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Little does he know.
This is the most uncomfortable lunch in the history of time.
Finn, to his credit, doesn’t move a telling muscle. His is the true poker face. “Paris is wonderful,” he says. He could be talking about a steak or a bottle of wine, not the city famous for enchanting lovers.
Somehow I make it through the rest of the meal, all while another loop is running through my head.I’m going to be in Paris for a week with my father’s best friend. The man who fucked me to countless orgasms the other night. The man who wants to punish me with pleasure.
When the check comes, Finn pays the bill with no questions asked. As Finn waits for his credit card, Bridger asks, “Besides the camping, how’s your son keeping himself busy this summer?”
“He has a pretty full calendar—conducting science experiments, climbing trees, and trying to devour the entireCaptain Dudecomic collection,” he says.
I hide a smile at the way Finn talks about his son, with such pride and affection, like he did in the yard on the weekend.
“He’s a reader, then,” Bridger says with a smile.
“Definitely. Balanced with running fast and talking a million miles a minute,” Finn says, then pauses. “I take it you were a big reader as a kid?”
“I pretty much grew up at the library,” Bridger says, then gestures to me. “Though no one’s as fast at reading as Jules. I’ve given her scripts at noon and she’s had them finished by twelve-thirty.”
I blush from the compliment.
“Speed reader?” Finn asks me, and it’s strange to have this conversation with him in front of everyone when it feels like one we could have in private, in his home, his bedroom, his courtyard.
“The faster I read, the more books I can devour,” I say.
“She’s always been like that,” my dad weighs in, and I wish he wouldn’t. “That was her motto as a kid.”
Kid. Thanks, Dad.
“And now I guess I know what to read next.Captain Dude,” I say, wrestling back some of the conversational control from my dad.
My father looks at his watch. “I have another meeting, so I’d better take off. But I’m glad this is working out for everyone.”
Except my libido.
“I have to head uptown to meet with CTM,” Bridger says, turning to me. “But I’ll see you back at the office later, and we’ll hammer out the details.”
That’s his meeting with the talent agency we work with a lot. I’m not needed there. I am needed back at my desk, where I should dive into all things related toThe Rendezvous.
But when we all leave the restaurant, and Bridger and my dad take off, I’m not feeling the desire to flee quite so much.
I want to stay because I’m standing with Finn outside the restaurant on a warm summer day in Manhattan, and he’s staring at me like I’m a puzzle he wants to solve.
17
DESIRE DÉTENTE
Finn
“You wear glasses,” I say, stating the obvious. But I mean something else entirely.
You look stunning.
Jules lifts a hand to touch the black frames self-consciously. “Contacts most of the time. But at work, I usually wear glasses.”
I bet they’re a shield. A layer she keeps between herself and others. There’s so much she holds inside. So much she clearly keeps to herself.
Even if she needs them, the glasses seem like…work role-play.
