“You didn’t have to come with me.” She pulled her jacket tighter around her body. The wind skimmed over the exposed skin on her face and hands, causing her to shiver.
“I was planning to take a walk, anyway. Might as well have company.” Blake’s arm brushed hers as they walked.
Her heart skipped. The layers of clothing between them did nothing to dull the effect he had on her.
They wandered through the maze of buildings until they reached one of the little arched bridges closer to the main part of town.
“I can’t believe this place is real,” Blake said. “There’s nothing like this in Texas.”
“Depends on how you define real.” Farrah rested her arms on the railing. “The government built it as a tourist site. It didn’t exist until a few years ago.”
Blake ran his hands over the smooth stone. “It feels real to me.”
“Yeah.” Farrah inhaled the crisp, cold air. It burned her lungs in a good way. “How’d you end up here, Blake?”
“Same way you did. I walked from the hostel.”
“I meant in China.”
“I took a plane.” His mouth quirked at her expression. “I’m guessing that’s not the answer you were looking for.”
“You don’t have personal ties to China, and you didn’t study Chinese. Why’d you choose Shanghai? Not saying you have to have those things to be here,” she added. “I’m just curious. Most people prefer to go to Europe or Australia. China is too…foreign for them.”
“It’s going to sound stupid.”
“Try me.”
Blake’s cheeks tinged pink. “I watched Skyfall,” he admitted.
Farrah’s laughter pealed through the air. “That is a great scene,” she agreed, remembering Bond’s fight with an assassin at the top of a Shanghai skyscraper.
“One of the best choreographed scenes in Bond history, if you ask me.” Blake joined in Farrah’s mirth. “I know someone who chose their study abroad destination by closing their eyes and pointing to a map, so it could’ve been worse.”
“Where’d they end up?”
Blake’s grin widened. “Moscow. In December.”
She cracked up again. “And they went through with it?”
“Yep. Fortunately for them, it was only a three-week program.” Blake moved closer. “What about you? Why Shanghai?”
“I wanted to see this place for myself. My mom’s always talking about China, but I’d never been.” Farrah traced her initials with her finger on the railing. “I almost didn’t choose Shanghai. I studied Mandarin to make my mom happy. I went against her wishes and majored in interior design instead of engineering or whatever, so I thought it would be a good compromise. It worked, kind of. She still gives me shit for not learning Mandarin sooner. Apparently, I wasted my high school years on French.”
“Still better than me. I only speak English.”
“And some Mandarin,” Farrah corrected him. “I’ve forgotten most of my French, so she may have a point. I was going to brush up on it in Paris. But when it came time to choose my study abroad location…I don’t know. I meant to click Paris but somehow clicked Shanghai. And here I am.” She flashed a lopsided smile. “In some ways, I chose it with even less thought than you.”
“Hey!” Blake pretended to take offense. “What do you mean less thought? I put a lot of effort into the decision-making process.”
She patted his hand. “Sure you did.”
To her surprise, Blake wrapped his fingers around hers. The warmth from his skin heated her from head to toe. “Either way, I’m glad you’re here.”
Farrah’s breath caught in her throat. Blake was so close she could see every detail of his face—the dark lashes, the cheekbones that cut through the night like knives, the ice-blue eyes darkening to the color of sapphires. She saw him clearer than she’d seen anyone in her life.
“Blake.” His name was a whisper in the night.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Yes?”