Page 19 of If You Were Mine (After We Fall 3)
“Actually, I was perfectly confident before you got here. You know, none of the women who reviewed you mentioned anything about getting an outfit critique.” I glared at him over my shoulder.
“I’m just trying to help,” he said, holding up his hands like he was innocent. “You mentioned before that you have trouble with guys. I’m giving you a guy’s perspective here.”
“I never said I had trouble with guys.” In front of the mirror, I turned this way and that to see if he was right about the dress. Was it too big? I wanted to be comfy, not frumpy.
“You didn’t? Huh. Well, I guess it was implied, then.”
“You really think this looks bad on me?”
“It’s not that it looks bad, exactly.” He shrugged, moving behind me to look at my reflection in the glass. “It just does’t do anything for you. And all that black…” He winced, shaking his head slightly.
“What?” I stuck my hands on my hips.
“I don’t want to hurt your feelings,” he hedged.
“Oh, really? Since when.”
“It’s just that you look like you’re going to a funeral or something, not out to have a good time. Love the red lips, though.”
I pressed them together. “Fine. I’ll change.”
“And maybe take your hair down, too,” he called out as I marched down the hall. “You have great hair. It’s one of your best features.”
“Enough!” I yelled, stomping up the stairs.
“What? It was a compliment!”
I reached the top of the stairs and ripped off the dress, throwing it to the floor. What an asshole! And I was probably an even bigger asshole for listening to him! Muttering to myself, I flipped through dresses in my closet and yanked out a new one I’d purchased on impulse while I was Christmas shopping a couple weeks ago. It was actually one I’d considered wearing earlier but had decided against because it was so tight. Tossing the dress onto my bed, I slipped off my booties and peeled off the black tights. There was no door to my bedroom, since the entire upper story was simply one big space, and I kept an eye on the steps, half expecting Theo to come up here and start criticizing my underwear.
I traded the cute black panties I’d had on for nude shapewear—a slip without panties. I wasn’t in the habit of going places sans underwear, but the dress was so fitted, a panty line would show. I’d have to watch how I sat tonight. “This is why dressing sexy is a pain in the ass,” I muttered. “You can’t be comfortable.” I swapped my black bra for nude as well, then shimmied into the dress, a burgundy lace shift with three quarter sleeves and an asymmetrical hem. The neckline was high, but the hemline was short, and the fit left nothing about my “shape” to the imagination. Unfortunately, I couldn’t zip it all the way up on my own.
Dammit. I’ll have to ask Theo to do it.
Frowning, I yanked all the hairpins out of my updo and let the mass of wavy hair tumble loosely around my shoulders. I messed with it a little in the mirror on the back of my closet door, but I didn’t have time to do much else. Leaving my legs bare, I stepped into beige high heels and checked my reflection. Good enough? I swiveled right and left, finding nothing amiss. In fact, I actually thought I looked pretty damn good. But I’d thought so before, too. I bet Theo will be able to find something to criticize.
Had I known he was going to make me feel worse about myself, I’d have chosen somebody else. I didn’t need any help in that department. Scowling, I turned off my bedroom lights and made my way carefully down the steps.
Theo, who’d been looking at the painting over the fireplace again, turned to look at me and whistled. Was it horrible and anti-feminist that I liked it?
I tried to keep the frown on my face. “I need help with the zipper on this dress, please.”
“Of course.” His eyes were wide and glued to me as I reached the bottom of the stairs. “Wow. You are stunning.”
Surprised, I blinked at him. I don’t think I’d ever been called stunning before. Was this part of his act? “Thank you,” I said, a little uncertainly.
Turning around, I moved my hair so it wouldn’t get caught. When his hand touched my back, I felt a little tingle move up my spine. And was it me, or did he take an inordinately long time with the task, slowly moving the zipper to the top? The noise it made seemed to go on forever.
“Hold on, there’s a little hook thing, too.” He stepped closer to me—so close I felt his breath on the back of my neck as his fingers worked to get the tiny hook through the eye.
My heart beat wildly, and I had trouble swallowing. For God’s sake, Claire, he isn’t unzipping your dress! He’s doing it up! Get a grip! But something about the way he was performing the favor felt…erotic to me.
“Sorry,” he said. “My hands are too big. There! Got it.”
“Thanks.” I let my hair fall, but I couldn’t face him yet, so I walked over to the closet. Tried to sound breezy and casual. “You better drop me off at the door, or my legs will freeze.”
“Of course.”
Willing my face to cool, I pulled out my wool dress coat and turned around. Theo was staring at my legs.
