“Why thank you.” She looks me up and down as she collects her clutch from the side table. “You look rather nice yourself.”
I pull her to me, one last kiss before I have to be demure and well-behaved for a few hours. “You know my favourite thing though?”
She smiles, shaking her head.
I lower my mouth to her ear. “Knowing you’re going to be around all those people with my cum inside you.”
Mia gasps out a laugh. “Get you with the dirty talk now, you absolute scoundrel!”
I smile and devour her one more time, and I think my lust for this woman is going to give me a heart attack. But the car is hereto whisk us away to her launch, and my own feelings take a back seat. This night is about her.
The launch is held in a swanky Paris boutique, the ceiling hung with ornate chandeliers which cast a warm light over the room. Once we fight our way past the blinding lights of the paparazzi, Mia is instantly surrounded by a flurry of people, including her PA, who whisk her away from me.
She casts a quick glance over her shoulder at me, almost asking for permission, and all I can do is smile. She smiles back at me, wide and brilliant, and my heart is so full of pride I could burst.
“She’s brilliant, isn’t she?” A heavily accented voice says suddenly beside me, and I look down at the petite woman who has appeared at my side. She has short dark hair cut into a stylish pixie cut, and big, brown eyes. She’s immaculately dressed in white trousers and a red blouse that wouldn’t dare to crease on its owner. The woman presents me with a delicate, manicured hand. “Giselle Durand. I believe we’ve met before.”
“Dominic Graves.” I take her hand and look at her closely. “Yes, I believe we have.”
Her red lips twitch into a smile. “The Hermes campaign in ’97. We were both a little younger back then.”
“My goodness, yes. It’s wonderful to see you again.”
“You, as well.” She stops a waiter as he sweeps past us, and retrieves two glasses of champagne from the silver tray, handing me one. “To your brilliant girl.”
I laugh awkwardly, and clink my glass to hers. “Oh, she’s notmy-”
“Brilliant, just brilliant.” Giselle gazes across the room at Mia. “You know, the first time I see this girl was in a Calvin Klein campaign in 2017. And I remember people talking about the tattoos and the nose ring, saying that a model should not look this way. No one could understand why the French designers allwanted her.” Giselle shakes her head and snorts. “Ridiculous. Everyone thinks the French admire only thenatural, but no. We just want what is real. And this one?” She smiles indulgently, almost like a proud mother. “She is real. Kind, and smart. And beautiful of course.”
“Yes, she’s extraordinary.”
Giselle gives me a displeased side glance. “It is a shame your son could not see it.”
I force myself to swallow my champagne down past the lump of shame in my throat. “Yes, it is unfortunate.”
“How do you say in football?” Giselle snaps her fingers. “A fumble?”
“Yes, a fumble,” I reply with a laugh. “Losing Mia is certainly a fumble, an egregious one at that.”
Giselle scoffs. “It just shows again that men never realise what they have, and they are never truly happy.” She balls her hand into a fist and shakes it in front of her. “A woman like her, she needs a real man beside her, one who values her career and her mind. Not one who sits simpering in the corner complaining the spotlight is not on him.”
I suddenly understand Mia’s questioning look as she was dragged away to be admired. Archie had never been supportive of it. My mind wanders back to a time at my house, it must have been Christmas, when Cynthia and I were having blazing rows and Mia and Archie had hidden away in the lounge room to avoid them.
In between my self-involvement, Archie had come to me and complained about Mia’s career. How she was always away for shoots. How she was practically naked in front of these photographers. How she was always working, lining up deals and collaborations. He’d loved the idea of marrying an It Girl, or whatever we called them now, but he hated how much of her life took place in the public eye.
And he hated how much people loved her.
In my self-absorbed absentmindedness, I had uttered something about being patient with her and understanding that she wanted to have a life of her own outside of being a WAG. What I should have done is given him a good talking-to about being a team with your partner.
“You seem enraptured.” Giselle’s voice brings me back into the room, and I realise I’ve been staring at Mia.
I laugh awkwardly. “She’s an enrapturing woman. I’m very lucky to have her in my life.”
“She is lucky to have a man such as yourself around. Good men are hard to find, and a father-in-law who is this supportive, I’d almost say you are a diamond in the rough, Dominic.”
Hardly.I wonder what Giselle would say if she knew I’d been shagging Mia blind for the better part of the week. And that deep, unpleasant pit opens up in my stomach again, where all the shame of what I’m doing with this very young woman swirls and boils. Whatever happens, I’ll never regret it. She’s too wonderful for that. But I do worry that the fallout of what we’ve done will make her regret it one day.
But then Mia sashays across the room towards me, her face so bright, glowing with happiness, and the negative thoughts die. Whatever will come, will come. For now I’m here, in Paris, and she’s smiling at me like I’m the only person in the room.
