Page 26 of The Midnight Club

Miriam shook her head. “No, it’s not that, it’s just that he called this morning to tell me that I should be very proud of having such a committed and passionate spokesperson.”

Shiloh was stunned. “He did?”

Miriam inclined her head. “And he told me that he would look again at the site.”

Speechless, Shiloh could only open and close her mouth for moment. “Excuse me,” she muttered after a few moments, then left the meeting room. She strode back to her office and slammed the door. She grabbed her phone and dialed his number.

Benoit sounded amused. “How nice to hear from you, Ms. Holt.”

“What game are you playing, Vaux?” Her temper snapped as soon as she heard his chocolate-smooth voice.

Benoit laughed. “You’ll find out at dinner, tonight. The car will pick you up at eight-thirty.”

The line went dead, and Shiloh was left mouthing dumbly at the phone. What the hell had just happened?

Shiloh slammed the receiver down and let out a stream of curse words. There was no way she was going to dinner with this man—no effing way.

At eighty-thirty, when her doorbell rang, Shiloh was resolutely still in her jeans and old, comfortable T-shirt, barefoot, her hair shoved messily into a ponytail. She opened the door expecting to see an anonymous driver. Instead, Benoit Vaux stood leaning against her doorjamb, dressed in a dark red vintage T-shirt and jeans that hugged his slim hips. Shiloh had to admit—on looks alone, the man knocked it out of the park. He grinned at her.

“Ready for dinner?”

Don’t give in.“Mr. Vaux, if you hadn’t so rudely hung up on me, I would have saved you the trouble of coming here by telling you that I have no intention of goinganywherewith you.”

His eyes were amused. “So you don’t want to find out what I’ve decided about the land onBoulevards Coutances, then?”

She crossed her arms. “What say you tell me now?”

He shook his head—really, his grin was maddening. “No deal. I’m hungry. There’s a place I’d like to take you.”

Shiloh’s stomach rumbled and she sighed. “Fine. But I’m not getting changed.”

Benoit shrugged. “You look beautiful,” he said casually, before holding out his hand.

Flushing at the compliment but ignoring his hand, Shiloh grabbed her purse and walked out in front of him. She heard his soft chuckle and gritted her teeth. God, he was infuriating.

But, in the car—a hybrid, she was amazed to note—she studied him while he drove. His dark hair was cut in a style which showed off his long neck and his muscled shoulders. The red T-shirt suited his swarthy skin color; his dark eyes sparkled with amusement. He wore a subtle, clean-smelling cologne which sent her senses reeling.

He glanced over. “Trying to make me out?”

“Yes,” she admitted. “Why did you give me such a hard time then tell my boss all of that bullshit?”

“Not bullshit...” He shook his head, still smiling. “You made me think about what you said. I called a few people and maybe—just maybe—we can work together to both our mutual satisfaction.”

“It’s not tomysatisfaction,” she said without rancor. “It’s the city’s. I only act in Paris’ best interest, Mr. Vaux. I’m not against business or progress, you see. Just, I feel that both evolution and the environment could be moresimpatico, you know?”

He smiled over at her, and there wasn’t a hint of arrogance on his face. “I do know. Paris is in my blood too, Shiloh. And it’s Benoit.”

Shiloh gave him her first genuine smile. “Benoit.”

Over dinner she found him to be an attentive listener, and to her continued surprise, he knew more about her than she expected. She asked him about that; half-jokingly, she asked him if he had her followed.

“I assure you, I would never invade your privacy like that,” he said, not fazed by the question. “Shiloh, everything I know about you I got from a very basic Internet search and asking around. And what you told me on our first meeting, of course.”

She looked blank. “Harvard and Brown,” he reminded her with a laugh.

“Oh, right. There’s not much else to tell … Wait...” A thought had come to her suddenly. “How did you know where I lived?”

Benoit grinned. “When I said I asked around, I meant I have friends at the utility company.”