Page 100 of Mr. Dangerous

31

Naomi

"Alice, what are you doing?"I asked as my sister crowded into the dressing room with me. Alice accidentally hip checked me as she turned to hang an armful of dresses. I put my hand out on the wall of the dressing room, catchingmyself.

"I want to see these on you. You can't keep refusing to come out." Alice dangled a slinky, floor-length silver dress in front of me. "Are you nervous withLiamhere?"

"No. Are you?" I let my current sheath of black satin slide down my body and stepped out of the shimmering pool of fabric. Pretty. But forsomeoneelse.

"What do you mean?" Alicedemanded.

"Do you still have a crush?" I started to hang the dress back up, but Alice took it impatiently out of myhands.

Alice jerked her head at the dresses still hanging neatly that I hadn’t tried on yet. "Oh, my god, Naomi. That would be so weird when you and Rob are obviously going to getmarried."

"I wouldn't jump that far ahead," I said. Sometimes I did think about marrying Rob, but only to remind myself of what couldn't be. It wasn't the wedding I imagined. Being the center of attention like that, in a white dress at the front of a church with hundreds of eyes on us, sounded like a nightmare. But I liked the thought of being married to Rob, of waking up next to him every morning, watching him dress in his Navy uniform, kissing goodbye as we got in cars to drive to work. Besides the logistical issues, though, Rob was not the marrying kind. "Too bad we don't have more sisters. Like Seven Brides for SevenBrothers..."

"I'm getting bored out here," Liamcalled.

Alice looked at me wide-eyed. I shrugged back. Who knew if he hadoverheardus?

"Delaneys are awfully prone to boredom," I said, unlatching the dressing room door. "Alice, go entertain him. I'll come out and fashion show, Ipromise."

When I stepped out of the dressing room wearing the form fitting dress, Liam whistled. "That one.Definitely."

"I haven't even tried theothers--"

"Let's take them too. Spend my brother's inheritance. You know he loves getting dressed up, you might as well indulge with him." He glanced over me thoughtfully. "Then let's go to the Macstore."

"I thought you hated shopping."Isaid.

He half-shrugged. "Whatever the mission, I am in one-hundred-percent."

As the three of them drove back to the Delaney mansion later, I kept reminding myself that I couldn't bite my lip. Not when I was wearing a smooth neutral lipstick that cost more than the contents of my entire makeup pouch. I had the perfect smoky eye and an up-do that Liam had suggested. Another Delaney boy who was full ofsurprises.

Looking at myself in the mirror at the salon, I’d thought that I looked pretty. Like the kind of woman who shouldn’t have big, crazyworries.

But here I was, on my way to a gala and still sick to my stomach. I couldn't shake worries that the fundraiser would be a flop or worse, that I was inviting harm to the Delaneys with Rob's desire to please me. I had urged him to cancel the gala, offering to return to my old plan."I'm not going to let you out of my sight for a barbecue anyway," he'd told me. "What's thedifference?"

"Relax," Alice said without looking away fromtheroad.

"I can't. You should've let medrive."

"You do enough of thatwithRob."

Alice took the turn for the road that led to the Delaney home too quickly, jouncing me back and forth in my seat. I grabbed at the door handle. "I definitely should havedriven."

"Stop being nervous about the gala. You're going to love it," Alicepromised.

"This was supposed to be a simple thing--" I broke off as we turned down Rob's long driveway. White lights were strung along the trees that lined the drive, bright against the falling dusk. I could still see the gorgeous pink flowers waving alongside the house despite the growing dim of the evening. Alice pulled up in the stamped-concrete circle of the drive, right in front of the house. Two young valets in gray vests waited to take the car key,smiling.

"Do you mind dropping her bags off inside?" Aliceasked.

"This makes me intensely uncomfortable,"Isaid.

Alice put her hand on my shoulder, looked into my face with a false expression of sympathy. "Do try to bear up under the hardships ofluxury."

Rob stood in the doorway, imposing and gorgeous in his Navy dress whites. The doorway emphasized his size. He was tall and broad-shouldered. The whites were crisp over his body, belted at his narrow waist. The high collar of his whites emphasized his broad, masculine jaw. I could never look at that hard, lean body now without thinking of how soft his lips were when hekissedme.

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