He zips those last two inches with ease.
“All done.” His hands come up to rest on my shoulders, and they give me a light squeeze. I watch as he tips his head and lowers his jaw to my left ear. His light stubble grazes the base of my neck, and this time I can’t help the shiver that comes over my body. The corner of his lip tweaks up in response to my reaction.
“You look devastating.” His voice comes out low and deep. “Like a goddess dripping in gold, and I’m just an unworthy mortal blinded by your beauty.”
My throat goes dry, and I fight the smile threatening to spill out. I’ve never been complimented in such a poetic way before. It feels like a flower is blossoming in my chest, drinking in his words to feed itself.
I do look hot. Maybe even goddess level.
The dress fits me like a glove, the fishtail shape giving me the illusion of full hips. The gold tones of the dress compliment my olive skin and dark hair. The same hair Aleks is now sweeping off my shoulder.
“You look like sin,” his lips brush against my ear, sending a bolt straight to my core. “I have no doubt in my mind that you are going to tempt every person at that event of yours.”
“Aleks.” His name comes out as a whisper, almost reverent.
He squeezes my shoulders once more, lingering this time, before turning to stand in front of me. He sandwiches himself between me and the mirror before dropping to his knees.
I suck in a deep breath at the sight. This devious man on his knees before me.
“Enjoying the view?” He smirks.
He lifts the hem of my dress, and my heart stops. I swallow deeply, not letting my eyes leave his field of green for a second. Anticipation threads its way through my skin.
“Let me help you put these on.” He reaches for the heels Luisa brought and brings them to my feet.
My heart jolts before setting back on course, and an inferno blazes its way across my cheeks. For the love of all that is sane in this world. My imagination is having a field day today. Horny Stevie needs to go into time out. Did I really think that he was about to get down and dirty in the middle of a luxury department store’s dressing room?
Okay, yes. That is exactly what I thought.
It’s not like I wasn’t fingered in a closet a week ago with another virtual stranger.
Shit. Am I starting a pattern? I can’t even tell if it’s a good or bad one. Whatever pattern it is, it isn’t stopping my pussy from pulsing slightly. I can’t even clutch my thighs to stop the ache without him noticing.
“What are you thinking about up there?” I blink back down at Aleks as he slips my feet into the heels. “Something dirty I hope.”
I’m absolutely boiling, a mixture of lust, confusion, and embarrassment simmering beneath my skin. His fingertips are burning into my ankle, branding me with want. Everything feels too damn close, too sensitive. I need space. I can’t breathe. I take a sudden step back, shoulders crashing into someone. The thin heels do nothing to support me. I feel my balance slip backward, but Aleks shoots up and grabs my wrist, pulling me into his body.
“I’m sensing a pattern here with how clumsy you are. You need someone watching out for you.”
I look up into his eyes, my free hand flattening against his warm chest. His eyes flicker to my mouth, and my eyes flash down as he bites his bottom lip. My own tongue darts out to swipe along my lips, want hot on my breath. His bright eyes darken to a jungle green, and I’m hypnotized by their depth.
“So sorry about that! How’s the dress?”
THIRTEEN
* * *
ALEKS
This woman cannot read a room.
I curb a groan as Stevie pushes off me, the haze clearing from her eyes, as she spins to face the sales associate with a bright smile.
“It’s perfect, thank you.”
The woman hums in delight, fluttering around Stevie for a few seconds, assessing her from various angles.
“I couldn’t agree more. It’s like it was made for you. I can get a garment bag ready and ring you up out front when you’re done.”
“That would be perfect, thank you. I’ll be out shortly.”
The woman lingers for a moment, and I’m three seconds away from barking at her to take the hint and leave.
“Alright. I’ll get it all started.” She nods, eyes slipping to me briefly before leaving us.
Finally.
I rake my gaze over Stevie again. She is beautiful. I was more than ready to kneel at her feet and worship her. A mortal before a goddess. Stevie has an undeniable beauty, the kind that lures you in like a siren call and doesn’t let go. When her tongue flicked out, I had to restrain myself from tangling it with my own. I was seconds away from pushing her against the wall and attacking those plush lips. Honestly, it’s a crime that I have yet to kiss her. The temptation is killing me, making my dick throb.
“Do you mind helping me out of my dress?”
“Not at all.”
I unzip the dress more slowly than necessary, all the way to the base of her back, and allow my thumb to slip and brush a sliver of exposed flesh. She sucks in a small breath at the contact, shoulders tensing. I can smell her arousal building from here, the memory of her release on my tongue rushing through my mind. I swallow deeply.
“I’ll wait for you outside.”
Confusion and want swirl in her eyes as I shut the door, placing a barrier between us. It takes all my mental strength to drag myself out of the dressing room and back into the department store. Every inch of my body is screaming to be touching her. But I don’t want to scare her off. She has no idea I’m Blade. That I had her sweet body falling to pieces around my fingers mere days ago. Right now, I’m just the friend of the guy whose car she backed into.
It was pure luck that I spotted Stevie earlier as she rode the escalator to the women’s floor. I’d been with Parker in the men’s shoe section, watching him try on twenty different pairs of dress shoes for some family event.
The little asshole got me here on the false pretense of running a quick errand before picking up some wood-oven pizza from my favorite restaurant. Quick being a complete lie as I’d been here for over two hours and was five minutes away from strangling him with a shoelace. Luckily, Stevie saved me from committing manslaughter.
“Hey, thanks for waiting,” Stevie slips next to me, gold dress pooling in her arms, “you really didn’t have to.”
“It was not without an ulterior motive.”
“Oh?” Her brow quirks up as she passes me on her way to the checkout desk. “And what might that motive be?”
“Asking you for your number.”
“What number? Apartment number? Phone number? Body count number?”
Always a bit of a brat, this one.
“Social security, actually. I was really hoping to steal your identity and open multiple credit cards in your name so that I could fund my addiction to Cadbury chocolate.”
I watch as her steps falter slightly and she lets out a short laugh.
“Cadbury chocolate?”
“Yup. It’s an English brand of chocolate. Once you try it, all the American stuff tastes like crap. I get special limited-edition flavors shipped in from the UK or Australia sometimes. Costs a pretty penny.”
She pauses and turns her head to stare at me for a few seconds. Her warm brown eyes narrow as she assesses me, trying to tell if I’m lying. It is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. How this woman manages to be sexy as sin one minute and cute as fuck the next, I’ll never know.