“But you’ve been back in Monaco for how long?”
“Almost a year.”
“And youhaven’t dated anyone in a year?” She asked the question with a high-pitched quality, like she’d just discovered an alien.
I shrugged uncomfortably. Technically, I hadn’t dated anyone, ever. I’d been the king of hookups. But I thought that reply would sound strange. Especially given the way she saida year. I wasn’t going to confess toneverdating. “My, uh, brother and father died in an accidenta year ago, so dating hasn’t exactly been high on my radar lately.”
“Oh, my god.” Hannah covered her mouth with her hands. “I am so sorry. I wouldn’t have teased you if I knew. I can’t believe— This is actually my specialty. Open mouth, insert foot. If it were an Olympic event, I would medal. Every year. I just—”
“Hannah,” I interjected, stopping her self-flagellation. “It’s okay,mon chou.You didn’t know.” She was pretty cute when she went off on a rant like that. Her eyes sparkled with fire, and I unconsciously took a step closer to feel the flames.
She nodded slowly before looking at me with a pained expression. “I know a little something about dealing with life and death. Things like that…” She trailed off for a second, lost in her own thoughts, before she could continue. “Thingslike that change you. They change your whole outlook on life. So I get it. I get it, and I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Sincerity rolled off her in waves. She clearly knew what she was talking about. “Merci. What you said means more to me than I can say.” And it did. I’d had more than my fill of the sycophants who were so eager to shove their fake sympathetic shoulder in my face. Or even worse,the ones who wanted details. But Hannah was different. I could feel it. She’d been through something so difficult it hurt her to even think about it. “And I’m so sorry for the loss you had to experience.”
Hannah flinched, then looked away with an excruciating expression. But before I could ask her about it—
“Next!” The strident voice pierced our bubble, and we both jumped at the intrusion. “Next,please!”
“Oh!” Hannah looked left and right, like she just discovered we were standing in the ticket line. “We can go right in. I already bought tickets.”
It took a second for what she said to sink in. She bought? She paid for my ticket? I don’t think that had ever happened. After all, when with a prince, what woman would pay? None I’d ever been with.
Until now.
I was such a paranoid bastard.She couldn’t be hiding anything from me. There was no way Hannah knew who I was.
This time it was my turn to stutter. “Wha—uh, I can’t remember anyone ever doing that before.”
Hannah gave me a strange look.
“I mean,merci. Thank you.”
She grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the official entrance. “Don’t think this is a free ride. I fully expect you to put out later.”
I laughed and my awkwardnessfaded away. “Duly noted.”
After handing our tickets to the attendant at the podium, Hannah laced her fingers with mine and pulled me into the Erotic Museum. “Where do you want to start?”
“I think in this instance, I should bow to your, er, expertise.”
Hannah laughed slightly and rolled her eyes. “You’d be surprised how amateur I am when it comes tosome things. Let’s start with the dildos.Oh, wait! They have a new exhibition of Catherine the Great’s sex furniture. I haven’t seen it. Let’s start there.”
I had to laugh at that. “Sounds like a plan.”
We had to walk past a few displays of dildos, lingerie, and paddles that Hannah laughingly told me we’d come back to later. Given the interactive nature of some of the displays, I didn’t mind the thought of revisiting them.
Hannahstopped in front of a large platform stage that had a red velvet rope to stop anyone from entering. But all that faded away in the face of so many penises. Peni? Whichever. They were everywhere. On the legs of chairs. In the middle of a dresser. In the headboard of a way-too-small bed. Cock and balls carved into wood, over and over again. Women’s heads licking penises. Sprawled torsos with dicks thrustingbetween the legs. Sex. Everywhere.
Hannah’s hand went rigid in my grasp. “Oh, wow.”
“Yeah. Wow.” I squeezed her hand. “Not exactly what I was picturing when you said ‘sex furniture.’ ”
Hannah broke out into laughter. “Me, neither. I was thinking…I don’t know. Benches angled forherpleasure?”
“Like that one?” I asked pointing toward a different stage with some weird tiered ottoman bench.
“Oooh, interesting. Let’s check that out next.”
