you very much.
She did not like surprises.
Still feeling somewhat vulnerable, she left him in the lobby and went to Nina’s office. This time, she remembered to lock the door behind her. Once secure, she rested her forehead against the wood panel. What was she doing? Her heart was racing, and her hands were trembling.
Yet she was excited.
She felt like Cinderella invited to the ball. Taking a settling breath, she turned and opened Nina’s closet. Her boss was always going out to various ceremonies and events, and she kept a supply of clothes here for that purpose. She didn’t think Nina would mind if she borrowed something. The trick would be finding something that fitted. They were nearly the same dress size, but she was taller and bustier.
She carefully flipped through the selection and heard the swish of expensive fabric. Nina was a clotheshorse, but she tended towards bold, jewelled tones. Rielle preferred softer pastels, and, like her date had suggested, she didn’t want to draw attention at this event. She merely wanted to be a fly on the wall as she soaked everything up. She’d never been to the White House for a public tour, much less invited to a party there. It was a rare opportunity.
With, quite possibly, an even rarer man.
She selected three dresses out of the closet and held them up in the full-length mirror on the back of the door. She needed something tasteful yet appealing. The blue one was the most professional and severe, but it was also too short. She could see that without even trying it on, but the soft yellow or mint-green ones might work.
She cast a cautious look at the door as she unzipped the dress she’d worn to work. There was something intimate about stripping with a stranger standing just outside the door.
Especially that one.
‘Melvin,’ she said as she slipped the yellow dress off its hanger. ‘Mel.’
Neither felt right on her lips, but she needed to get used to his name if she was going to be with him for the next few hours. She draped her own dress over the back of a chair and slid on the yellow gown. It was snug as it skimmed down her figure. She smoothed it over her hips and looked at herself in the mirror. It was pretty enough. The fit was OK, but it was snug in the bodice and loose in the waistline. The style was simple, but the colour washed her out.
She looked longingly at the mint-green one. It was her favourite of the lot, but it was also the most feminine. For that reason only, it took guts for her to even try it on. The man outside that door was the most masculine she’d ever met. She was only attending this function for Luxxor’s benefit – not to start anything else.
Yet she had to see what she looked like in the dress, even if only for herself.
She took it out of its protective plastic. The material felt unbelievably soft and billowy. She pulled it over her head and worked it down her body. The luscious fabric trailed over her skin, making it sensitive, yet as full as the skirt was, the bodice was fitted. It had a sophisticated crisscross pleating that hugged her curves before tucking into a diamante beaded waistband. The bodice fitted her perfectly, even if she couldn’t quite zip it up all the way on her own. There was only one problem. The sweetheart neckline and matching beaded shoulder straps wouldn’t allow her to wear her bra.
So that meant the dress was a definite no.
She wasn’t going bare up there while she was out with him.
She started to take the gown off, but when she peeked at the mirror, she lost her breath. The dress looked as if it had been made for her. It fitted her figure and the mint-green flattered her colouring.
She stared at herself for a moment. Then two.
Her fingers curled into her palms. She was already out on a limb…
She reached back, undid the tab of her bra and rolled her shoulders to get rid of it. She tossed it onto the chair, out of the way, and tugged the bodice back into place. The effect was perfect. Not overtly sexy or trashy. The dress was sweet and so, so pretty.
If she was going to the White House for a formal event, she was wearing this dress.
She hurried to Nina’s private bathroom. She didn’t know how patient 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