Page 117 of The Heart You Kept

Professional and discreet.

With shaky hands I dial the number.

“Hello,” a deep sexy voice answers.

“Um…hi. Is this Thomas Stone?”

“It is.”

I close my eyes, mortified by what’s about to come out of my mouth.

“My name is Alora and this is the lamest thing I’ve ever done but I have to go out tonight and I need a platonic date to pretend to be on a real date with me,” I blurt out in a rush.

“Where are you?” he asks.

“I’m in Paris.”

“Okay.” He thinks for a moment. “You’re in luck, I’m also in Paris this weekend and I don’t have anything on tonight.”

“You don’t?” I frown.

“But I do have a job on tomorrow so I will need to be out early in the morning.”

“Oh.” I widen my eyes in horror. “You can leave tonight. This isn’t a real date.” I scrunch my hair in my hand. “Absolutely two hundred percent platonic.”

Arghhhhhh!

“We’ll see.” He chuckles. “Text me the address and time.”

“Okay,” I whisper. I hold my chest, I’m sure I’m about to have a heart attack at any moment.

“Oh, and Alora.”

“Yes.”

“Wear something sexy.”

My eyes widen and the phone goes dead.

What the hell have I done?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

ALORA

I hold the dress up to myself in the mirror, it’s black and fitted and could be cute, although I’m not sure how it’s going to look on me. I’m in the middle of a shopping nightmare. I didn’t bring anything sexy to wear, I was going to Paris to have a weekend of rest and retreat, never in a million years did I think that I would be hiring a male escort to piss off Edward Prescott.

Honestly…if this isn’t the most hare brained scheme that I’ve ever had, I’ll eat my hat.

“Can I help you?” the sales assistant asks.

“Yes, what does this look like on?”

“Beautiful.” She smiles.

You would say that, wouldn’t you?

“What are you after?” she asks.