Page 121 of The Heart You Kept

“Go on.”

“Anyway, we met a few years ago when I was in Switzerland for the weekend and we had a….”

“Great time.” He finishes my sentence.

“We didn’t exchange details and we knew nothing about each other, but I’ve recently run into him.”

“What happened when you saw him again?”

“We were at a charity auction and the next minute we rushed upstairs and kissed, which is a complete nightmare because we are with other people.”

“Hmm, I see.” He sips his champagne.

“I mean…we were with other people but we’ve now both become single.”

“Because of each other or….”

“Well.” I roll my eyes. “Maybe on my behalf but not on his. I came to Paris for the weekend to try and forget about him but he showed up today at a work meeting and was flirting with our co-worker and he’s taking her on a date tonight.”

He listens intently.

“And I wanted to leave, so I told a lie that I came to Paris to meet a man.”

He smiles into his glass as he listens. “Nice.”

“But it’s not nice because he called my bluff and said we should go on a double date tonight and I panicked and said yes.”

“And that’s when you called me.”

I take a huge gulp of champagne and slosh it around my mouth. “This story sounds worse when I hear it out loud.”

“Alora.” He smiles calmly. “I do this for a living. You are in safe hands.”

“I don’t want to have sex with you,” I blurt out.

He chuckles. “Well, that’s a shame, you’re hot as hell.”

“Thomas.” I widen my eyes. “Be serious.”

“It’s fine, we go meet him and his date. We get on great and put on a little show. We leave and then boom.”

“Boom?”

“Suddenly you have control because he knows that someone else is in the arena and maybe he should man up before you get snapped up.”

My eyes hold his.

“Trust me on this, it works every time.”

“I don’t know.” I twist my lips as I think. “This guy isn’t a normal guy.”

“What, is he like a vampire or something?”

“Probably.” I sigh. “He’s just very…dominant and bossy and….”

“I can handle him.”

My eyes search his.