her date was, but she suspected not very. She turned on the curling iron and used the time to freshen her makeup from the stash she kept in her purse. She wasn’t a high-maintenance type of gal. She preferred a natural touch. The dress wouldn’t look good with anything too heavy. She added some curl to her light-brown hair and, finally, evaluated herself in the mirror.
She looked like a princess.
She took a deep breath and felt something inside her that had been knotted for too long finally loosen. It had been a while since she’d felt this kind of confidence.
She borrowed a small white clutch from Nina. It was beaded too, and would match better than the heavy leather bag she normally carried. When it came to shoes, though, she was on her own. She couldn’t totter around on the heels that Nina normally wore, and she was tall enough that she didn’t need them in the dress. Thankfully, she’d worn nice taupe pumps today. They’d have to do.
Finally, she faced the door. There was nothing left to do but go back and face her date.
Her unbelievably sexy, intimidating date.
Her fingers felt clumsy as she opened the door, and her knees wobbled as she walked back to the lobby. She stopped abruptly before she got there. He hadn’t stayed where she’d put him. He was sitting at her desk with his feet propped up on her desktop.
Her gaze flew to her computer, but it was locked and awaiting her password.
‘Holy…shit…’
Her attention snapped back to the big man rising from her chair. His blue gaze was locked and loaded. He didn’t blink as he took her in from head to toe. She didn’t know if he even realised the words he’d murmured. They were uncouth, but pleasure rose inside her. From the way his jaw worked to the way his breaths came in his chest, he wasn’t being patronising. He liked what he saw.
And that added a whole new dynamic to what she felt flaring between them.
She smoothed the soft fabric at her hip. ‘Is it all right?’
‘All right? Are you insane? All those dignitaries are going to be tripping over their tongues.’
She looked down, worried. ‘Does that mean it’s too much?’
‘It’s just right.’ He reached out to touch a curl of her hair. ‘Forget what I said, you’d draw attention in a potato sack.’
Rielle froze. He was touching her. It surprised her, yet for some reason she didn’t pull back. And that surprised her even more. She looked at the man, so dashing and mysterious, while he stared back at her. Where had he come from? Why was he scrambling up her life like this? Why was she breaking her rules for him?
‘I told you my name,’ he said quietly. ‘What’s yours?’
She licked her lips. Was she really going to do this?
‘I’ll need it to get you on the guestlist.’
‘Rielle. Rielle Sands.’
‘As beautiful as the woman.’
His fingertips brushed against her jaw before he let them drop. ‘Anything else you need to do here?’
‘Actually…’ Her heart began to pound. ‘There’s something I need you to do.’
One of his eyebrows lifted.
Her weight went to the balls of her feet. For a moment she could do no more, but then she slowly turned to give him her back. She’d tried her best to zip the dress. She’d contorted every way she could, but she hadn’t been able to finish dressing. Her hand shook as she reached for her hair. Trust didn’t come easily for her.
But she’d already trusted him enough not to have Security remove him. Enough to agree to go out with him. Enough to strip down and change in a room right next to him.
These were no little things.
She pulled her hair aside. ‘Could you zip me up?’
She heard him inhale sharply.
‘Sure.’ When he exhaled, his breath was warm against her bare spine. ‘I can do that.’
Rielle closed her eyes. She hadn’t wanted him to know she wasn’t wearing a bra. She hadn’t even wanted him guessing, but she hadn’t been able to devise another way around the problem.
He stepped up close, and she felt his size. She began trembling again and her muscles tensed. He caught the tab of the zipper and tugged the flaps of material together to cover her. His touch between her shoulder blades was warm and confident, but that was as far as he went. He pulled up on the tab, and the bodice closed snugly around her.
She cast a quick glance down. Her breasts weren’t bulging out of the neckline, but they did fill out the dress. It fit her like a glove, even if her nipples were perking up and stiffening.
But that had nothing to do with her clothes.
She couldn’t ignore how solid he felt behind her. Next to him, she felt delicate and defenceless. If she stepped back, she’d tuck right under his chin.
Her eyelids popped open, and she stepped forward. She was not defenceless. She quickly let her hair drop back into place. ‘Thank you.’
‘My pleasure.’
She shot a look at him, but he wasn’t flirting with her. The lines were creasing his forehead again. Like he was trying to figure out what made her tick.
She couldn’t take that look.
‘One more thing.’ She manoeuvred by him, and her skirt brushed against his black pants as she passed. The hiss of material sounded like a kiss, and her cheeks warmed. Was she going to have to listen to that all night? ‘I just need to call Security to tell them about our plans.’
He nodded, but his expression clouded over when she asked Security for a driver. ‘They won’t get past the checkpoint if they’re not on the invitation list.’
So she’d have to ride with him?
He watched her speculatively.
Warning bells went off. She wasn’t that careless. ‘Actually,’ she said into the phone. ‘I’ll need you to follow me there.’
‘Good girl,’ her date said softly. He took her jacket off the coatstand. ‘This is yours, I assume?’
Taking a deep breath, Rielle turned and let him help her put it on. She worried about wrinkling the lightweight dress, but it was only March. Spring was coming, but she couldn’t go without a wrap. She put her arms in the sleeves and was cinching up the belt when she felt him catch her hair. She went still as he lifted it out of her coat. His fingertips brushed against the nape of her neck. A shiver went down her spine as he smoothed her hair down her back.
‘Thanks for not buzzing them up when I set foot inside the door,’ he murmured into her ear.
Her head whipped towards him.
He took her hand.
