I turned down his suggestion for drinks.

I didn’t want to go to a club.

Not that I dislike those places. Quite the contrary. But they’re designed to speed the path to stupid choices.

Good food makes you moan in pleasure. Seductive clubs drive you to dance too closely. And cocktails loosen lips.

I don’t need my inhibitions lowered with a man this devilishly good-looking. It’s always the pretty ones who have deadly secrets. I don’t know what sort of cruel mistress the universe is to create devastatingly handsome men who’ll eviscerate a woman’s emotions, but I do know she’s the cruelest on this count.

That’s why I picked something for our date I’d do with a friend.

We’re going to attend a decorative arts show in an exhibition space by the Tuileries.

It’s not even remotely sexy.

It’s somewhere to laugh at the absurdity of things that you see. To wonder who could possibly want a thirty-foot-long, pink faux-fur-lined couch for the living room, or a mirror completely covered in seashells so that you can only see bits and pieces of your face. It’s the type of place that has industrial pipes hanging from picture frames and masquerading as art.

Once inside, Christian reaches for my hand. “Can I hold your hand?”

Perhaps because I’m caught off guard, I say yes.

He wraps his big palm around mine, and I notice instantly how long his fingers are. How firm his grip is. And how soft his skin is. He squeezes playfully, then wiggles his eyebrows, as if saying there’s more he can do with those fingers.

I bet.

Tiny little shimmers of electricity dance up my arms, and I squeeze back as we walk along the cavernous hallway.

“Anything in particular you want to see? Are you looking for a new chandelier with a crystal flamingo hanging from it?”

He points behind me, and I turn to see a large chandelier hanging in the middle of an exhibition area. A pink crystal flamingo dangles from the lighting fixture, exactly as described.

“You know what they say. A room isn’t fully decorated until you have a chandelier with a little flamingo hanging from it.”

“Speaking of chandeliers,” he asks, “do you like opera?”

Tension spreads over my shoulders. I can’t stand it, but I’d said yes anyway when Eduardo wanted to take me to La Traviata. I said yes because he loved it.

This is my chance to do things differently. To learn from my mistakes. Even though I’ve no interest in a relationship, and even though this is only fun, I won’t be less than patently honest with Christian. “I despise it.”

He hums his approval. “I knew you were perfect for me.”

I nudge him with my hip. “Do you truly hate it?”

“With a deep and instinctive passion.”

“Poor opera.”

“Poor me for the three times my father made me go.”

“You must have been a very bad boy for him.”

“Come to think of it, I was officially the worst. And I’m glad you didn’t suggest we go to the opera tonight. I could have mustered the strength to sit through it to be near you, but I’d rather not fake it.”

I stop and put a hand on his firm, broad shoulder. “Don’t fake it. Don’t fake anything. It’s better to be bluntly honest. Even if it seems rude, honesty is better.” My tone is tinged with a plea, but I don’t care if I sound like a beggar.

He brushes a curl of hair over my shoulder. “I don’t have to fake a thing with you.”

“Ditto,” I whisper, and for a second, maybe more, the air between us feels charged, sparking with ions and electrons. As if we could lean in, brush each other’s lips, test out a kiss. Set the exhibit hall to flames. I suspect he’d kiss like that—fire and power and heat.

But instead, we continue walking along the wide, carpeted hallway, surrounded by Parisian hipsters, including a man wearing jeans so tight they look like leggings and a woman with a red-checked blanket draped over her shoulders.

“Why does everyone wear blankets these days?” I ask.

“Why aren’t scarves good enough?”

“Blankets should be for beds.”

“But, to play devil’s advocate, you’d look really fucking good in bed with nothing but a blanket on.”

I shake my head in amusement. This man is brimming with sexual innuendo, and it’s ridiculously appealing.

I stop in my tracks at a huge black-and-white photo with the word #space on it. I step closer, peering at it. “Is that the moon?”

“I think it is. And holy crap, they’re listing it for two thousand euros. That’s bollocks.”

“It’s not as if this person actually went to the moon and took the picture himself.”

“They probably went into the national archives, grabbed a photo of the moon landing, and blew it up in a copy shop.”

“I’m in the wrong business, if you can take a photocopy and sell it for that amount. I should get out of advertising and into the hoodwinkery trade.”

He laughs. “I’ll be right there with you. We’ll capture cell phone shots of the photos of the great events in world history, blow them up, add a hashtag, and sell them at the art and design center.”

“We’ll be in the business of highway robbery.” I turn around to find a humongous chair made out of wicker. It looks like a thatched throne, and the back of it is literally ten feet tall, with a seat covered in a patchwork quilt of pillows. “Speaking of highway robbery.”

“Ah, I’ve been hunting for a comfy new chair.” Christian parks himself in it and pats an emerald-green pillow next to him. “Come try it out.”

That means I’ll be wedged against him.

There’s no other answer but yes, please.

I drop down next to him in the seat, and he slides an arm across my lower back, wrapping his hand possessively around my waist. “You fit nicely next to me,” he says softly, his eyes roaming over my face.

A burst of desire shimmies down my body. “You’re constantly trying to get close to me.”

He leans in, running his nose along my neck. I stifle a whimper as he sniffs, saying, “You’re right. I am. I find you fascinating and irresistible. Maybe you could stop resisting me.”

A smile spreads rapidly, and I lean a little closer, want a little more. “I’ll see what I can do about that,” I tease, but I’m not giving in easily.