Read Online The Little Antique Shop Under the Eiffel Tower by Rebecca Raisin - Free Book Online Page A

flicked me a loaded stare. Was he flirting with me? Did he think I was a fool?
    Women veering past did a double take when they saw him. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. If they’d spent two minutes talking to him they’d know he had no substance. He was an empty shell with a few dollars to his stupid name.
Mr. Black
? Honestly, it sounded like a pseudonym to me.
    “You should pull your bid on the cello,” I said, giving it one last try. “You don’t really want it.”
    “I only bid on it at the very end, because I knew
you
wanted it, and I couldn’t let the weasel win it from you. If I didn’t know better I’d say he was bidding for it just to upset you. Something about his smarmy face made my blood boil.”
    “Wait, you weren’t bidding against me the entire time?”
    He frowned. “Of course not! Not until you stopped, and he was set to win it. I couldn’t let him have the satisfaction.”
    “But you said you were interested in the cello when we first sat down!” I narrowed my eyes.
    “In the
German
cello, not the French one.”
    Could I trust this Tristan Black? “Which guy was bidding against me?”
    He turned and surveyed the people milling in the bar area, some drinking champagne to celebrate, some to commiserate. “That guy.” He pointed to a guy wearing almost identical clothes to himself. Goddamn it! It was Joshua.
    I softened slightly toward Tristan; he’d picked up on Joshua’s vindictiveness and tried to protect me against it. Why Joshua continued to torment me was beyond me. But Tristan had stepped in unwittingly, and no matter what his motivations were, I was grateful for it.
    Tristan leaned forward, standing inches from my face. Up close, his eyes were mesmerizing ocean blue. I shuffled backward, not wanting to be hypnotized by his cosmetic qualities. I could see how a girl would fall for his kind. “So I guess we can make a deal, now? The cello is all yours, if you want it.”
    “For how much?”
Don’t drop your guard.
Nothing is ever what it seems.
    “For the price I paid,” he said, shrugging. “I know you have a buyer for it.”
    “Because you were hot on my heels that day?” The red sports coupe driving spy!
    He lifted a palm. “Isn’t everyone around here guilty of that?”
    Touché. “And that’s it? I pay for the cello, and nothing else?” Usually a deal like this they’d tack on ten percent at least.
    He smiled, and this time it reached his eyes. The aquamarine of them sparkled. “I wouldn’t rule out a dinner date, but yes, that’s all.”
    A smile played at my lips. “A dinner date? I don’t think so.” Tristan Black would have to learn things didn’t just fall in his lap no matter how generous he might seem to any unsuspecting person. There was always an agenda with men like him. Always. And he was choosing the wrong girl if he thought I’d be silly enough to go along with his whims.
    “Why not?” He laughed. “I won’t eat you.”
    “Very funny.” I wondered what would be a fair compromise. Ah! “Perhaps we can share a drink at the May Gala, if you’re invited that is…?” If he was invited to the gala, then he was connected with someone influential in Paris. It would be a good way to find out just who he really was.
    “The gala…” A blank look crossed his features. “Oh the
gala!
Yes, I’ll be there and I’ll hold you to that drink, Anouk.”
    Before he could add any more addendums to our deal I said, “Let’s go to the office and sort out the paperwork for the cello.”
    We explained to the clerk and she switched our details for the piece. Gustave the security guard called me over, waving frantically, as I was waiting for the invoice to be printed.
    “Excusez-moi, Tristan. I’ll be right back.”
    I rushed to Gustave, my heels click-clacking. His face was pinched, and he motioned for me to join him behind the curtain in the antechamber just near the office.
    “What is it?” I whispered.
    “Shhh,” he said and pointed. Joshua wore a