“Do you like it?” she asked. Alana stopped in front of him in her emerald dress. He hadn’t expected her to be this fancy. He wasn’t wearing anything more than dress pants and a button-down shirt he’d worn to work several times.
“Very much so,” he said. “Can you spin for me or is that being too sexist?”
“Not sexist in the least if you like it,” she said. She turned for him to see how the dress fit around her hips and ass in the back was just as lovely as it did her breasts.
He had to admit he wasn’t expecting this.
He wouldn’t call the dress tight or clingy, just made for her body.
Nothing fancy about it either. No bling attached, not even a belt. One color that fit her like a dream.
A wet dream he’d woken up to last night thinking about this dinner tonight.
It wasn’t just the dress, it was the whole look. The black heeled boots that climbed to her knees. The dress, hitting just above them, modest with long sleeves and a scooped neckline that hinted without revealing. And resting at her collarbone, a delicate gold chain that somehow pulled it all together, subtle and striking at once.
No one other than Kelsey was aware they were dating. He wasn’t sure if Alana would want to be picked up for the night, but she’d said she was fine with it.
To him, it just meant they could continue with their night after dinner.
Did he hope it’d be with more than a kiss?
Yep, he did. He wouldn’t ask though.
He’d let her take that next step knowing she was burning as much as he was with their parting kiss two days ago.
“I more than like it,” he said. “Are you ready to go?”
“I am,” she said, grabbing a long black jacket. “I can’t wait for a glass of wine. It’s been a long week.”
“It has,” he said. “And I had to play catch-up for two days, but thankfully it’s slow this time of year.”
“When I got out of work today, I ran to help put together gifts for the drive.”
“I hadn’t realized you did that,” he said.
“I volunteered and told them I would. I hadn’t realized at the time our Christmas dinner was this night, so if Kelsey hadn’t closed the office early, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. But I got almost two hours in, then came home to get ready.”
“Are you going to help hand them all out tomorrow?” he asked.
They had made no plans for the weekend. He didn’t want to push things too fast with Becca, let alone Alana.
“I told them I would but not when I’d get there. It starts at nine.”
The shy way her head dipped down told him that maybe there was some hope their night would extend into the morning.
He put his hand on her waist to usher her out the door that he was holding open, then she turned and locked it behind him.
“Are you picking up Becca after?” she asked.
“No. She’s staying with my mother tonight,” he said. “I didn’t think she’d want to after staying two days earlier, but my mother told her she had Christmas movies lined up.”
He’d thanked his mother for stepping in, even though he hadn’t technically asked her to keep Becca overnight. He’d just mentioned he’d try to be home before bedtime, assuming she’d watch Becca at his place. But she must’ve picked up on more than he said because she offered, and he hadn’t argued.
It was his mother who changed the narrative to a sleepover again.
But he also knew his mother had plans all weekend. Holiday activities at the retirement community, so regardless of how the night went, he’d be getting his daughter early.
“That’s nice that your mother is taking her again.”
