Page 126 of Faking the Pass
When they left two hours later, Rosie emerged looking like a real life princess. The sky-blue dress looked like it was made for her, and it probably had been.
It was one of those off the shoulder styles with tiny little puff sleeves and a tight waist my hands ached to encircle. The neckline perfectly displayed the tops of her lush breasts, which were being pushed up by something to a totally distracting level.
“You uh…” Words were failing me. “You look stunning.”
“Thank you. I can hardly breathe in this corset, so hopefully my face doesn’t turn blue and match the tulle,” she joked.
“Your face looks stunning, too,” I assured her, and her eyelids fluttered down shyly.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Think you could help me with this thing?” I asked as I tried and failed to tie the lacy neckpiece of my costume for the third time.
She walked over to stand just in front of me, reaching up to tie the cravat.
“You look very nice,” she said in a breathy voice. “Is it… uncomfortable?”
My gaze dropped from her face to her chest, so generously displayed in the low neckline, and I sent up a silent prayer of thanks to whomever invented corsets.
“The breechesarea bit tight, as you pointed out. That’s partially your fault. You really do look incredible, Rosie. I mean, you always do, but tonight…”
Her eyes flew up to meet mine, and her hands stopped their work. She seemed to have stopped breathing.
I found it hard to catch a breath myself. I wanted to bolt the door, throw her on the bed, and find out what was underneath that dress.
Instead, I stood still and let her finish tying the neckpiece. Once she got it tied, she gave it a little pat.
“There you go.”
“Thanks.”
For some reason, in this moment, our fake marriage felt so much like a real one. I almost said so, but the room phone rang, startling us both and breaking the tension of the moment.
I went to answer it.
“Mr. Lowe, this is the front desk. Your car is here.”
“Thank you.” I hung up and told Rosie, “Your carriage has arrived for the ball, my lady.”
“Ha ha.” She didn’t look amused though. She looked nervous.
When I saw her hands trembling, I couldn’tnotdo something. I went to her and took her icy fingers in mine.
“You’re beautiful—like a real princess,” I said. “Don’t worry about the press. They’re going to love you.”
Just like I do.
There was no point in denying it to myself any longer. If I wasn’t already deeply in love with Rosie, I was falling—hard.
She had to be aware of it. I mean, no straight man on the planet wanted to spend that much time shopping or planning special outings. I’d completely given up trying not to be distracted by her—in fact I liked it.
Her beautiful brown eyes were wide and trusting as she gazed up at me.
“Are you sure?”
“Trust me,” I whispered, and the cock-blocking phone rang again.
I reached over and lifted the receiver to my ear.
