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“Well, Mr. Crane, you’re my kind of man.” He pretended to flick hair over a shoulder. “Damn, does this man put it all out there? Giving the woman he deflowered permission to have a lover before he commits.” He fans himself.
I narrowed my gaze at him. “You know, I told my mom the same story, and she gave me advice, but you go straight to sex.”
“Yeah, well, Paul knew who you were before you started dating. But getting back to what I’m interested in, what will you do?”
“I’m not going to do anything,” I said before Xander entered his poly-crusade.
He rolled his eyes. “Of course you won’t.”
I lifted my shoulders. “Why should I when I’m thoroughly satisfied?”
“Brag much?” Xander huffed, and we laughed. “It doesn’t matter how good the meal is; eventually, you get tired of it.”
I snorted. “Plenty of people are happy and don’t cheat.”
“True, I wasn’t going to ask you, but….”
“But what?” I smiled at him.
“Who’s the blonde with Paul? I’ve seen her in a few photos,” he asked.
I smirked. “That’s Ingrid Ludwig. He’s working on a documentary about her family’s history. I’ve been introduced to her.”
“Okay, so she’s work. She seems to get photographed a lot.”
“I’ve noticed too,” I said in a casual tone.
“It’s suspect as fuck. She probably has her own press contact and tells them where they’ll be. Messy.” He wrinkled his nose and we laughed.
“The food on the plane didn’t fulfill me. Can we stop somewhere?”
“Sure. I’ll ask.” I pressed the call button. “Laurence, how about we all go to lunch at Renault’s?”
“Renault’s will be swamped right now. It will make you both late for the spa. How about Camille’s?”
“Oh, that would be great.”
Camille’s was a café close to where Paul fed me chocolates. I love it when he feeds me. It was good to see Paul, but was I not taking Ingrid’s presence in his life seriously enough?
“I did find a gorgeous clip of you in a magazine you must keep.” He leafed through a magazine and pointed to a picture of me standing with Hayden at the fashion show. His hand was on my back and his gaze appeared lustful, but maybe I was reading more into it.
“I mean damn, Hayden is hot as hell. Paul better get his house in order, or he might find the gardener inside,” Xander joked.
I wanted to poke fun, and I knew that was why Xander showed me the photo. He quickly shut the magazine, but something else caught my eye. I stopped him and turned back to the page and headline. Hayden’s New Muse: From Music to Fashion, Nadia’s “Recovery” Rebound. Oh, la la. How Sweet It Is. My stomach knotted reading the headline. “Recovery”?Was this the type of trash they were publishing in the US? People would believe nothing happened to me if they read this article.
“Shit. I only meant to show you the photo. I should have ripped it out the magazine first—”
“No. It’s fine. I’ll be fine.” Xander touched my arm, and it was trembling. “The press isn’t all bad. Most are ripping apart the men involved. Sophie and Isabelle’s names are mud on women’s magazines, and me and my friends are quick to snap-back at the trolls online. You have support out here, too.”
I blew out my breath and leaned my head on his arm, and he hugged my shoulder. “I’ve been trying to block out the cases. It’s easy here for the most part. But I’m still nervous about the possible trials.”
“Don’t worry. You’ve got the best lawyers in the business, not to mention that you have the truth on your side. They don’t stand a chance.”
Paul and his legal division had a stellar reputation for winning cases. That I did know.
Xander came all this way to see me, and I didn’t want to bring down the excitement of the two of us sharing Paris.Besides, I can’t change it now; it’s already done. I have to move forward.
I took a deep breath and sat up. “Fuck it. Let’s do Paris.”
