I gave her a long, appreciative look. "I likeyou. But I should warn you, that dress is gonna be trouble."
Her smile faltered. "Why?"
"Because," I said, "how am I supposed to keep my hands off you?"
Her smile returned brighter than ever. "You'renotsupposed to. That's the whole point."
Oh, man.Taking it slow was going to be harder than I thought. And speaking of hard, the trousers of my tux were fitting more snugly than they had just a moment ago.
All along, I'd known Gwen was beautiful. Clunky glasses and a schoolmarm hairstyle might hide the appeal fromsomeguys, but not from me.
Besides, I liked the nerdy look.
And I liked this.Her dress was red with subtle sparkles that danced in the light of the porch. The dress was short, but classy, showing off her great legs with no danger of flashing her crotch.
Her heels were high and red, and her hair was long and loose, cascading over her bare shoulders and skimming the bodice of her dress.
And oh, what a bodice it was.The dress was cut just low enough to show a hint of cleavage, and the swell of her breasts was making it far too easy to imagine how she would look in nothing at all.
I shifted on the porch before saying with a laugh, "Well, if I gettoohandsy, you'd better let me know, because I'm not sure I'll remember on my own."
I was only half-joking. For the past couple of weeks, I'd been fully aware that Gwen was mine for the taking.And I'd wanted to take her.I wanted to make her tremble in earnest – not from nerves, but from something a whole lot better.
But Gwen, she was something special. And I was determined to make our first time as special as she deserved – beforeandafter.
No worries.
No regrets.
When she motioned me inside, I walked past the threshold and glanced around. I saw plenty of kittens, mostly napping in the basket by the fireplace. But I saw no signs of the other two pet-sitters. "So, where are your cousins?"
Gwen shut the door behind us and turned to face me. "Lexie's at work, and Harper's got this real estate thing going with her coffee truck."
This was the firstI'dheard of it. "What kind of thing?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure. She's been a little vague about the details." Gwen gave the clock on the wall a worried glance. "But she's supposed to be home at seven, so I guess we'd better hurry." She brightened. "I just need to grab my purse."
No regrets, huh?
This was a tall order if I was still a secret.
Reading my expression, Gwen said, "Just so you know, Iamplanning to tell them we're dating. I mean, even about tonight's ball, they're going tolovehearing what it's like." She gave me a smile that looked slightly forced. "Honestly, I can't wait to tell them."
And yet, the waiting continued. As far as I knew, she'd said nothing about us to her cousins, preferring to keep our relationship under wraps.
What wasthatabout?
I didn't think it was cowardice, but itwassomething. As she hurried away to retrieve her purse, I ran through the possibilities.Shyness? Childhood trauma? A bad breakup?
Or did it have something to do withme?
It was hard to say.
I was sorely tempted to push the issue, but doing it now would be a mistake. Tonight, I was going to show her a good time, and that didn't involve pushing her to move faster than she wanted.
Even so, it was a good reminder. When it came to the physical stuff, I would still be smart to wait – forhersake, not mine.
But in that dress? Waiting wasn't going to be easy. That was for damn sure.
