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dancing now the music was livelier.  Everyone was having a great time and Isabelle was pleased to see Christina laughing and having fun too.  The room grew warmer and eventually Etienne stopped dancing and took Isabelle’s hand.
    “Enough.  It’s so hot, let’s step out onto the balcony for some cool air, okay?” He led Isabelle out into the evening breeze and together they leaned against the balcony railing looking out across Paris.  A million lights winked at them through the night.  With Etienne’s arm draped around her shoulders, Isabelle felt sublimely content. 
    “Paris is so beautiful, isn’t it?” she sighed, her eyes seeking out the distant twinkling lights of the City of Light.
    “Yes.  But you are more beautiful to me,” Etienne whispered.  Tenderly he turned her face towards him, brushed the hair from her forehead where it had clung damp from dancing and tilted her chin up.  He seemed to seek approval from her as he looked into her eyes and she gazed back into his expressive chocolate eyes as his lips gently met hers.  Isabelle felt her lips responding and her body moving closer to his as his arms came around her.  They seemed to stay together for ages, his lips on her, his kisses sending butterflies fluttering through her.
    She leant her head against his shoulder and sighed softly.
    “What are you thinking?” probed Etienne.
    “I’m thinking how perfect this is,” she replied.  “I would just like to keep this moment just as it is for always!”  To her surprise, she found she could find the words in French that she needed, although she had to think carefully.
    “Why keep this moment?  There will be many more.  It is only your first day in Paris!”
    “Mmmm, I know, but I don’t think it could get any better,” replied Isabelle.
    “Tomorrow I will show you Paris.  Tomorrow will be wonderful too,” promised Etienne.
    “Are you coming with us tomorrow?” Isabelle was delighted.
    “Of course!  Now I have found you I’m not going to waste a moment of your time here! I want to spend as much time as I can with you.  I want to show you my Paris!”
    Isabelle felt a frisson of delight as she anticipated the next few days. She realised she was falling in love with Etienne – with someone she had barely met twenty four hours previously.  And yet, she felt so strongly about him.  In a way that she had never felt before for previous boyfriends.  They hadn’t even come close!  A tiny nagging thought niggled at the back of her mind, ‘and what will happen when you go home next Saturday?’  But she pushed it to the back.  She would worry about that later in the week.  For now, she was in Paris, in the arms of a wonderful Frenchman and she was in love!
     
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     

Chapter Seven
     
    Sunday dawned, fresh and sunny.  The girls woke early, despite the late night as the party hadn’t finished until nearly 1am.  It had only broken up then when one of their neighbours had complained about the music. Christina went with Jean-Luc to the boulangerie whilst Isabelle laid the table for Odile. They brought back fresh croissants and hurried to the table to eat them whilst they were still warm.
    The girls noticed that Jean-Luc and Odile ate their croissants differently to how they did at home in Sussex.  Whilst they usually split their croissant and added butter and jam, they copied their hosts and broke off a bit at a time stuffing into their mouths and washing down with hot chocolate.  They licked their buttery fingers and thought about how French they were becoming!
    “Today we see Paris!” exclaimed Jean-Luc.  “And we have lunch in a restaurant.  Our treat,” he added generously.
    Etienne arrived and after greeting everyone, he came across to Isabelle and tenderly kissed her on the lips.
    “Bonjour, Isabelle” he whispered, his voice full of unspoken promise. 
    Isabelle felt her heart somersault again and the butterflies began coasting around her tummy