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She purses her lips. “I just thought they were plain brown. Callie’s are way prettier than mine. She has that light amber color.”
“Your eyes are perfect just the way they are, Madeline Pike.” I brush my lips over hers and then turn back to the jeweler. “Thank you.”
“Je vous en prie. Have a lovely day in Paris with your lady.”
I could tell the jeweler that we’re not officially together—at least not yet. But I don’t. I like the idea of Maddie being my lady. Without a word, I offer her my arm and escort her back onto the bustling streets of the Champs-Élysées.
By now, our breakfast has worn off. “Let’s find a café and have a quick bite,” I say. “Then it’s back to the hotel to pack, and then to the airport.”
My skin prickles as I say the word airport. I’m not looking forward to getting on a plane.
Chapter Fourteen
Maddie
Brianna and I sit at the airport at our gate, neither of us saying a word.
Brock and Dave sit across from us, also not speaking.
Finally Brock opens his mouth. “This is a huge aircraft, just like the one we flew out on. It’s not a small chartered plane flying over the choppy English Channel.”
Is that supposed to make us feel better? Instead we’ll be flying over the Atlantic Ocean, which is way bigger than the Channel.
Brianna grips her cell phone. “I need to talk to Jesse.”
“He’s in rehearsal,” Brock says. “Besides, you just talked to him an hour ago.”
She gulps audibly. “I know.”
“Look,” Brock says, “we all have to just get a grip. We are safer in the air than in a car. We all know that. And besides, our plane didn’t crash. We lived.”
“Is Rory okay?” Brianna asks.
“She is. She was pretty shaken up,” Brock says, “but we all were. We had a few days to recoup. None of us thought we would be getting on a plane this soon.”
I close my eyes. “The first thing I said when we got off the plane was that I was never setting foot on an airplane again.”
“How did you think you’d get home after the tour?” Brock asks.
“Honestly, I wasn’t thinking that far ahead. I thought I had a couple of months to figure that out. And maybe I’d be over my fear of flying by then.”
Brock chuckles. “I suppose there’s always an ocean liner.”
Maddie rolls her eyes. “Very funny.”
“Do you think they give out tranquilizers in the first-class cabin?” Brianna asks.
And I honestly can’t tell if she’s joking or not.
“Everything’s going to be okay, Bree,” Dave says. “I don’t want either of you to worry.”
Dave and I have been intimate, and Brock and Brianna are engaged to two of my siblings. Plus Brianna and I have been friends for years.
Still, I feel like the odd one out here.
Again.
I’m getting on a plane with three Steel cousins, and I’m flying first class again, on their dime.
