16: The Fling

Unpacking was a bitch, therefore Sine left that up to the assistants and maids, preferring to occupy herself with the twins until it was time for dinner. Then she left them in their nanny's –Tina- care in order to bathe and dress. Knowing the McMahons, they would be dining somewhere fancy so she wore a green gown –one of her own designs as she was a walking advertisement-, the shade accenting her hair and eyes perfectly. Flawless make-up, her short hair styled and a matching pair of heels and a clutch turned her from her usually semi-plain self into a siren.

Sine told herself that the reason for all this was because she was here, in Tokyo, for a fashion show and she had to constantly look like the models that would be showing off her work. That was the reason she was all dolled up, not the fact that she would probably see Paul again tonight.

No, that had nothing to do with it at all.

When Sine walked into the restaurant, pushing a double stroller, Paul's breath caught in his throat. His eyes raked over her briefly, lingering on the twins, who were both awake. He stood up to help her, flashing her a smile that she hesitantly returned. "You look beautiful." He said softly, watching as she adjusted the stroller so the babies were reclining.

"Thank you." Sine murmured, allowing him to pull a chair out for her, aware Shane and Stephanie were studying them speculatively and tried to ignore the small, pleased grin that flitted across the younger woman's lips.

Stephanie decided to play nice and immediately engaged everyone in small talk, discussing business, the upcoming fashion show, things that were safe to talk about.

Paul forced himself to listen, to respond, and to not stare at the woman sitting next to him. He impressed himself when it came time to order his dinner, managing to do so coherently and mentally slapped himself. He was acting like a jerk, and when he caught Sine's eye, he seen a flicker of amusement, inwardly grumbling.

She couldn't help but be amused, he was acting like a teenager and not the grown man he was. It was cute, and a bit flattering, he had a crush on her. She was married, to a psychopath though, mustn't ever forget that, and she wondered if Paul had forgotten.

When dinner was over, Shane and Stephanie excused themselves, exchanging knowing smiles, leaving the two alone.

Sine stood up, promising herself she was going to scratch one of the McMahon brat's eyes out, not surprised when he stood as well. "I should take the twins upstairs."

"I'll walk you." He offered, even going as far as pushing the stroller for her, carefully, so he didn't wake them. "They look like they've had a long day."

"They have, it's been busy, and they're not used to it."

"Poor tykes." He clucked his tongue, lapsing into silence as they stepped into the elevator.

Sine held her clutch in front of her, trying not to play with the clasp. This was awkward, and she could feel the tension building, feel it trapping them in the small, confined space and nearly exhaled in relief when they reached her floor.

"Thank you, for joining us tonight." Paul said when they halted before the door to her suite, watching as she fumbled in her little purse for the room key. "Sine…" He reached out to gently take her wrists, knowing she was nervous and didn't overly blame her. But they were across the world, away from him, there was no need for her to be so scared. "Sine…" He did what he had been wanting to do since seeing her earlier in her white suit and pulled her into his arms, softly kissing her lips.

This was wrong, so wrong. Mark would kill them both if he knew. Sine didn't want to ruin the newfound peace between them, but at the same time… she wanted to be with Paul because there was no pressure, he wouldn't hurt her if she turned him down, he was giving her a choice. He wasn't out to make her his possession, so she returned the kiss.

At least until Kalea started fussing.

"Oh…" She whispered hazily, pulling away to look down at her daughter. "Goodnight, Paul." She said quietly, turning to unlock the door with a trembling hand before backing in, pulling the stroller with her.

He didn't return the goodbye, instead stepped in the room after her. She was frightened, and timid, and that brought out the man and crushed the teenager thing he had had going. "Don't shut me out." He closed the door behind him.

She bit her bottom lip, finally deciding to focus on one thing at a time, or two, in the case of the twins. Sine arched an eyebrow in surprise when he took Gavin, watching as he cradled her son against him with an air that suggested he had been around babies enough to have a general idea of what he was doing.

Not saying a word, Paul helped her feed them, sitting side by side with her on the bed, each with one of the tykes in their arms. He smirked when Gavin was done with his feeding in record time. "Little man has an appetite." He cooed, ignoring the half-smile Sine shot him as he raised the boy up to be burped. A few minutes later, a very wet sounding belch reached him and he was expecting to find spit-up in his hair.

He even changed the accompanying disgusting diaper and then struggled to get the now nearly asleep infant into fresh pajamas, smiling when he finally laid Gavin down in his crib that rested next to his sister's. "They're cute."

"Oui." She murmured, reaching up to pull the clips from her hair, fluffing the short tresses away from her head. Instant relief. Sine allowed him to pull her out of the nursery, the door closing behind them and wasn't surprised when he kissed her again. Given that Mark would assume the worst if he ever found out Paul had even been in the room… she had decided it wouldn't matter.

With that thought in mind, she returned the kiss, filling what little space there was between them and smiled against his lips as his arms wrapped around her.

Sine woke up to the bright sun assaulting her and groaned, rolling over to bury her face in Paul's chest, smiling when she felt his arm pull her in tightly. When he whispered her name, she turned her head up to meet his, brushing her lips against his. "Morning." She yawned, stretching out alongside his body, laughing huskily when he groaned in response.

"Woman, you're going to be the death of me." He growled, his voice gritty with sleep, which only caused her to laugh more. He knew last night he had given her something her husband hadn't, couldn't, and that was tenderness. His lovemaking was gentle, caring, and by the way she had responded, he knew she wasn't getting that at home. She needed someone to be caring, to take the time to thoroughly love her. He was that someone." Morning, beautiful."

"Morning." She repeated, hiding a yawn behind her hand. She could hear Tina in the other room with the twins and was glad for the shut door between them, the shut, locked door. She did not need to hear Tina's mouth running so soon in the day. She was aware she wouldn't be seeing much of her children this week, she would be that busy and busy started now. "I have to get a shower; I've got to go oversee production setup." She said reluctantly, not wanting to leave the bed just yet.

"I want to see you again." Paul said, sitting up with her, smirking slightly when she automatically caught the sheet and pinned it against herself. "Shy?"

"Perhaps a bit."

"Even with me?"

Sine let the sheet drop, feeling pleasantly satisfied when his eyes instantly dropped to take in the skin she had exposed. When he leaned over, she returned his lingering kiss, but then rolled out of the bed before it could progress. "Shower, and you may even join me."

That wasn't something Paul was passing up.

That was how the next few days went. She would work, go back to the hotel to spend time with the twins, return Mark's phone calls that he would never answer –no doubt due to the time change between them, and then stay up all night making love with Paul. She knew this couldn't last, but she was enjoying what time they did have. Once they were stateside, the fling was over. It had to be.

"I can't fucking believe this…" Mark growled darkly, then mentally corrected himself. Yes, he could. Raking a hand through his hair, he pushed away from the table, from the pictures laying over spread out over it. They were all faxed images, but there was no mistaking what he was seeing.

Sine and Paul, through a window, in a bed together.

Gritting his teeth, he drove his fist through the nearest wall. When she came back, there would be no forgiveness, there would be no mercy, and there sure as hell would never be a trip anywhere without him ever again.