dimitri gazing up at me, Dimitri holding something behind his back.

"Hello little ones," I say with a strained smile, kneeling down before the two children. I glance up and look around for their mother Hanna, relaxing slightly when I see she's leaning against the railing nearby and gives me a small wave. I turn back to the two small children before me. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?" I ask, seeing the way their bright green and blue eyes seem to shine.

They both nod, as I feel Beau walk up behind me and stop. I feel his stare burn into the back of my head, and it takes everything in me not to turn around and meet his pale eyes.

"We were asked to give you something," Dimitri says slowly in English, before drawing something from behind his back. A smile grows on my lips when I see that it's one of the bright red roses the man from earlier was selling.

"Oh, thank you Dimitri!" I grin, taking the rose from him and reaching out to draw him and Bailey into a hug.

"Oh, but it's not from Dimitri or me!" Bailey exclaims, squirming in my arms. I release them enough to see they both point at someone behind me, and my stomach pulses when I turn to see that it's Beau who they point to, who holds two more flutes of champagne.

"I see," I say with an awkward smile, turning back to them. "Well, thank you for being the little messengers! You can get back to your mama now." They both nod as they smile at Beau and I, before turning and racing towards Hanna.

I stand and turn to Beau with the rose in my hand, as Beau clears his throat and hands me one of the flutes of champagne. "Voilà- er- here you go," Beau stutters, placing the flute into my hand with shaking fingers as his cheeks warm. When I raise a questioning eyebrow at his behaviour, he looks away and clears his throat again.

"Nerveux, sommes-nous?" Nervous, are we? I say with a slight smirk, trying to get ride of the awkwardness in the air as I tug Beau's jacket further over my shoulders. His eyes dart to the movement, but he refuses to meet my eyes as he takes a large swig from his flute.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I ask, dropping my smirk to place a hand on Beau's shoulder. He's acting so different right now... almost like he's embarrassed by something.

"I... I think I've let the champagne go to my head," Beau frowns, pressing a hand to his head before turning to give me a pained smile. "How embarrassing for a French man, eh?"

"A little, but it's okay, you don't have to drink more if you don't want to" I smile, taking the flute from his hand and placing it on the floor next to us. "Are you sure that's all though? Is that what you meant by 'taking things too fast?'"

"What?" Beau asks confusedly, before his jade eyes widen in understanding and he quickly nods. "Yes, yes that's what I meant."

"Alright," I nod, deciding not to push him further. I glance at my flute of golden champagne, tempted to take another drink, but know that it wouldn't be wise since Beau is already slightly drunk and I'll have to be the one to drive us home.

I set down the glass beside Beau's, as the violin player behind us starts to play a new, faster tune. Beau sighs as he watches me set down the glass, before turning away and leaning against the railing next to us. "I'm sorry Harper, this isn't how I wanted the night to go."

I lean against the railing next to him, sucking in a breath when I see the beautiful view of the city below us, which is ten times better than the view on my balcony. I shift the red rose between my hands as I turn to watch Beau's jade eyes dart across the city, a slightly frown on his lips.

"Well, I've enjoyed it," I say softly, placing my hand over Beau's as I give him a gentle smile. He glances over at me, sandy curls bouncing when he suddenly shakes his head.

"There's no need to lie, I'm not blind, I can see how uncomfortable you are around me."

"That's not true," I frown, giving Beau's hand a gentle squeeze. When he raises a disbelieving eyebrow, I sigh and turn back to look out the safety fence before us, and out into the city. "Yes, I have been uncomfortable... but that doesn't mean I don't want to be around you... I'm just- it's been a long time since I've done whatever this is," I say, waving my hands around.

"Yeah, I suppose I'm not the best at it either," Beau laughs, running a hand through his curls. I can tell by the way his lips quirk down that he was thinking of Lucía.

"Hey, where's all that endless supply of confidence?" I tease, giving Beau a playful shove. He chuckles softly, before turning his jade eyes to mine.

