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His dark eyes met mine, questioning. If I were going to break away, this would be the time to do so. I considered pulling away. That would be the professional thing to do. But his eyes drew me, and the gentle stroke of his thumb against my hip was my undoing. I nodded again.
Before I had a chance to second-guess, he was kissing me, his lips firm but gentle against mine. I tensed for a moment before I relaxed into him, his hands roaming along my sides and back before cupping my ass and pulling me tight against him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and felt more than heard his responding moan. He backed me up until I was pressed against the counter behind me, and I was trapped between the cold marble and the firm heat of his body.
I don’t know how long we stayed that way before he pulled away, breathing heavily. “You should go,” he said, nipping gently at my earlobe and making me squirm against him. “I’ll never finish dinner with you here, and there are a lot of hungry men out there who will be very disappointed if they don’t get dinner promptly at seven.”
The mention of the other men had an instant cooling effect on me, and I pulled away, blushing furiously. “Please don’t tell them,” I stammered, before turning and fleeing the kitchen.
This time, I found my room right away.
8
Isabel
Dinner that night was predictably incredible. The slow-cooked beef in the stew practically melted against my tongue, and the men chatted amiably around me. If they noticed that I was too tongue-tied to participate in the conversation, none of them mentioned it.
The only men present were the four I’d already met. Étienne and Bernard, they’d told me, were off running a brief errand. There was no mention of Jacques, nor of when I would actually get to meet the man I’d come to write an article on.
After dinner, I returned to my room, mentally scolding myself for my unprofessional behavior throughout the day. What had I been thinking, allowing Isiah to kiss me like that? And if I was being honest with myself, I had to admit that I had been flirting with every man I’d met that day. This was unlike me, and I vowed that I wouldn’t let it happen again. I was a professional, and I was here to work, not to flirt, no matter how attractive the men I met were.
I called Bonita to check in, and she picked up on the first ring. “How is my star journalist? Are you settling in okay? Is it really a castle? Is The Beast as scary as he looks in pictures?”
I laughed at Bonita’s rapid-fire questions. “I’m settling in fine; yes, it’s really a castle.”
“And The Beast?” Bonita prompted.
“I haven’t met him yet,” I admitted. “Everyone keeps saying he needs a little more time.”
“Everyone?” Bonita asked.
“His staff. There are six of them; I’ve met four already. They’re all very nice.”
Bonita whistled. “Six men! What are they like? Maybe I should have taken this assignment.” She laughed. “Oh well, you’ll have to have fun for the both of us.”
I laughed at her teasing. “It’s not going to happen.” I didn’t tell her that, technically, something had already happened. As far as I was concerned, my kiss with Isiah was a one-time mistake, not to be repeated.
“You never know,” Bonita said. “All I’m saying is, don’t lock yourself off from the opportunity.”
“There is no opportunity,” I insisted. “The Beast won’t even meet with me. I don’t know how I’m going to write this article if I can’t even interview my subject.”
“Keep trying,” Bonita said. “Give it a little more time. If he really won’t meet with you, you can come home, and I’ll come up with a new assignment for you. But don’t give up too easily; I have a very good feeling about this.”
“Thanks, Bonita,” I said.
“Just remember: don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” We both laughed; there was very little Bonita wouldn’t try.
We said our goodbyes and I hung up, feeling a little better after speaking with my boss. I changed into pajamas and crawled into bed to read for a few hours before bed, but found myself unable to concentrate. Bonita’s teasing echoed in my head. I knew Bonita and Ruby Parker had both had experiences with multiple men at once, but I’d never tried it, though the idea did hold a kind of thrill. I wondered how such a relationship would work; wouldn’t jealousy get in the way?
I thought of all the men I’d met that day: Raphael, with his boyish good looks and charm, solemn Vincent, quiet and slow to smile, rakish Alexandre, and gentle Isiah. They were all so attractive in their own way, it was impossible to choose between them. I wondered what it might be like to have them all at once, to feel Vincent’s long, slender fingers against me as I rode one of the others, Alexandre maybe. The image of his heavily muscled torso was still etched into my memory, as well as the firm yet tender pressure of Isiah’s kiss. I imagined him and Raphael covering my bare body with kisses as Alexandre and Vincent took their time with me.
