Paris Is Always a Good Idea - Jenn McKinlay Page 0,98
knew as well as I did that wasn’t who I was.
He turned away from me and contemplated the wall for a moment. I waited, wondering if he was going to yell or argue or try to cajole me. I wasn’t positive I could resist the charming Jason, but he did none of those things. Instead, he nodded.
“All right,” he said. He turned back to me, and when I met his gaze, there was a distance there I hadn’t seen before, not even when we didn’t like each other. I knew he was protecting himself from getting hurt, and I couldn’t fault him, even as I immediately missed the closeness we’d recently shared. “I don’t like it, but I understand.”
I nodded, wondering why, having won this round, I felt as if I’d lost something precious and rare.
chapter twenty
I HAD NO idea what to expect when I went to meet Jason the next day for our shared cab ride to the Four Seasons Hotel George V for the Robbie Severin dinner. Would he try to persuade me to change my mind? Would we argue? Or would he remain distant? I wasn’t sure which I dreaded more.
Instead of my white gown with the silver beaded trim—I was having it along with the other dress Jean Claude had given me cleaned and delivered back to him—I wore my standard-issue little black dress that I always packed no matter where I traveled. I did my hair up in a twist and accessorized with jet-black earrings and a bracelet. I had a black clutch purse and strappy black high-heel sandals to complete the look.
The drama the night before had caused me to sleep late, and if I was honest with myself, I was avoiding Jason. I’d spent most of the afternoon in my apartment, going over my playbook for the Severin campaign, and I’d mentally kept the disaster of my personal life at bay. It wasn’t until I was getting dressed that a few frustrated tears had fallen, making my face a hot mess with red eyes, blotchy cheeks, and a pink nose. I was not a pretty crier. I decided to do the smoky-eye thing with my eyeliner to try to hide the red rims, and I put on my cherry-red lipstick, hoping it would distract from the rest of my red face, which I tried to subdue with powder. When I met Jason in the vestibule at the agreed-upon time, he barely looked at me.
“The cab is here.” He gave me a tight nod and opened the door, gesturing for me to go first.
As I passed him, I noted how handsome he looked in a charcoal-gray suit with a pale-gray dress shirt and burgundy tie, although the burgundy did bring out the purple highlights in the dark-blue bruise beneath his left eye, which was still slightly swollen.
“Nice suit,” I said.
“Zoe helped me find a replacement this morning since mine was out of commission after last night.”
“Ah.” I didn’t know what else to say. He’d wrecked his suit fighting with Jean Claude. I knew it wasn’t my fault. No one had asked him to fight my battles—at least, I certainly hadn’t—but I felt a twinge of guilt all the same.
“Sorry about that,” I said.
He looked at me now. His gaze was steady when he said, “Don’t be. It was my choice, and I’d do it all over again.”
There it was. There was the Knightley swagger I knew and loathed so well. I sighed. I felt like we were back in the office, vying for the position of most successful moneymaker. It proved I was right. A couple of kisses hadn’t changed anything.
He held the door to the cab open for me, and I climbed in first. He followed and told the driver our destination, the famous Le Cinq restaurant. Once the taxi merged into the crazy Parisian traffic, I relaxed back against the seat and turned to him.
“Do you want to talk about our strategy with Severin tonight?” I asked. “More specifically, what are you going to tell him about your eye?”
Jason was staring out the window, and I followed the line of his gaze. He was looking at the Eiffel Tower, which was all lit up for another night’s festivities. The sight of it made my heart sink. Was it really less than twenty-four hours ago that I’d been there with him, drinking champagne, slow dancing to Edith Piaf, and sharing the kiss of a lifetime? How much had changed in a day.