It felt too dangerous to go inside and close the door again, the memories already coming flooding back: the way the mirror had steamed up, how ice-cold it felt against my back, the franticness of it all.
I skulked in the doorway instead, feeling safer there. Except, then I realized that anyone walking past would hear what I had to say and that would be mortifying, so I stepped lightly inside, closing the door behind me, but keeping as much distance between myself and Gabriele as I could.
I sincerely wished he didn’t look quite so hotallof the time. How could a man make a simple white T-shirt look likethat? I could practically see the muscles rippling underneath it; could just imagine the taut, golden-brown skin I’d find if I just lifted the hem and pulled it right off.
‘Are you finally ready to talk about press night, then?’ he asked, swivelling around so that he was full-on facing me. There was no escaping his gaze now.
‘Well, obviously it was a mistake,’ I said.
‘Obviously,’ he said with smirk.
This man was infuriating. It was like he could see right through the fake nonchalant vibes that I was trying to giveoff. He knew I wanted to sleep with him, it was probably seeping out of every part of me. And sure, if there was nothing at stake, I’d probably just walk across the room and straddle him on the spot.
‘I can’t mess up this show,’ I said.
He nodded. ‘The reviews were good. Did you see?’
‘Yes. They loved you.’
‘They loved usboth,’ he said.
I dug my fingernails into the door behind me. Was it hot in here? At this rate the mirror would be steamed up all over again.
‘We’re going on tour in a few days,’ I said.
‘And visiting some of the most romantic cities in the world,’ he said, teasing me.
‘There’s nothing romantic about what we did the other night, Gabriele,’ I said.
He raised his eyebrows at me. ‘Then what would you call it?’
Fuck. What would I call it?
‘I call it getting carried away. I call it a high from being out on stage and you being in the right place at the right time.’
‘So you would have kissed anybody like that, is that what you are saying, Lira?’
‘Not anyone,’ I said. ‘But if I’d been thinking straight, I also wouldn’t have kissedyou.’
I tried to remember to breathe. I couldn’t read Gabriele’s expression, but surely we were on the same page with this.
‘Message received,’ he said, never taking his eyes off me.
‘Good,’ I said. ‘Glad that’s all sorted.’
As I turned to leave, he called after me.
‘Lira?’
I turned to look at him over my shoulder. ‘Yes?’
‘You do know that one day we are going to have to talk about Paris?’
My heart sank. ‘I tried that once and you said it would be a waste of time. You couldn’t see what good it would do,’ I said. Was it weird I’d remembered our conversation word for word?
‘I changed my mind,’ he replied.
Fuck. Really?
