Page 104 of Just Watch Me
He was smiling all the way now, his craggy face dissolving into all those real-man lines that made her knees go a little weak. He was getting a black eye, and she wanted to kiss around it. He was bruised, he was battered, and for some odd reason, all she wanted to do was put her hands all over him. Also her mouth.
He didn’t say anything about that. Probably put off by the enormous flowers. What he said was, “Is that makeup what you like, too?”
“No,”she said, and couldn’t help the vehemence. “I don’t evenlooklike myself.”
A fella from the bar brought the wine over at that point. She wanted to be sophisticated. Possibly clink her glass against Zane’s and give him a meaningful look from over the rim. Instead, she grabbed it, took a drink, and said, “Tastes so much better. I’m not going to ask how much it cost. OK, I’m losing the heavy makeup the second we get into the room. Imagine me slipping into something more comfortable,please, while I do it. Think sexy thoughts. And what about the hair? Go on and tell me. I actually thought the hair looked quite nice, but as we’ve seen, I apparently have no ability to discern.”
“You looked like a regular person before,” he said. “I’m not good with these kinds of words, but that’s what I thought. Soft. Pretty. Sexy. But, yeh, the hair’s good. I like how it’s piled up, but still got all the curls. Not so … fussy.”
“Oh, good,” she said. “Because that was the easiest part. Everything’s just sodifferentout there than it was any time I was paying attention. I hope you like my undies better than the rest of it. I only bought one set, because money, and the other clothes were on sale, so …” He was drinking his wine, too—it was bloody wonderful wine, and the second glass was definitely going to her head, this late at night. “Wait,” she realized. “The clothes were on sale. I thought, because this outfit wasn’t the worst … There was one set that was all black with huge curving white lines all over it. I can’t even describe it. You thinkthispattern’s big? That one wassomuch bigger. But do you think that it was on sale because nobody wanted it, even though it’s meant to be fashionable?”
“Probably,” he said, “because I can’t see any other reason for that thing to be on a hanger anywhere. Also, sorry, but when you’re as fit as you are, I want to see that, not all those … patterns. My favorite is the red shirt and jeans. You wore that to breakfast in Hamilton, and then you wore it again for that family tea you made at the house. I wanted to jump you both times.”
She sighed. “I like you so much. Here I’ve been, shopping for this stuff, spending too much on it and feeling like I’m missing the plot entirely. I think I’ll return the barrel-leg jeans, as they still have tags on.”
“Take me next time,” he said. “I’ll do better.”
“You do not want to go shopping with me.” She was laughing,finally, and it felt sogood.“Also, you were brilliant tonight, and you look …” She sighed. “You look like what I want.”
“Well,” he said, “that’s good, because so do you. Once we get the curtains off you. Which I’m more than ready to do.” They were both laughing now. “And it took me a wee while to sit down with you becauseI’mwearing the wrong clothes. I was meant to wear a jacket, and my jeans are toowide. Or too out of style. Or something. Not ‘dressy’ enough, I’m told.”
“It could be the black eye,” she said.
“Nah. That just makes me look dashing. And is this enough chat not to feel like a hookup? As odd as this conversation has been, I still seem to want to jump your bones. How about going downstairs and letting me do it? I played a rugby match tonight and all. I could deserve to see some sexy undies. Wait, though. Please tell me the new look in undies isn’t granny panties.”
“You’ll never know,” she said, “until you find out for yourself.” She was wearing the wrong clothes. She was wearing too much makeup. And still, she looked at him over the rim of her wine glass and gave him her best secret smile, because somehow, she did know how to do that. “Why don’t you come and do it?”
39
A BETTER TIME
The look in his eyes when she said that.
He stood up and held out a hand. He wasn’t smiling. She put her hand in his, and something passed between them. A current, except that wasn’t possible. She rose to her feet, and he led the way out of the bar.
Even that. Even following his broad back. It was reprehensible, probably. Too primitive. Too …
By the lifts now, and she said, “I’ve always wanted to … to have a man grab me in a lift. Well, notanyman, obviously. But it’s seemed?—”
Another look, and he said, “Three stories. Won’t take long enough. Cameras, too. Come on.” And pushed through the stairwell door, his duffel over his shoulder.
She thought,OK. OK.Her breath was already coming harder. What were they?—
“Cameras,” Zane said. “Bugger.” She looked in the direction he was facing. Well, yeh. A camera pointed down the stairs, and another pointed up. Thrilling as the idea might be …
He looked at her again and asked, “Do you trust me?”
It felt like her heart stopped beating. “Yes,” she said. It didn’t come out very strongly.
He stepped closer, there on the landing, and put a hand on her cheek. His thumb brushed over her skin, and he said, “You want to be thrilled, eh. Do something you haven’t done.”
Oh, bloody hell. She was in so far over her head.
Then tell him no.
“Yes,” she said.
He bent his head and kissed her. His hands at her waist, and hers on his shoulders. His mouth wasn’t rough, but it was so possessive, and she was falling fast. Then she was gasping, because his hand had gone under her thighs, and he was lifting her straight off her feet. And heading down the stairs.
