Page 18 of Sinful Escape

“If you want to go, that’s up to you. But it’s not on the agenda for the first night in Paris.”

“Not on the agenda?” His frown deepened. “You mean you don’t deviate from the schedule from time to time?”

“No. We have a job to do.”

“I know that. But I thought?—”

“You thought what, Roman? That this job was going to be all party-time and sex?”

His eyes bulged. “Who said anything about sex?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t try to tell me you’re not thinking about sex.”

“I’m always thinking about sex.”

“See? I knew it.”

“But not right here, right now. I was talking about having a fun night in Paris.”

I shrugged. “You’re free to do whatever you want. I won’t stop you.”

Roman glanced at the American men and returned his gaze to me with a weird expression.

When it lingered too long, I asked, “What?”

Shaking his head, he looked away. “Nothing. I guess we should get back to the group then.” He touched my forearm. “After you.”

I led the way, and as I slotted in next to Sunny, Roman eased in with a group of girls and stood next to Claudette. When the Swede glanced up at him, her expression and doe eyes confirmed she liked what she saw. It was a look I imagined he witnessed often.

At nine o’clock, with our one and only drinks treat of the tour over, Roman and I stood on a couple of planter boxes and sought our group’s attention.

“Okay, guys, gather around.” Roman projected his voice over the music. “Daisy has an announcement.” The crowd closed in and hushed.

I cleared my throat. “Are you all enjoying the first night of your tour?”

A collective cheer went up, along with many raised glasses.

“Fabulous. You have free time for the rest of tonight. Come see me if you want help with what to see or do. If you have a tour arranged for tomorrow, meet me in the lobby at eight o’clock in the morning.” I relayed the rest of the itinerary details for the Paris leg of our trip and asked if anyone had questions. When all was silent, we hopped down from our makeshift stage and unhooked the ropes hemming us in.

As the group began to disperse, Mike yelled out, “Hey, Roman, you coming with us?”

Roman caught my eye, then walked toward Mike and the other American guys.

I approached a group of women. “Do you ladies need help?”

“We’re okay, Daisy. We’re going to walk to the Eiffel Tower.” The platinum sisters answered with perfectly synchronized timing and began giggling. I laughed with them.

They were so much alike despite being three years apart in age. “You two laugh the same.”

“Yeah, everyone says that.” Lexie smiled with a shrug. “What about you? Do you have any sisters?”

“No.” I’d often wondered how different my life would’ve been if I’d had a sibling. Then again. . . “Well, none that I’m aware of. Knowing my dad, I could have several.”

They went quiet. Jeez, why did I say that? I never talked about my dad.

The women finished their drinks, said goodnight, and headed toward the elevator.

Within minutes, everybody but Roman and the American boys had gone. I strolled toward them.

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