Evan cocked his head sideways. “After she found out you wanted to have her replaced, against my advice by the way? Or after what happened last night at the club?”

My head whipped up and I narrowed my eyes. “What about last night? What did she tell you?”

He raised his palm and smirked. “Jeez. Calm down. I was guessing. She didn’t tell me anything. But you just did.”

“Nothing happened.”

“Right.”

“It didn’t,” I insisted. Not really. Except it did, didn’t it? She fell apart under my hands, and the memory of it even now made my legs weak. “Anyway, it’s none of your business.”

“But you wanted something more to happen?”

“Evan. I know you’re my friend and I tell you a lot of shit. But if you don’t stop talking right now, we’re going to have to explain to my mother why your teeth are on the floor.”

He reached out and placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll take my chances. You have a few days. Even if I can get her to Paris, I can’t get her on a flight until Thursday at least. Maybe you’ll change your mind by then.”

“Thursday?” My stomach flipped. That was four nights of having her close without Dauphine as a buffer. “She can stay here. Or on the boat and I can stay here, or a hotel in Nice, or—”

“That bad, huh?”

I was being ridiculous. Seriously, what was I going to do? Barge into her cabin like a caveman and ravish her because I couldn’t control myself? No. I wasn’t a beast. At least, not normally. But also, she closed that door on me last night before we had a chance to talk about what happened. That told me there was little chance she’d give me another chance. Yes, she was beautiful and sweet with my daughter, and smart, and fun. So were a lot of people. I could handle a few days, just she and I if she stayed on the boat. I’d probably hardly ever see her either. I had work to do, same as always. She could eat with the crew. I’d have meals on shore. In fact, she could go and do her architectural sightseeing or whatever during the day. “Whatever,” I said and shrugged. “It’s no big deal. So she stays until Thursday. And maybe we should get her to Paris by Wednesday so there’s no problem getting her to her flight.”

One less night with her on the boat.

“How very thoughtful of you,” Evan deadpanned.

I lifted my shoulders again with casual nonchalance, though the tightening of my insides told me I was trying to fool myself as well as Evan. “All right then,” I said. “Let’s go say goodbye to Dauphine and pick up the stowaway.”