Naked.
Exposed.
Once she was standing beside him, he shook his head to shake those thoughts from his brain.
“How come you got to change?” he demanded at the very same moment she demanded, “How come you didn’t have to change?”
There was a beat of uncomfortable silence.
Dario smiled. “You look great, Nico.”
Staring at her feet, she crossed her arms. “Thanks.”
Dario nudged him.
Rocco swallowed. “Yeah, you look, uh … nice.”
All he got in response was an exasperated sigh. She didn’t even look up at him.
“Celeste wants me,” Dario said as he waved.
But when Rocco looked over, he saw Celeste had her back to them. Dario took off before Rocco could say anything. The guy couldn’t get away fast enough.
“Nico, stand beside Rocco in front of the car,” the photographer shouted.
“What took you so long?” Rocco hissed.
“You have somewhere else to be?” she hissed back. “Go ahead and leave. And why aren’t you in a suit? They said you’d be wearing a suit.”
“Yeah, well a suit would hardly be much better,” he said, pulling his collar as he felt rivulets of sweat make their way to a pool of hot damp he felt between his thighs.
“Would you rather be wearing this dress?”
“At least it would be cooler.”
“Trust me, if it was up to me, I would not be wearing this dress. But it wasn’t up to me. And if you’re wondering why it took so long, ask the wardrobe lady.”
He glared at her. “Do you ever take responsibility for anything?”
Those dark eyes glared back. “Do you?”
There was a moment of silence. The only thing he heard was exasperated breathing. He wasn’t sure if it was coming from him or from her.
“I don’t want to be wearingthis,” she hissed behind clenched teeth, “while you’re wearingthat.”
His heart was pounding. “Well I don’t want to be wearingthiswhile you’re wearingthat.”
His eyes drifted down her neck and stopped at that collarbone.
“Ahem!”
He blinked and looked up.
Her eyes narrowed as though pinpointing the most precise target to do maximum damage with those laser beams.
His heart was racing. He actually felt it pounding in his ears.
He glared back at her, but those dark eyes didn’t flinch.
