“Maybe we should order room service and stay here,” Tally said as the door clicked shut behind us. “If we go, it’s only going to create drama.”
I hesitated. “Is that what you really want?”
If it was, then we’d do it, but I doubted the thought was anything more than a desperate desire to hide rather than an actual choice she wanted to make.
“No.” She released a slow breath and flopped onto the bed. “If I do, he’ll think he’s won. I’d just rather avoid the unpleasantness.”
“Let’s make sure you look even more beautiful than usual then.” Excitement churned in my gut as I opened the closet and withdrew one of the garment bags I’d hung in there earlier. I passed it to her and she took it, her head cocked curiously. “Open it.”
I held my breath, praying that she liked my surprise.
She unzipped the garment bag and her breath hitched. “Oh, my God. You didn’t have to do this!” Despite her protest, she stroked the pink dress, clearly pleased. “You spent so much on me already.”
“I didn’t get the shoes, but the matching purse is somewhere in there,” I said, not addressing her comment.
She turned to me, her eyes shining with moisture. “This really wasn’t necessary.”
“But do you like it?” I asked, because that was all that mattered.
She clutched it to her chest. “I love it.”
I allowed myself to breathe properly again. “Then put it on and let’s wow everyone.”
“Okay.” Now that she’d accepted the gift for what it was, she squealed and pulled it gleefully from the bag. “It’s such a pretty color.”
“It is.” It perfectly matched the pinkness of her cheeks anytime she blushed. Not that I was stupid enough to say as much.
Practically bouncing, she took the dress into the bathroom to change. Meanwhile, I chose a pair of tidy slacks and a relativelytame white-and-blue patterned shirt. I slipped my feet into sandals and checked my reflection in the full-length mirror to make sure I looked good. I wanted Tally to be proud to have me on her arm, even if it wasn’t real.
I relaxed against the pile of pillows on the bed and waited. And waited. And eventually, Tally emerged from the bathroom, not only wearing the pink dress with the purse in her hand, but also standing slightly taller than usual in black, strappy-heeled sandals that wrapped around her shapely calves. Her lips were painted pink, her cheeks dusted with blush, and dark eyeliner exaggerated the blue of her irises.
I couldn’t look away. “You are… stunning.”
She beamed. “You look good too.”
I blinked and did my best to gather myself. “Are you ready to head down?”
She nodded. “Let me just grab a jacket in case it gets cold.”
She fished around in her suitcase for a jacket, slung it over her arm and offered me her other arm to escort her out of the room.
“Is this too much?” she asked as we waited for the elevator, gesturing to her dress, shoes, and makeup.
“A situation like this calls for the big guns,” I assured her.
When she didn’t look comforted, I realized I was going to have to do better. I dipped my head, so my mouth was near her ear, not wanting my next words to be overheard by any passersby.
“Any guy who sees you in that dress is going to want to put his hands on you. Touch you. Taste you. Ruck up your skirt and see if you’re as scorching hot as you look.”
An image slammed into me. Tally, pressed against the wall while I edged up the hem of her pretty dress and caressed the silken skin of her thigh.
Would she lean into my touch? Whimper as I moved my hand higher? Part her legs to give me better access?
My cock stiffened.
Fuck. Get yourself together.
But the image wouldn’t budge from my mind.
