The Affair (The Evolution of Sin 1)

I blinked and licked my lips nervously. “Would you believe me if I said yes?”

He smiled again, small and almost too fleeting to capture. “You are a stunning woman. So, there can only be two reasons for your inexperience, lack of opportunity or lack of gumption.”

Even as I blushed, I tilted my chin and gazed down my nose at him. “I think we both know the answer to that.”

“Yes.” He leaned forward on his forearms and his eyes caught the flame so that they glittered like diamonds caught in fire. “The question is, now you have the opportunity but do you have the gumption to take it?”

“Are you propositioning me?” I teased. My heart was racing and my hands were damp as they tangled in my lap.

He nodded somberly. “I am.”

“I see.” I swallowed and tried to ignore the intensity in his eyes, the chemistry crackling in the hot air between us. “And if I say yes?”

“A girl who thinks ahead.” He grinned, suddenly carefree. “Very good, Elle, you should always protect your interests.”

I raised an eyebrow and prompted a short bark of laughter from him.

He held up his hands innocently. “You are here for the week?” When I nodded, one of his fingers began to trace the outline of my hand where it lay on the table. His eyes were hot on mine and his voice dropped lower, smoke rubbing itself sensuously against my skin. “Well, I imagine we could find a number of things to do in seven whole days.”

It was hard to belief this was happening. I had been such an ugly duckling my whole life, especially compared to my glamorous siblings, that I couldn’t imagine what this beautiful Frenchman saw in me but it was obvious he did, see something. Something he liked very, very much.

My tongue darted out to wet my lips and his eyes darkened as he followed its path, “One week with a perfect stranger, no complications, no surprises. Just,” he turned my wrist over and feathered his fingers along the sensitive skin of my wrist where my pulse beat madly, “this.”

“If I say yes, will you finally tell me your name?”

He blinked and a slow smile spread across his hard features as he chuckled. “Yes, Elle, but I’ll warn you now, you won’t get much else.”

I understood. If I entered into this holiday affair, as he so casually offered, he would remain a stranger. The only part of him I could know was his body. My eyes flickered over the strong width of his shoulders and the firmness of his hands on mine. Was it enough? My sister Cosima’s voice rang out in my head; yes!

I opened my mouth to respond when a small group appeared at the opening to the restaurant.

He leaned forward, an urgent desire in those blue eyes. “I want an answer by the end of this meal.”

When I nodded mutely, still overwhelmed by the moment, he flashed me a genuine smile and traced one finger behind my ear and down my neck.

“You have beautiful hair,” he murmured before sitting back in his chair, looking utterly unruffled and almost bored when his guests arrived at the table.

I stood up to shake their hands when he introduced us and was met with surprised smiles. Cage Tracy

lingered over our handshake with flagrant approval. I recognized him, of course, as the lead singer of Caged, the absurdly popular French band that was just starting to become a phenomenon in America. He grinned down at me with gorgeous nearly black eyes and thick black hair he kept secured in a messy braid over his shoulder. I wondered how a rising rock star knew my French businessman.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said as he pulled out my chair for me and leaned forward familiarly when I sat down. “Sinclair always did have the most exquisite taste in women.”

Sinclair, I tasted the name, rolling it on my tongue so that it split and reformed like mercury. It was an old-fashioned name, formal even, but dark too, inexplicably sexy. I looked over at him to find him staring, his eyes midnight blue in the darkness. A shudder rolled through my shoulders. Oh yeah, it suited him.

“She’s only a friend, Cage,” he said mildly as the other three men and a woman sat down around us.

“Of course,” the woman, a plain brunette with slightly protruding front teeth, demurred. “Do stop interfering Cage, you always hit on Sinclair’s women. It does get boring, you know.”

Cage smirked at me but when Sinclair raised a cool eyebrow his way, his smile tripped and slid off his handsome face. I hid my smile behind my wine glass. Obviously, the Frenchman was someone who demanded obedience.

An older man with brilliant silver hair who introduced himself as Richard Denman leaned closer to Sinclair into order to politely inquire, “What happened to the other one, your girlfriend—“

Sinclair cut him off with a sharp glare before quickly looking to me. I pretended nonchalance, picking up my glass of water and smiling at Cage as he charmingly related his love for Mexico in his thick French accent, but I had heard. Tension knotted the muscles between my shoulders.

I didn’t know anything about this man I was considering sleeping with. And I was, considering it. The idea of a holiday affair was not new to me, I’d read books and watched movies. But the idea of having a holiday affair myself went against every conservative bone in my body. Not to mention the addition of a girlfriend, a woman from his real life who probably expected his love and fidelity. I snuck a glance at Sinclair and frowned. He didn’t seem like the type of man to love easily and I wondered at the nature of his relationship. Were they close and if so how long had they dated? I bit my lip. It would drive me crazy to render a picture of the unknown girlfriend and I resolved not to consider her any longer. It was cold of me, and I felt a pang as the idea rebounded off my morals, but I would do it.

I settled back in my seat while the wine was poured. When our waitress began to take dinner orders, Sinclair made eye contact with me as he ordered and raised one reddish brow. I understood his question and though I raised both of my own eyebrows, I also nodded slightly, giving him reign to order my meal. His eyes sparkled as he did so and it gave me time to think over his proposal.