Page 16 of Bride of Betrayal
There was a vee in the material that went to her midriff, then the see-through lace clung to her hips and thighs and stopped, around mid-thigh. There were sleeves on her arms, but not up as far as her shoulders. A small red flower was tied to her neck in a choker.
His gaze travelled down over her endless legs to where her feet were encased in red. Towering, spindly heels.
All in all, he could definitely say that the quota of flesh to material was vastly in favour of flesh. Bare flesh. Plump, succulent flesh. Honed. Olive-skinned. Soft like satin. Because he could think of nothing else now except how she’d felt under his hands, soft and yielding and hot and moist and—
‘You cannot wear that.’ Mercifully he’d found his voice. Just in time. Before he went up in flames and disgraced himself.
‘I promised my friend I’d wear it to help promote her work. She’s just won Emerging Designer of the Year.’
‘So evidently she doesn’t need your help.’
‘She does—she’s known among her peers but not by the public.’
Leo had to curb the urge to retort that maybe they weren’t missing much.
Clearly Angelica was intent on pushing the boundaries again. It wasn’t even the fact that she’d cause such a stir that bothered him—after all, as he’d realised earlier, it did have its merits, her scene-stealing stunts diverting attention away from how he’d come to let everything implode so spectacularly—no, it was far more personal and prosaic. How the hell was he supposed to keep his hands off her when she was all but naked?
Angelica wondered if she’d pushed Leo too far. He had always been on the conservative side of behaviour and how he appeared in public. The opposite to Aldo. And so had she. But she had to admit that pushing her own boundaries in this situation was more thrilling than she had expected.
That’s because Leo’s eyes are on you.She scowled inwardly. She knew that it wasn’t for the thrill of shocking the public. It was this thrill, the way he was looking at her, as if he were about to blow a gasket.
‘I can assure you that, while daring, this dress is entirely acceptable.’
Leo sounded grim. ‘At least you know better than to say respectable.’
Angelica’s cheeks got warm. ‘Yes, well, Idrina is known for pushing the boundaries.’
Leo waved a hand in her direction. ‘Pushing the boundaries, is that the name for it, then?’
Angelica rolled her eyes. ‘You sound like an outdated outraged father.’
Leo’s eyes met hers in a snap movement that almost felt like the sting of a whip. ‘Believe me, there’s nothingfatherlikeabout how I feel right now. Except perhaps for the urge to tell you to go to your room and change into something more appropriate.’
‘I’m not changing. Take me, or leave me. I’d be quite happy to stay in, order takeout and watch the latest series on cable TV.’
Angelica held her breath. The tension in the air was like a live crackling force. Leo’s jaw was gritted so hard, she could see a muscle bulging and had an urge to go over and put her hand on him, smoothing away the tension. That she had put there.
‘Fine. Let’s go, we’re already late, which will ensure your entrance will be as headline-grabbing as possible.’
Angelica barely had time to grab her bag and register that he wasn’t caving as he took her arm and led her out of the apartment, into the elevator and down to the lobby area, and out, to the waiting car.
She hardly noticed the chill in the air because the chill emanating from Leo on the other side of the car was more frigid. As they made their way through traffic uptown she felt him glancing at her periodically. She was very aware of her bare legs and the material barely covering the strategic middle of her body from mid-thigh, which had become upper-thigh sitting down, up to where the dress sat over her breasts.
In spite of its skimpyness, Angelica felt relatively secure. What Leo couldn’t obviously see was the flesh-coloured lace that held everything in place.
‘What’ll be next? Just a thong?’
Angelica turned to look at Leo. His face was all harsh lines and dark brows. More stubble on his jaw. She pointed out, ‘You’re obviously not overly concerned with your appearance.’
He frowned. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Before she realised what she was doing, Angelica reached out and touched a finger to his jaw, tracing the short spiky hair along his jaw-line. Too late, as her blood surged at that touch, she tried to pull her hand back but it was caught in his.
And somehow she seemed to have gravitated closer. So close that their thighs were almost touching. The air between them now felt hot and volatile. Angelica couldn’t take her eyes off Leo’s mouth.
His gaze was locked on her mouth too, and then it dipped down to her chest and back up again. She could see those golden depths in his eyes now. Fires burning. She wanted him to kiss her, to root her in some kind of reality even if it was an inferno. Everything had been upside down for so long…
She didn’t even notice the car coming to a halt. And neither did Leo. The driver cleared his throat in the front and Leo tensed. He dropped her hand so fast it fell uselessly into her lap. She realised she was leaning towards him, her body betraying her spectacularly.
