Page 59 of The French Kiss

CHAPTER16

SIMON

Night has fallen,Paris lighting up as she does while I drive with Autumn back through the city, heading to the northern districts of the city. Autumn’s been quiet, and I think she is still absorbing what she’s seen in me today.

To be honest, I need the quiet too because the revelations aren’t over, and I’m trembling inside at the amount of trust I’m placing in Autumn. Because while I don’t expect Autumn to believe me, I’ve never let anyone see all that Autumn’s getting to see.

I take her to my apartment, wanting more of her, of what this day’s meant to me.

She follows me upstairs easily, and when I open the door, she’s prepped for the incoming Xerxes attack, but he swirls around and through our feet, almost catlike, though he still barks unhappily, jealous over having to share me with Autumn again. To her credit, Autumn tries with my grumpy guy. She holds out her hand to let Xerxes sniff her, but instead he growls.

“Rotten mutt,” I tell him, knowing he is neither. “Let me put him away so we won’t be disturbed.”

Autumn laughs. “Is that a nice way of saying ‘so he doesn’t try to eat my face off’?”

“Perhaps,” I answer, picking up my cockblocking beast. I go down the hall, putting Xerxes to bed in the guest room. He has a fluffy bed on the floor but prefers the pillows on the bed, and I’ve never found a reason to stop him, so I tuck him in. “Be a good boy. Daddy likes her, and if you run her off, I’m going to be mad. It’ll be all dry dog food and no biscuits for you.”

He whines, but when I pause at the door, he flops his head down and closes his eyes. Smiling at his dramatics, I close the door quietly.

In the living room, Autumn looks comfortable on my couch, her shoes kicked off and her legs curled up. I like it. I like it a lot. Which is unusual. I don’t bring people, especially women, here. Here, I can let all the façades drop away and be myself, not a model, executive, or whatever rich boy stereotype people expect from me.

Keeping this space sacred is part of the reason Xerxes reacts so vehemently to a stranger coming in. But Autumn has been here twice now, and both times, it feels... right to me.

I grab two glasses of white wine from the kitchen as she watches with a soft smile. “It was good to see you like that. To learn about you,” she calls out.

Coming into the living room, I offer her one of the glasses and she takes a sip. “I’m glad you think so because I was afraid that I’d run you off. I’m more than a little dinged and damaged under the pretty exterior.”

She tilts her head, eyeing me warmly. “Some things are meant to be perfect, like that car of yours. A scratch on it would be enough to make most men cry. But people? I think they’re meant to be imperfect. It gives us character, keeps us from being robots.”

“Keeps us interesting,” I interject, smiling at her positive take on my deepest secret.

“Something like that.” She takes another sip of her wine and then sets it down on the coffee table. “Look, Simon...” Though she starts the sentence, she doesn’t seem sure of what she wants to say because she stops abruptly.

“Uh-oh. Is this the part where you tell me it’s been fun?” I tease, reasonably sure that’s not at all what’s on her mind.

“It has been, but it’s also... dangerous, in a way. With the competition, I was already worried, but with you on the judging panel now, the risks are exponentially higher. I want to do my best work and don’t want any whispers about insider secrets, feedback, or favoritism.”

She looks at me expectantly, and I mime locking my mouth and throwing away the key. But then I speak out of the side of my mouth. “I wouldn’t tell you what the judges said, anyway. You’d want to win fair and square.”

She suddenly sits up with her legs beneath her, her ass on her heels. “You think I have a shot at winning?”

I can’t help but laugh, especially when she throws her hands over my shoulders and shakes me wildly. Her smile is wide and full of hope. “Oh, my God, I might win this thing!”

“I didn’t say that. You did,” I warn lightly. When her eyes meet mine, I cup her jaw in my hands and press my lips to hers, wanting to taste her joy. It’s been so long since I’ve felt something that bright, and I want to experience it, if only secondhand.

Her lips are warm and soft, yielding beneath me. But as the kiss deepens, her hands go to my chest and she pushes me back onto the couch, following to lie over me. My hands trace down her sides to her ass, grabbing twin handfuls of the lushness beneath her shorts. She bucks her hips, her mound rubbing along the ridge of my cock.

“Merde,” I murmur against her mouth. I guide her hips so she does it again, delighting in her answering moan.

Instead of continuing, she stops, her hands on my chest becoming a push to add space between us and not a pull to get closer. “Simon... wait.”

I freeze, looking into her eyes and seeing worry. “Autumn?”

She licks her lips, “This can’t... it can’t be casual. I want you, but the competition...”

Her words trail off, but I understand. “This hasn’t been casual for me since the beginning. I’ve made that clear,Princesse. Even busting into my meeting in a crazy costume, I was intrigued by you. And ever since, I’ve only been more captivated.” I take a slow breath, willing my cock to hear me. “If you want to wait until after the competition, we can do that. I’m not going anywhere. We have forever. It doesn’t have to be tonight.”

Autumn blinks slowly, searching my face, but I’d bet she’s searching her heart as well. I want this, want her, but I won’t push her. I need her to choose me and choose when we go further. She’s in control, for now.

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