All's Fair in Love and Las Vegas

Chapter Thirty-Six

        "Where are we?" I asked, following him up the stairs from the underground parking garage.

        "Well, I actually have two plans. The first one might not be your cup of tea, so I have a backup," Grayson explained, sounding a little nervous.

        "Not my cup of tea? All your surprises are amazing," I promised with a happy smile.

        He shook his head. "This one might not be. So if you don't want to, or even if you freak out halfway through, it's totally fine. I have a back-pocket plan as an emergency."

        Freak out? Why would I freak out? But he seemed intent on keeping it a secret, so I shut my mouth and clung to his hand as we sprinted across the street.

        "Grayson, are we just running through the streets of Toronto?" I accused, laughing. We were still weaving through the streets five minutes later, and the suspense was killing me.

        "Nope, we're actually here," he said, finally leading me up a short set of steps. At first I didn't see anything, except the baseball stadium. Maybe he was taking me to a game? Odd choice, since I've never mentioned anything about baseball to him, but maybe he's secretly a big fan.

        He noticed me looking and laughed. "Try up here, Jacks," he teased, lightly tipping up my chin. I gasped, covering my mouth. 

        "The CN Tower?" I asked, delighted.

        "You're not scared of heights, right?" he asked anxiously.

        "No, I love heights!" I said, emitting a happy little hop. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

        "You're welcome," he laughed, accepting the giant hug I gave him. "I have tickets scheduled for five minutes, so we better hurry in."

        Eager, I followed him inside. There was a swarm of people milling about, but Grayson just walked right through. I bet he had special access or something. He held my hand tightly as we stepped into the elevator, squeezing as the doors slid shut.

        "It's a little fast," he whispered. My eyes went wide and I stumbled a little as suddenly the ground took off, shooting upwards. I may not have minded heights, but such a long elevator ride wasn't the greatest idea for my stomach.

        "You good? We can head back down once we reach the top if you want," he murmured, so quiet that none of the other elevator occupants heard him.

        I shook my head, my mouth dry. "The ride is a little rough. It'll be fine once we stop."

        My theory was correct. The doors slid open and I was the first person off, with Grayson right behind me. My stomach immediately settled down and I was able to breathe freely again. "Not so bad now," I told him bravely.

        "Good. Because here's the best part," he said as we rounded the corner.

        "Oh, wow," I said softly as we walked up to the huge floor-to-ceiling windows. We were so high up, much higher than it looked from the ground. Around us, skyscrapers willed themselves to be as tall as we were. Then, right to the left, the glittering lake stretched out as far as the eye could see. 

        "It's beautiful, Grayson," I whispered.

        He smiled. "I guess I wanted to be able to show you my country from a bird's-eye-view."

        "It's lovely. I hate to admit it, but I think your country beats mine," I said, half-joking.

        He laughed softly, and I realized he'd let go of my hand to put his arm around my waist. My heart jumped a little, but I ignored it and asked, "How many times have you been up here before?"