Page 44 of Surprisingly Us

Do I really want to free my nipples around Rhys? For some reason that feels dangerous. Like I’m already out of my depth with this whole dating thing, and now I’ll be one slip of a strap away from a wardrobe malfunction.

“You’re trying to get out of your comfort zone, right?”

She’s got me there.

“Okay, let’s work on a nice smokey eye to go with it. And we’ll want to do a neutral lip, to keep it balanced.”

“How do you know all this stuff? Did I miss the day in academy when fashion and makeup were discussed?”

Isabella laughs. “You know my mom is a stylist, so there’s that, but everyone has different interests. Besides dancing, I love clothes and makeup.”

She motions for me to close my eyes so she can begin working on my eye makeup.

My only interest has been dancing. Everything in my life has revolved around that, and while I don’t want it to change completely, I know in order to grow as a dancer, I need to find balance. That’s what I’m doing with Rhys.

When Isabella is done with me, I look in the mirror.

Dark, smokey eyelids, pastel pink lips and whatever she did to highlight my cheekbones. I look like a different version of myself. To the point that I wonder if it’s too much.

Isabella reads my uncertainty. “You look gorgeous. Like a woman going on her first date.”

“It’s technically my second date. I went with Hannah’s cousin to a wedding one time."

She points to my white sneakers.

“Wear those. It’ll be a good balance of sexy and casual.” As a fellow dancer, she knows how beat up our feet are. I barely managed to wear the heels for Hannah’s wedding, so knowing I can wear my tennis shoes tonight gives me some comfort.

“I took your clothes. What are you going to wear home?” I ask.

She looks through my pile of clothing and selects a tank top and skirt combo.

“See, that’s cute,” I say when she’s got it on.

“Yeah, but this date doesn’t call for cute.” She swats me on my butt. “Now, go get ‘em, tiger.”

It’s only six o’clock, so I go home and wait for Rhys.

By the time Rhys picks me up, I’m so hungry I could chew my arm off. I thought I could adjust to this later dinner time by having another snack. But afraid I wouldn’t be hungry for dinner, I kept the portion size small and by the time I realized I should have eaten more, I was already hangry. Now it’s too late and I’m crossing over into risky territory.

Maybe it’s the low blood sugar, or the silky slip dress that keeps teasing against my nipples, but the moment I open the door to find Rhys standing there in a dark suit jacket, t-shirt and jeans, I’m nearly delirious. He looks good enough to eat.

“You look…” Rhys starts.

“Famished?” I respond because food is all I can think about.

And because my body can only handle one crisis at a time, I’ve completely forgotten to be paranoid about being braless.

Rhys leans forward to peck me on the cheek and his scent envelops me. He’s citrus and spice and everything nice. My nipples reach out to get closer.

“No.” Rhys pins me with one of those panty-melting smiles of his. “Gorgeous.”

For a moment, my heart trips over itself, but then I remind it to get back into rhythm.

Look away,my body warns.We don’t want to be completely naked under this dress.

“Okay, great, let’s go.”

I motion him toward the elevator where we find Mrs. Donahue has just gotten off.

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