The shock on his face is sweet. He’s a little boy who just found out Father Christmas doesn’t exist.
‘So… your marriage is a sham? Or it’s real?’
‘It’s real, all right. It’s just—unorthodox. The rest of the world seems to consider my husband public property, and I’ve come to think of him the same way.’
‘But you’re not heartbroken? Humiliated, when he does this to you?’
‘You sound like my sister. Humiliated, yes. Of course I am.Heartbroken, not so much. As I said, it is what it is. But honestly, I’m tired of justifying our arrangement to people. I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s exhausting. I’ve been over this a million times in my head, and with Jackson, and I really am okay with it. I’m just not okay with him parading around with this woman Leila and adding fuel to the fire.’
‘So it’s an open marriage, basically… at his end, anyway.’
‘Yes.’ I narrow my eyes. Where is he going with this?
‘But not at your end.’
‘Not that it’s any of your business, but no.’
He holds up his hand. ‘That seems unfair. It is justsuch. A fucking. Waste.’
His tone makes me freeze. ‘Not really. I have enough on my plate.’
‘Honor. You should consider levelling the playing field. You really should.’
‘Wow. You’re the third person to suggest that to me. First Ally, then Evelyn, this afternoon, in fact. Do I havevictimscrawled across my forehead, orneeds to get laid?’
‘You have neither, and you know that.’ He scoots around onto his stomach and edges closer to me, resting up on his elbows, looking down at me. ‘But—and I say this objectively—you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.Ever. On screen, or in the flesh. And the idea that that wanker is making a public fool of you, and you’reallowingit, makes my fucking blood boil. I mean, what the hell is wrong with him? So, yes. You should have an affair. Find out what it is you’re missing, that your husband is enjoying so much.’
His face is so close to me, suspended above me, his sleek dark hair hanging down. He brushes it off his face and stares at my mouth, and my lips part in response as I stare right back at his.You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Ever.For all his coolness, that makes it sound like he’s pretty invested in this.
He licks his lips. My heart is beating right out of its cage at his scent, his proximity, and the fact that he’s looking at me as if I’m supper.
‘Are you putting yourself forward for the job?’ I mean it to come out jokingly, but it sounds serious.
‘I am. There’s a shortlist of one. Just so you know.’
‘Right.’ I swallow. It’s been so long since I’ve done this: flirted with anyone who wasn’t Jackson, attempted the dance of expressing my interest, all the while protecting myself from rejection. ‘And what do you think I’m missing out on, precisely?’
He smiles, slowly, and I’m mesmerised by the ripe curves of his lips. He takes a piece of my hair between his fingers and twirls it. The side of his hand brushes my shoulder.
‘Do you want me to tell you? Or show you?’
This is one of those moments. Those forks in the road that, afterwards, define what went before and what comes after. In this slip of a moment, I’m weightless, suspended between reality and possibility.
I make my choice.
‘I want you to do both.’I want you to undo me. I’ve begun to get a glimpse of what I’m missing, and I suspect that glimpse is about to become a revelation.
A wider grin, only for me. God, he’s gorgeous.
‘That I can definitely do. Close your eyes.’
CHAPTER 14
Honor
There’s nothing for a moment, only stillness, and cicadas, and the scent of him mingling with the scent of France.
Then the shift of his weight on the bed, and soft rustling noises that tell me he’s pulling the daybed’s curtains closed around us. At least he’s a gentleman on some level.
