Caught in His Gilded World

‘Dushka, you’re a walking headline right now.’

‘Excuse me? There were two of us on the Champs-élysées, and you were the one attracting all the attention. All I did was speak up for you.’

He looked at her with those unfathomable dark eyes. ‘Yes, you did, and if you’d kept your mouth shut you’d just be the pretty, unidentified girl in some photographs of me out jogging. But you’re a Bluebird, and you announced it to the whole world.’

He looked over her shoulder, up the flight of stairs, and Gigi turned around to see Lulu standing on the landing, arms folded.

Oh, honestly! Gigi jumped down the final two steps and headed confidently for the door. Lulu couldn’t spy on them if they were outside.

Khaled’s arm came down in front of her, effectively barring the door.

‘Being seen in public together probably isn’t our wisest step at this point,’ he said, with calm certainty.

She looked up. ‘But this isn’t public. This is my street.’

‘Nevertheless, there could be paps—stay put.’

She folded her arms, looking away. ‘Fine.’

His mouth moved as if he were suppressing a smile and he picked up the ends of her hair and gave the silky weight a gentle tug, which felt oddly more intimate than that kiss upstairs.

‘No more ambushing men in hotel lobbies, dushka.’

She bit her lip and gazed up at him, fighting the urge to move a little closer.

He dropped her hair as if he’d just realised what he was doing and cleared his throat. ‘Next time you have a proposal to put forward pick up the phone and make an appointment.’

Gigi nodded, although she knew very well that if she had picked up the phone she never would have got anywhere near him.

Not the man who was solidifying to granite rock in front of her eyes.

This was the man she’d first seen yesterday—a monolith of inaccessibility. The open-necked shirt and jeans might as well have been a suit.

She guessed that if he’d been wearing a watch he’d be glancing at it.

A busy man, with places to be and people to do his bidding.

It was disconcerting to think she’d been kissing him upstairs not so long ago, but it helped her suddenly fragile ego to remind herself that there hadn’t been anything inaccessible about the way he’d been acting then. It wasn’t just her imagination. He’d been moulding his hands around her bottom and bringing her in tight against his erection. You couldn’t fake that.

She hugged to herself the very female knowledge that he’d been putty in her hands for a few minutes there.

‘So, will you keep in mind everything I’ve shown you?’

Her words prompted Khaled’s attention to drop to her breasts. When he realised what he was doing he dragged his gaze away from her nipples, prominent against the T-shirt fabric between those glittery letters, and gritted his teeth.

He had to stop making this sexual—he would defeat it. Gigi was looking up at him as if she expected something from him. Only it wasn’t sexual. She was still holding out hope for that damn cabaret.

He looked down into her anxious expression and almost told her the truth. He was selling up. She’d come to the wrong man. But the minute he did that all of Paris would know and the queue of prospective buyers would evaporate.

He did, however, want to do something for her before he walked out of her life. ‘Have you thought about upscaling?’

‘Upscaling?’ She gave a nervous laugh. ‘It sounds like a disease.’

‘Paris is full of venues. Isn’t the Lido still going strong?’

‘Why are you talking about the Lido? I’d never get into the Lido.’

‘I could pull a few strings...’

She pulled her generous mouth tight. He was beginning to recognise the gesture.

‘That’s not why I came to see you today. I don’t need a handout. I came for the cabaret.’

‘It’s not a handout, Gigi, it’s a word in someone’s ear. It happens all the time.’

‘Well, I don’t want underhand things going on.’

Underhand? Khaled tried not to laugh, but she looked so indignant. ‘Gigi, how did you get the job at L’Oiseau Bleu?’

‘I tried out.’

‘Did you mention your mother?’

‘Yes.’

‘Nepotism.’

She put her hands on her hips. ‘I’ll have you know I’m the best showgirl they’ve got. I earned my place on talent alone.’