The Paris Affair Read Online Free PDF

to break up, a few of the horn players decided to give an impromptu encore in the lobby area. Their music was beautiful, but made conversation nearly impossible. The wine she’d downed after the concert had seeped into her bones, relaxing her for the first time all week.
    “Shall I call us a cab?” Helmut’s lips were a breath away from her earlobe. Claire shivered at the husky timbre of his voice.
    She opened her mouth to speak, but she was drowned out by a saxophone’s bluesy solo. Instead, Claire nodded, and soon she was sliding across a rippled vinyl seat to make room for Helmut.
    “Where to, folks?”
    “Ladies first,” Helmut said.
    She gave her address to the cabbie. “Thank you for helping me escape Frank.”
    In the shadows, his dark eyes gleamed like molten lead. “Glad to be useful .” The darkness couldn’t disguise the smile in his voice.
    Claire laughed. “Shall we call it even, then?”
    “Do women always have to keep score?”
    Claire quirked her lips. “I thought men liked everything to be a contest.”
    Helmut’s gaze slipped away for a moment, out to the orange-lit Chicago streets. When he looked back, the streetlights reflected in his eyes like twin fires.
    “If this is a sport, then I’ve scored twice.”
    Claire arched an eyebrow. “And I thought accountants could add.”
    Helmut grinned. “First, I succeeded in luring you into putting your hands on me.”
    “Only on your clothing. Never trust a woman holding a silk noose around your neck.”
    “Careful, that’s workplace violence.”
    Claire giggled at the mock outrage in his voice. “That’s one point for you. But tonight, I roped you into helping me out.”
    “True,” Helmut said, his voice low. “But I got you alone in the backseat of a car.”
    Claire’s heart thudded in her chest and her breath caught in her throat. She glanced quickly at the plexiglass partition separating them from the driver, and then out the side window. Helmut shifted in the seat next to her, his knee lightly brushing hers, as if by accident.
    Claire took a steadying breath. The backseat of the full-size car suddenly felt like a compact, with his broad shoulders taking up the lion’s share of the space. Claire uncrossed her knees and straightened her spine, excruciatingly aware of his warmth and his scent in the small quarters. The light hint of cologne tickled her nose and stole through her, spiraling into a warm fire in her pelvis. She had the sudden urge to wrap herself in that scent, and the strong arms that carried it.
    The cab pulled to a halt in front of her building, and Claire grabbed her purse. Before she found her wallet, Helmut tossed a bill through the window in the divider. She opened her door and stepped out into the cooling night air that was, unfortunately, thick with the exhaust from the idling taxi. She walked around behind the cab and stopped short. The black and white checked car pulled away, leaving her gaping at Helmut, standing on the curb.
    “I didn’t invite you in.”
    He shrugged. “I’ll just walk you to your door. My mother would skin me alive if I left a woman alone on a dark city street.”
    Claire glanced up and down her block, full of hulking warehouses. Some buildings, like hers, were being converted into loft apartments. The neighborhood was considered trendy by the few, transitional by the many. She walked past him, and headed for the brick archway that covered the street-side door. She could feel Helmut following her steps.
    The door opened before Claire reached it, and her two downstairs neighbors walked out.
    “Thanks.” She smiled, and went inside. Helmut followed, still just behind.
    She passed the elevators and took the wide wooden stairs at a slight jog up to the third floor. Claire stopped to extract her keys from the bottom of her purse, and Helmut braced one arm against the wall beside her, his breathing much calmer than hers.
    “You lead a merry chase,” he said.
    “A little exercise never