Hotter Than Sin - Eve Montelibano

Chapter 1

"Paris

IT WAS CALLED LE BAL, the most prestigious debutante ball in Europe. For decades now, it had been well-attended by royalty and international aristocracy, when their young female relatives came out of high society.

There I was, in my exquisite Christian Dior ball gown, doing the traditional waltz with the man of my dreams who'd gifted me this magical experience at The Crillon, the home of le Bal.
Brandon Grieco stood tall and proud as he whirled me on the dance floor amid a dozen twirling pairs decked in the most glamorous ensembles.

He was as dashing as prince, as gallant as a knight and as gorgeous as a movie star. I was glad he chose to be a "geek" than a matinee idol, given his extraordinary good looks, not that he was no less a sold out to the ladies as he was, but I would have died everyday if millions of women saw him on the wide screen all the time, swooning and gushing about him. "

"Over the years, I had to learn to stay civil to his numerous girlfriends, not to mention his dating record which was well-covered by the paparazzi. He'd been playing the field from the catwalks of Victoria's Secret to the high societies of Europe. I only took comfort in the fact that I came first before any one of those women. I was and will always be his one and only princess.

I was possessive of him. That was an understatement. I was selfish where Brandon was concerned. He had been mine since I could remember.

Why not? He was simply the greatest, the coolest, the most perfect man in the world. I was so lucky I was the most important person in his life. Well, that much I knew and was sure of from the cradle.

I would have wanted a simple celebration in LA with him and my family and my closest friends, but Brandon surprised me and my parents with an official invite from the organizers of le Bal in Paris.

"So she'd learn how to dress and act like a real lady, for which I'd claim full responsibility for not happening yet," he'd jokingly told my parents."For a week, at least."

That certainly delighted my mother who had been unsuccessful in dragging me to those fancy Rodeo Drive shops she loved to visit. All these years, I'd preferred shopping with Brandon.

We shared the same fashion sense. Leather jackets, cool shirts, beat-up jeans, biker boots. Brandon had this super-badass swag when not presiding over the Equinox board. On normal days, he looked like a wild, lawless biker than the corporate billionaire that he was.

The thought of getting decked in haute couture had scared me to death at first. You'd think I was making drama. This was a teenager's dream, to have this Cinderella moment.

But I'd been tagging along with Brandon so much doing all these "manly" adventures—skydiving, car-racing, rock-climbing, horse-back riding, wind-surfing, you name it, we've done it— that dresses became deterrents to my comfort.

"I went for the practical get-ups for my favorite activities, the reliable jeans and tees and sneakers. But since this le Bal was Brandon's idea, I wasn't entirely averse to it."

"Who gave you this crazy idea, anyway?" I'd asked him, suspicious. Brandon was all man. How did he know what shit went on in debutantes' balls? "

"My ex, Mimi," he'd answered casually.

I knew it! That didn't sit well with me. Mimi Nordstrom was his glamorous British ex-girlfriend who was the owner of a fashion label based in Paris. Every time I saw her, Mimi was always looking straight out of a Vogue photoshoot and as much as I was confident in my position in Brandon's life, I was so afraid he'd go serious with her and marry her. Mimi sure didn't hide the fact that she wanted to be the next Mrs. Grieco. Oh yeah, Brandon had been married once, to a woman I could barely remember. I was eight or something then, but it was over before I could fully store her in my long-term memory. She didn't matter now. "