Somehow, Derek wasn't surprised by the revelation. He smiled a little, mostly to himself, and rubbed his hands over her arms while still holding her against himself. He didn't move away from the balcony or make any attempt to get her to come back inside. The weather was nice that night and the Eiffel Tower was beautiful, twinkling lights looking majestically back at them. He didn't mind staying put.
"Not your greatest," he agreed. There was something to be said about the comfort he felt standing out here like this with her. Derek wasn't in love with Caroline and he doubted he ever would be. But...this was comfortable. It wasn't scary, it didn't make him feel like he needed to be on his guard. It felt...good. He would never tell her that, lest Caroline start to think there was more to this relationship than there was — because, yeah, spending the week fucking her in their lush hotel room in Paris couldn't possibly have made her wonder where they stood, of course.
A small laugh bubbled up in response to her question. "You might," he replied. Derek had told their manager that Caroline had a family emergency. He'd left with her with no further explanation than he was going, too. Caroline sounded like she had a decent excuse to miss nearly a week of shifts, but Derek's had been nothing short of "and I'm going because I'm going, peace out, bitches," in a less colorful and more blunt and casual wording.