Love In Unexpected Places ✓

Chapter Twenty

After a very long and much-needed rest, I woke up to what smelled like chocolate, pancakes, and fruit. I got up out of the bed and slowly made my way to the kitchen. There stood Jean-Paul shirtless with a pair of shorts, dancing with his back turned to me.

When he turned around, he was standing with a skillet in his left hand and the spatula in the right. He was startled at seeing me and nearly lost the food that was in the skillet. I let out a small giggle as he chuckled in return.

"What are you making?" I asked.

"I decided that we needed to try a French breakfast for a change. I present to you some crepes, chocolate sauce, fruit, and whipped cream. And for the drink, we are having tea and coffee. You can choose your drink of choice or drink both."

He turned back to put the last of the crepes into a plate. From where I was standing it was so cute to see a man cook for a woman for once. I had often seen my father do the same for my mother and I growing up. I had always wanted to be lucky enough to meet a man like that. But I hadn't until now.

I helped Jean-Paul put the food onto the table and we sat at the table together. He took my hand into his and placed a soft kiss upon it.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked as he placed a few crepes into my plate before serving himself.

"I did, thank you. Did you?"

He softly chuckled before replying with a soft, "I did."

I decided to spread some chocolate sauce over my crepes along with some strawberries. I had some morning tea with my breakfast. Although I'm not aware of all of the French customs, I was beginning to learn a thing or two. I took a bite of the food, my tastebuds going crazy. After tasting Jean-Paul's cooking, I vowed to eat French cuisine more often.

We made small talk during breakfast and afterward I helped him clean up the dishes before getting dressed for the day. I pulled a white and lavender flowered sundress out of the suitcase along with a pair of lavender leggings and a pair of white ballet shoes.

I walked back into the living room to see Jean-Paul in a white buttoned henley short sleeve shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

We walked to the car and began our sightseeing in Gatlinburg. The first place we decided to go to was the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. For some reason, I can't seem to go anywhere without going to an aquarium. I've always had a love for marine animals. Although I don't agree with the captivity of the marine animals for our benefit, I can't help but go and marvel at all of the beautiful creatures.

After going to the Aquarium, we took a trip to the observation tower. There we took a trip 400 feet up the tower and took a 360 degree look around the whole city of Gatlinburg. Of course, I had to take pictures from the top of the tower. After all, I am my mother's daughter. The sight from the top was absolutely beautiful. Jean-Paul even insisted that we take a selfie together at the top of the tower. I immediately set that photo as my wallpaper on my phone. We looked through the viewfinders at the top of the tower and was in awe at the beautiful city that surrounded us.

After we finished gawking at the site around us, we made our way to the arcade where we decided to play a few games. I even managed to get Jean-Paul to do an escape room with me. The escape room I chose was a horror lover's fantasy. As a huge scary movie lover, the theme was a dream come true. Having Jean-Paul there with me made it all the better. In the escape room, we were supposed to be locked into a cellar. Inside of there, we would have sixty minutes to find clues, solve riddles, and complete puzzles to win or else...we would become dinner.

I tried not to be scared, but as the time dwindled, the more nervous I became. Luckily Jean-Paul was there to calm me down. We worked together to beat all of the puzzles and solved all of the riddles. We made it out with just a minute left to spare. I lept into his arms and wrapped my arms around his neck. He placed a kiss on my lips before setting me down on the ground.

We walked outside of the tower and arcade and bid our farewells.

The last place on our sightseeing tour for the day was the skylift. I had always seen videos of people riding on one, but had never been brave enough to give it a try. But with Jean-Paul, I felt brave enough to try anything.

We made our way to the next seat and I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. I sat down with Jean-Paul next to me and up we went. Jean-Paul wrapped one arm around me as the other arm held on to the skylift. I oohed and ahhed at the beautiful scenery that surrounded us. The deep red, warm orange, and bright yellow leaves made a vibrant tapestry of color beneath us.

We finally got to the top of the sky bridge and I took a few photos of the scenery as well as a selfie of Jean-Paul and I on top. I even managed to get a selfie of the two of us as we were going down from the top of the skylift.

When our ride on the skylift had come to an end, we made our way back to the car so we could grab something at the store before going back to the cabin for the night.

When we made it back to the cabin, Jean-Paul helped me carry our groceries inside as I started on the spaghetti. I browned some meat with some onion in a skillet as I prepared the noodles in a saucepan. Jean-Paul had decided to make a spaghetti sauce of his own so he did that while I finished up the other stuff.

I drained the grease off of the meat and the water out of the noodles and combined them as Jean-Paul finally poured his hot homemade sauce on top.

I gave it a stir as he put the baguettes into the oven to lightly brown.

We set the food onto the table as we began to help ourselves and fill up our plates.

Jean-Paul poured the wine and proposed a toast.

"To new adventures and to us," he said.

"To us." I joined in as we clanked our glasses together and began to eat our meal and enjoy the wine.

After dinner, Jean-Paul helped me clear the table and get the dishes cleaned back up as we built a fire in the living room and sat next to each other on the couch.

"I wasn't sure what America had in store for me when I first came here. I was sure I would have a fun vacation and see a part of the world I had never seen before. What I hadn't expected was to come to America and meet a woman and fall in love. But that is certainly what has happened." He takes my hand into his. I have never felt this way about anyone except you Blakely, he whispered: "I love you."

Jean-Paul's words sounded like a melody to my ears. I only hoped that he would finally say those three words that I so desperately wanted to hear.

"If anyone would have told me a few months ago that I would be sitting here with a handsome French man by my side, I wouldn't have believed them. I use to believe that Max was the only man my heart could ever love, but to be honest, what I felt with Max isn't the same thing I feel with you," I admitted. I thought I knew what love was...but I didn't know what love truly was until I met you, Jean-Paul. I mean that. You love me in a way that I have never thought could be possible. You stole my heart. I was honestly so afraid to fall in love with you," I said. My heart knew when I first met you that you were the one for me. It was just a crazy feeling that I had. I was afraid to fall hard though. Because Max shattered my heart into millions of pieces that have finally been fixed whole because of you. I'm scared that you're going to go back to Paris and forget all about me and that my heart will be broken all over again.

Tears began forming in my ducts. The warm salt water streamed down my face. Jean-Paul touched my face with his warm and gentle hands, and with one steady wipe, he wiped the tears from my face. He held his hands gently on both sides of my face.

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered as he pressed his lips to mine and began to kiss me with such love and compassion.

His words touched my heart so deeply. I never expected that we would tell each other that we loved each other in such a deep way but I loved pouring my heart out to him instead of just simply saying those three words. It meant more when we told each other how we truly felt. I felt relief knowing now that he wasn't planning to leave me, that we actually stood a chance of expanding our relationship without the threat of his moving to the other side of the world hanging over our heads.

It was at that moment in that cabin that I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Jean-Paul and I would do anything in the world to make that happen. My heart could never love another man as it does Jean-Paul. Our chemistry feels real. I now understood why things didn't work out with Max. He wasn't the right man for me. But I truly felt like Jean-Paul was.