Page 3 of An Affair In Paris (Fallen Angel 3.5)

“But where’s the fun in that?”

He shook his head, but a smile tipped his lips, and he gestured toward the booth. “Sit, woman.”

I slid into the booth, my bare legs sliding across the cool, padded leather. I’d fully expected Slade to join me, but when he sat down on the opposite side, I pretended to pout.

“Why are you way over there?”

“Because it’s safer over here. And I like my balls right where they are.”

I sputtered out a laugh. “Do you think I plan on attacking them?”

“No, but Halo might if he knew we were lookin’ at you in that dress.”

Mmm. I like that. I lowered my hands to my sides, giving him a full view of what he was trying hard to ignore.

A tsking sound came from above us, as Jagger set our drinks down.

“I do believe you’re asking for trouble tonight,” he said, but he didn’t look at me as he slid in the booth beside Slade.

“You too? Do I look contagious or something?” I lifted the toothpick of olives and swirled it around in my drink.

Slade mumbled something that I couldn’t hear, but it made Jagger chuckle.

“Like Slade said, we’re staying over here for the sake of our…manhood.” Jagger shot me a wink as he lifted his drink to his lips.

“Yes, it’d be a shame if anything happened to that.” I gave my drink another swirl with the olives and then brought the skewer up to my lips. Slowly, I slid one of the olives down with my teeth, enjoying the way Slade and Jagger’s attention was now on my mouth. Was it a bad idea to tease these guys, wanting them to look at me? Probably. But what Halo didn’t know didn’t hurt him.

I swallowed the olive with a sip of my dirty martini, and then circled the rim of the glass with my finger. “So tell me. Why aren’t you guys at the video shoot with the others?”

“We finished our parts early,” Slade said. “So did Viper, but he wasn’t about to leave his man.”

Thank God for that. Viper was my brother’s boyfriend, and if he saw me slip out of the hotel in this dress, he’d march my ass right back in.

“What about you? Where were you off to?” Jagger asked, and I could read between the lines of what he wasn’t saying. Where were you off to looking like that?

I lifted a shoulder. “I’m not about to waste my first night in Paris. Would you?”

Slade was already shaking his head. “Fuck no. Although… I can’t really remember what we did our first night.” He looked at Jagger. “The fuck did we do?”

“I know what I did.” Mischief twinkled in Jagger’s dark eyes, and the look was so hot that I shivered.

“Don’t you mean who?” I said. “Was she blond? Brunette? Or do you prefer raven hair?”

“I’m an equal opportunist.” Then Jagger paused, eyeing my hair. “But I’ve never been with a redhead.”

My smile was full of devilry when I said, “You throwing me a hint, Jagger? Curious if the rumor about us is true?”

“I’m curious about all the rumors,” Slade interjected, and I raised a brow.

“There’s more than one?” I lifted my glass to my lips and practically purred. “Enlighten me.”

Slade shot Jagger a look, like he wasn’t sure if this was a conversation path we should go down, but Jagger only grinned and sat back, waiting to see what would come out of Slade’s mouth next.

“Well, uh…” Slade drummed his fingers against the table in a familiar beat, one I don’t think he even realized he was playing. “There’s the whole ‘wildcat in bed’ thing.”

When he didn’t add to that, I grinned. “You asking if it’s true?”

Slade bit down on his lip, hard. “No. Yes.”

“Which is it?”

“No,” he said, but he was nodding.

“Tell me the other rumors, and then I’ll tell you if they’re true or not.”

Slade looked at Jagger again. “You wanna take one?”

Jagger laughed and held his hands up. “This is all you, man.”

“Fucker.” Slade blew out a breath and then said in a rush, “Thecarpetmatchesthedrapes.”

“What was that?” I said.

“You heard me.”

“Nope, can’t say that I did. Maybe slow it down this time.”

He cursed. “The carpet matches the drapes. That’s another rumor.”

“Ahh.” It was shocking how many times I’d been asked that by random guys at the bar I worked at, and while I never gave those guys an answer one way or another, I wouldn’t mind surprising these two. “And the next?”

“I don’t even know more than those two,” Jagger said.

Slade rolled his eyes. “Remember that article about redheads being more, uh…sensitive?”

“What, like they cry and shit?”

“No, like it doesn’t take them as long to—” Slade halted, like he seemed to remember he wasn’t just shooting the shit with the guys, but that I was sitting across from him, listening to every word out of his mouth.

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