Page 131 of Keeper
“I guess now … if you’re ready,” she teased.
Hell, I wasdyingto see her now.
“I’m ready,” I growled.
After a moment’s pause, she widened the door and stepped out from behind it—and I had my breath stolen away.
She’d worn the dress.
Maybe I should’ve seen it coming, but in all the madness of the shutout streak and my contract negotiations, I’d completely forgotten about the sleeveless white dress. Ofcourseshe’d wear it tonight—when else?!
My heart pounded relentlessly at the sight of her—the dress was a perfect fit and she was gorgeous in it. The gleaming white silk made her skin glow, an angelic aura surrounding her.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“It’s … I …”
I was too tongue-tied to answer.
Laughing, Ainsley took a step towards me. The slit in her dress offered a sexy flash of her supple thigh, demanding my eyes.
“Good God,” I croaked with a scratchiness in my dry throat.
“Well?” she asked again. She twirled in front of me, drapey silk flowing outward. “Is it everything you hoped for and imagined?”
I took a step forward. “Youare,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around her and possessively pulling her tight against my body. “You’re stunning, Ainsley. You’re the girl of my dreams.”
I bent down. Meeting me halfway, she stood on her tip-toes.
“And you’re the man of mine,” she answered before our mouths met.
I kissed her deeper and hungrier. My hand reached up her side, greedily inching closer to her breast, until she had to break off the kiss with a giggle.
“Slow down, mister,” she said, a playfully reprimand as she removed my hand. “Tonight, you’re a gentleman taking me out to the symphony and a nice dinner after.”
“Right.” I shook my head, snapping myself out of my trance. “Sorry. Sorry about that. It’s just,wow.You’re hot.”
“I don’t mind. At all,” she said, her eyes sparkling as she took my arm.
We started walking down the hallway.
“Hey!” She fist-bumped my shoulder. “Congrats on that big contract, by the way!”
44
Ainsley
Tanner whisked me through the crowd, wearing me on his arm, and into the Symphony Center. All around us, I heard the whispers:
“They look important.”
“Oh, I know who that is—that’s the Devils goalie, Tanner Vaughn!”
“That must be his wife, then?”
“What a couple!”
It was a strange feeling to be recognized, like we were hockey royalty or something, but it sure added to the fairy tale magic that came with dating Tanner.