"It seems I don't have an endless supply when it comes to you,"

My breath freezes within my lungs as we stare at each other, before I quickly turn back to the glowing lights of the darkening city before us. I expect Beau to laugh at my reaction, but instead he remains silent, his fingers tightening on the railing in front of him.

"Ah, I've done it again... I'm sorry, I'm not exactly thinking coherently right now," Beau sighs, as I glance over at him from the corner of my eye. His frown deepens as he taps his fingers on the railing before us, his own cheeks warming in what I think is embarrassment.

"Hey," I say gently, brushing my fingers across the skin of his long fingers as he keeps his stare pointed at the city below us. "You haven't done anything wrong, so there's no need to be embarrassed- not when you made me blush." I giggle, my eyes widening when I realize that I've just openly flirted with Beau.

Oh shit...

Beau chuckles and finally looks at me, a single eyebrow raised as his finger curl around my hand and he pulls me gently to him. "You admit that I made you flustered?" he grins, running his thumb over the skin of my hand. "You must be a bit tipsy too, to admit that."

I attempt to play it off by rolling my eyes and leaning down to pick up one of the abandoned glasses of champagne near my feet, not caring whether it was mine or Beau's. "I admit, it was a slip of composure... but I am not tipsy," I grin, before downing the rest of the contents of the glass in my hand, Beau gawking at me as I laugh and set the glass back down.

"Well, now I am tipsy," I giggle, as Beau's jade eyes flick down to my wetted lips.

"I don't think that was a good idea Harper, one of us needs to be thinking clearly," he mutters, his eyes shifting back up to mine as I squeeze his hand and hold it up so he can turn me into a flourished spin.

"And why is that?" I ask, as I turn back toward him with a wry grin. "If you're worried about driving home, we can just have an Uber pick us up or something and get your car tomorrow."

"True, I'm not worried about that," Beau says, his accent seeming to be deeper than usual... probably from the alcohol.

I attempt to take an intimidating step toward him, but end up tripping over my feet instead and knocking into him. His arms quickly wrap around my waist as I twist to look up at him, eyes wide as he brushes a strand of hair from my eyes.

"And what are you worried about?" I whisper, my gaze flicking down to Beau's lips as his hands tighten slightly on my waist.

My lips part slightly as Beau lowers his head to meet my gaze, his jade eyes burning in earnest. "It's harder to control one's desires when they're not thinking clearly," he whispers back, his lips now hovering directly in front of mine. "And I would hate myself if I did anything that you would later regret when you are sober."

My face burns as my heart begins to race faster, the scene around us blurring until all I can focus on is the extremely attractive man standing in front of me. "You're right, I probably would regret doing what we're both thinking," I mutter, my eyes flicking back down to Beau's pale lips, which now glisten temptingly.

I know that I should pull away, for both of our sake, but the alcohol messing with my head and the way my lips seem to automatically inch closer to the man's before me makes it impossible for me to do so.

Beau moves a hand from my waist and cups my cheek, forcing me to look into his eyes instead of his lips. I can tell by the way his jade eyes seem to glow that he wants our lips to crash together just as much as I do, to see what will happen, but instead, he stares at me for a few seconds longer, before gently setting me back a few feet.

"Would you like to stay here for a few more minutes, or go back to the sector?" he asks quietly, removing his palm from my cheek.

The air seems to grow colder at the separation, but I force myself to shake my head, in an attempt to clear the giggle that suddenly bursts onto my lips.

"I think it's best we go back to the sector," I say lowly, squeezing Beau's hand. His expression has turned extremely stoney, as I turn and wave goodbye to Hanna and her children, before we both stride to the elevator, a slight stumble in my steps.

A/N-

Hey guys! I'm back from my trip, and yes I did end up taking a one-month-long break from writing... but that's okay! I'm ready to get back into it and finish the first draft of this novel, hopefully soon!

I'm trying to ease back into writing so I don't burn myself out right away, and still enjoy the process. It would be awesome if I could get it done by the end of July, but we'll see!

Until the next update,

~Syd :)