They were just another couple in love in the city of love.
But they weren’t just another couple. That was Annika and she was most definitely having an affair with the Jake look-a-like across the table.
That was another thing I loved about Paris. PDA, public display of affection, was totally normal. Nobody got worked up or bothered by couples showing their love for each other.
But Jake wasn’t a nobody.
CHAPTER NINE
Jake wound his way back through the crowd.
“There’s an hour wait,” he said. He looked perturbed. “Let’s go somewhere else.”
I got it. Billionaires weren’t used to waiting. I sure as hell didn’t want to wait an hour. My stomach cramped as it heard the news. But we couldn’t leave. Falafels were only part of the point of our visit.
An important point. Don’t get me wrong. My mouth watered and wondered when food would arrive.
“Please can we wait,” I said. “I don’t want to miss out on the hottest falafel spot on the planet.”
“I’ll take you anywhere,” he said. “I know a michelin-starred French bistro—“
He didn’t sound agreeable. I had to think of something. I couldn’t let him drag us away.
“I’m not waiting an hour to eat,” he said. It was a statement of fact. “Come on.”
He took my hand and started for the door. While I loved holding his hand. Something we hadn’t done yet this evening. It was leading in the wrong direction. My mind raced, screamed to stop him, make him turn around. But that would be too obvious.
If he thought I manipulated him, he’d be just as pissed at me as Annika for being a lying whore. We were just about out the door when I thought of it.
I yanked against his weight to bring us to a halt.
“I have to pee,” I said.
“Can it wait five minutes,” he said. “You know Antonio can have us at another restaurant in no time.”
“Sorry, can’t wait,” I said. “My bladder is about to pop.”
“Fine,” he said, “I’ll be outside.”
That wasn’t going to achieve anything.
“Can you carve a path through this chaos for me?”
He looked at me for a moment, to see if I was serious.
“I’m not joking,” I said. “It’s all open space and tops of heads for you.”
I held my hand up to his height.
“For me, it’s all inches and armpits,” I said and held my hand flat over my head.
He laughed.
“You aren’t that short,” he said.
He stepped closer to me. I leaned forward and my nose landed in his armpit. I looked up.
“Point taken,” he said with a smile.
He parted the crowd and dragged me along in his wake. We wove through tables and people until we made it to the back. He had his hand on the bathroom door, about to push it open for me, when he stopped.
I followed his gaze.
To the table where Annika and the mysterious Charles sat. She sat there, deep-throat, French-kissing, and getting felt up the whole time.
“What the fuck,” Jake said in a quiet voice that didn’t want an answer.
He cut over to their table like a scythe through wheat. I followed, pleased. Scared too. He stopped at the table.
Annika and Charles didn’t notice. Their eyes closed. Oblivious to the humiliation about to befall them.
Jake coughed.
Annika opened her eyes and froze. Her eyes wider and whiter than the plates on the table. Charles finally opened his eyes and pulled back. He looked up at Jake and must have thought he was just some ogling jerk.
He stood and leaned toward Jake.
“Is there something I can help you with, or are you going to fuck off already?”
They stood eye to eye. Two bulls ready to battle.
The muscles in Jake’s jaw flinched and rippled under the tight skin. He ignored Charles and turned to Annika.
“Why exactly were you in my bed this morning,” he said.
Charles flinched and whirled on Annika.
“What,” he said.
She looked like a defanged cobra thrown into a cage with two furious mongooses. It wasn’t a question of winning. It was a question of surviving.