Page 42 of Stunner (Whiskey Dolls 3)

Mom shrugged while absentmindedly petting Triumph’s head now on her lap. “What’s wrong with nice? Nice is perfectly fine. That dress is lovely for your party tonight.”

I stared at my reflection with brand new eyes. My mom was right. This dress was perfectly fine. If what you were looking for was to be boring as hell.

“That’s not going to work. It’s more than just the party. I’m going with Owen. It’s our first official date.”

Mom’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “And you were planning on wearingthat? Are you crazy?”

“Oh my God! You aren’t helping at all,” I cried, officially freaked the hell out. “He’ll be here in less than thirty minutes! My hair is still in rollers, and I don’t have anything to wear!”

She shot from the bed, coming over and taking me by the arms. “All right, calm down. It’s okay.” She inhaled deeply, willing me to follow suit, then exhaled before repeating the process. “Good, that’s better. Nice and calm.” A knowing smirk took over her face. “You know, this totally explains why youraura was bright red when I walked in here.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “That’s the color ofpassion.”

Oh sweet, merciful hell. The last thing I needed just then was to discuss passion with my mother. “Please stop.”

She held up her hands as she moved to my closet and started flipping through hangers. “Hey, I’m just saying, if your energies mesh tonight, you’re in for some serious heat.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “No wonder you asked me to puppy-sit for you.”

I gave her a flat look. This conversation was the thing of nightmares. “I asked you to keep Triumph overnight because I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, and he’s still healing. I didn’t want to leave him alone for too long.”

“Whatever you say, sugarplum. Now let’s see what we’ve got here.” She renewed her task of riffling through my dresses. “We need something that shows you’re a classy woman, but still makes him imagine peeling it off you and throwing it on his bedroom floor. I’ll take care of that while you find some undies that screamnaughty.”

I stared at her, my mouth hanging open as I thought: so this is what my personal hell is like.

A knock sounded on my front door, and I whipped around to stare at it, the flutters in my belly so intense I felt like I might actually take flight.

I turned back to my mother—who I’d spent the past fifteen minutes trying unsuccessfully to kick out. “I don’t suppose I could get you to agree to hide in my bedroom until we leave?” The look she gave me was all the answer I needed. “Didn’t think so,” I muttered flatly. If she hadn’t nailed helping me findthe perfect dress for the evening, I might have been even more annoyed than I already was.

She lifted the cup of tea she’d made for herself usingmykettle and tea bags and took a sip. “Are you going to leave him waiting or actually answer the door?”

Shit. She was right. I scuttled around the counter separating my galley kitchen from the living and dining areas and hustled for the door. Once I reached it, I stopped to give myself one last mental prep. I brushed my hands down the front of the skirt that landed a couple inches below mid-thigh and pursed my lips to blow out a breath. Then I grabbed the knob, pulled the door open, and nearly choked 0n my own saliva at the sight in front of me.

Because...ho-ly God. Nothing in the world could have prepared me for Owen Shields in a freaking suit. Sure, he’d worn a tux on the wedding day that never happened, but by the time I’d actually seen him, I was two and a half sheets to the wind, barreling toward the third. I could barely remember what he looked like in that thing, but now... well this was an image that would forever be burned into my brain.

Thank God.

The charcoal suit looked like it was custom made for his delectable body, and the pale mint green button-down beneath made the color of his eyes stand out even more. He had the faintest hint of a five o’clock shadow on his jaw, making him look more edgy than clean-cut, and that persona was expanded on even more by the tattoos on the backs of his hands and peeking out of his open collar.

There was something about a man dressed to impress with ink decorating his skin that drove me wild. It was the mixture of class and dirty, of wild and respectable. It felt like you were getting the best of both worlds.

“H-hi,” I stuttered, swallowing audibly to soothe my suddenly parched throat.

“Jesus Christ,” he grunted as his eyes did a full body scan of me from the rounded toes of my nude stilettos, all the way to my dark hair I’d spent the better part of the day curling and Velcro rolling so I had just the right amount of volume. I watched his throat bob on a swallow before his tongue came out to trace his full bottom lip. “Wow. You look... just terrible,” he finished with a cheeky grin.

My head fell back on a full-blown belly laugh that worked the muscles in my stomach until they were sore. I righted my head and looked back at him through giggles to see him smiling at me, his expression so tender it made my belly do a loop-de-loop.

All the nerves I’d been feeling before he showed up faded away when he reached out and hooked his arm around my waist, pulling me flush against his hard body and up on my toes. He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine, the touch feather-light and teasing, before finally sealing them with mine in a kiss that literally made my toes curl. It was soft, but still somehow claiming at the same time, and when his tongue swooped in for a short taste, I sighed happily into his mouth as I melted against him.

“Hi,” he said softly once he pulled away to look down at me.

“Hi, back,” I returned, my own smile so big it made my cheeks ache.

“Well, aren’t you two just the cutest thing since cat videos on the internet became a big deal.”

Until she spoke, I’d almost forgotten my mother was hovering like a creeper. I tilted my face up at Owen, crossed my eyes, puffed out my cheeks, and blew a raspberry to show just how thrilled I was with the interruption. “Oh, yeah,” I started in a deadpan, “my mom’s here.”

She practically body-checked me to get me out of the way. “I just wanted to see you two off, wish you a good night.” She fluttered her lashes and I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be babysitting my gandpuppy tonight, so you two kids just takeallthe time you want.”

“Kill me now,” I mumbled toward the heavens.

On a lighthearted chuckle, Owen hooked my waist once more and pulled me into his side, resting his sprawled hand firmly on my hip. The touchiness was a total surprise. It was a side of him I’d never seen before and certainly hadn’t expected. Until I’d really gotten to know him, he’d always come off as kind of a grump—at least to me. I never in a million years thought he would be the type to show affection so openly, but I had to admit, I really freaking liked it.

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