Shiloh’s eyebrows shot up and for a moment she didn’t know whether to yell at him or laugh. She chose the latter. “Man, you really are something else.”
Benoit was unrepentant. “I used what was available to me.”
Shiloh nodded. “Fair enough. But I mean what I say, Benoit. Paris is suffocating. We need those green spaces more than ever now, if you could just consider the big picture. That’s all I ask. I’m not naïve; I know how the world works. I just don’t think it should be at the expense of our planet.”
Benoit was listening to her, she could tell. His gaze never left hers and now he nodded, slowly. “Shiloh, believe me. I understand your position and, yes, our company could do more. But we also have to consider that the population is growing every day and these people need some place to live. But I have a proposition for you.”
Shiloh was intrigued. “Which is?”
“Come work for me. Work with me to try and strike a balance. I’m not saying give up your job; I can tell it’s important to you, but work with us as a consultant. I promise you this now—if we go ahead on theBoulevard Coutancesproject, my company will invest an equal amount of money on creating new green spaces in the city. My only condition is that you are involved in making those decisions.”
Shiloh felt her heart racing, excited at the prospect of making a real difference. Still, she hesitated. “Why me, Benoit? I’m not even on the Board atL'Institut.”
Benoit leaned forward and she caught his scent—clean and woody. Her stomach did a little dance and she felt her face burn. If he saw her blush, Benoit didn’t say anything, for which she was grateful. “Shiloh, in this world, to find someone who is as passionate as you is a rare thing, sadly. When I see it, I can’t help myself. I want to harness that passion to make things happen.”
Shiloh smiled shyly at him. “I admit, you have surprised me this evening, Benoit.”
His dark eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Not as soulless as you first thought?”
She laughed, her face going red again, but she nodded. “I’m reserving judgment.”
Benoit laughed. “I’ll take that.”
He droveher home and kissed her hand at her door. “That was a fun evening. We should do it again.”
Shiloh smiled. “I’d like that.”
When he was gone, Liv stuck her head out of her bedroom. “Was thatBenoit Vaux?” Her voice registered amazement and Shiloh grinned.
“It was.”
“You’redatingthe big bad wolf?”
Shiloh rolled her eyes. “Not dating. We’re working together.”
Liv looked skeptical. “Yeah, right. Working together on what’s in his pants.”
Shiloh sighed. “Really, not.” Her mind flitted to his dark eyes, the sensual mouth, the tall, hard-bodied physique.No, stop it.She followed Liv into her room and sat cross-legged on her friend’s bed. “It’s not like that.”
Liv was sitting at her vanity trying—and failing—to apply false lashes. She glanced at Shiloh in the mirror. “Heloise dated him back in the day, you know.”
Shiloh ignored the jolt of jealousy that hit her. “Really?”
Liv nodded, giving up on the eyelashes. “She said he was hot, but absent. Didn’t give his heart away. She got tired of being treated like an inconvenience in the end.”
Shiloh stayed silent, wondering why it should bother her so much. “Well, I’m just working with the man, so it makes no difference.”
Liv gave her an amused glance. “Come tell me that again in six weeks.”
Lucia knockedon Ori’s crowded desk and Ori, discombobulated, her mind deep in her work, looked up and blinked. Lucia grinned. “I’ve been calling your name for about ten minutes now ...” she exaggerated. “It’s way past seven. Come get something to eat with me.”
Ori checked her watch. She’d been so focused on what she was doing that she hadn’t even noticed the other staff leaving the huge open plan office in Maceo’s gallery. She rubbed a hand over her tired eyes and Lucia sighed.
“Sweetheart,” she said, her voice gentler. “You look exhausted. You’re going at this too hard. Is it AJ?”
Ori swallowed over the lump in her throat. “I’m trying to distract myself,” she said, her voice gruff, and Lucia put her arms around her friend and hugged her.
“No one expects you to be over this anytime soon,” she whispered, and Ori felt grateful for her kindness and leaned into the hug.
