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‘Isn’t it bad luck to see the dress before the day?’ Lily asked, turning to Cora.
‘Yours or mine?’ Cora waved at Alex and headed through the curtain to the fitting rooms. ‘Because I think that’s just the bride and groom. So unless there’s something you’re not telling me…’
‘God no!’ Lily laughed as she followed Cora. ‘I told you, this is nothing more than a fling.’
‘In that case, I imagine Alex is just here to try and get a glimpse of you in your fancy knickers.’
‘I am,’ Alex called through the curtain, and Lily rolled her eyes.
Sticking her head back through the curtain she said, ‘Haven’t you seen enough of my knickers lately?’
‘Never,’ Alex replied. Which, in light of her conversation the day before, sounded just a little bit too much like commitment to Lily.
She yanked the curtain closed again and turned to Cora, who stared at her with her eyebrows raised. ‘Told you,’ she whispered.
‘You’re hallucinating,’ Lily whispered back. ‘He’s talking about underwear. All men want to see underwear. It doesn’t mean marriage and babies and scary things.’
Cora’s eyebrows lifted just a little higher, which Lily had thought was impossible. ‘You thought it too, though. Obviously.’
‘Only because you have infected my mind.’ She shook her head, trying to get her own thoughts back, and yanked her T-shirt over her head. ‘Now where’s this bloody dress?’
‘Hang on,’ Cora said, and fished around in her pile of belongings to pull out a sheeny, silver shopping bag. ‘Fancy knickers first.’
Lily stared at the bag. ‘I really have posh lingerie for this?’
‘It’s my wedding,’ Cora said, looking insulted. ‘You think I’d let you walk down the aisle with me, in your white cotton from M&S?’
‘But this is just the fitting.’ Lily held the bag at arm’s length. It was no less intimidating close up.
‘And we need to see how the dress sits over it. Obviously.’ Sometimes, Cora made Lily feel like she was missing some fundamental female parts. Luckily Alex made her feel perfectly womanly, which balanced out nicely.
For now, anyway.
‘Miss Harper?’ The perfectly groomed brunette shop assistant, dressed in a pencil skirt and heels, appeared at the edge of the fitting area, eyebrows perfectly arched. ‘We have your dress prepared for you when you’re ready.’ She glanced over at Lily, as briefly as physically possible. ‘If your bridesmaid is able to try her dress on without assistance?’
‘I think I can manage,’ Lily said, her voice dry. Making shooing motions with the scary silver bag she said, ‘Go on, go put on the fairy-tale frock. I’ll be here in my beautiful raspberry confection when you get back.’
She waited until Cora and the shop assistant were both well out of the way before opening the silver bag, which at least meant Cora wasn’t within throttling distance when she spotted the basque. Evelyn would almost certainly say that attempting to strangle the bride at her final dress fitting, just days before the wedding, was the ultimate in bad form.
Holding it up before her, she eyed the laces and hooks with mistrust. How was she even supposed to get into the thing? Did you undo it all, then put it around? How did you get it done back up again? Loosening the laces as far as she dared, she tried to slip it over her head, only to find it stuck around her shoulders.
‘This is never going to work,’ she muttered, trying to wriggle back out again.
‘Everything okay in there?’ Alex asked from the other side of the curtain, and Lily wondered if he’d talked Cora into buying the damn thing.
She wouldn’t put it past him.
‘Fine,’ she said, but it came out muffled by the fabric, and her arms, stuck against the side of her head.
‘Are you sure?’ Alex said, his voice sounding nearer. Then there was the sound of the curtain being pulled open, and uncontrollable laughter.
‘Yeah, yeah, it’s hilarious. Are you going to help, or what?’
‘Depends, are we getting you in or out of this thing?’
‘Out,’ Lily said, firmly. Then she sighed, remembering Cora’s insistence about trying the dress on with the correct undergarments. ‘No, in.’
Alex’s hands were already working at the laces, pulling them out through the eyelets running up the back of the torturous item. ‘Normally, you know I’m all for getting you out of your underwear. But in this case, I’m willing to make an exception.’
‘Imagine my total lack of surprise.’ She wriggled her shoulders a little, and felt the basque setting around her middle. Adjusting it around her breasts, and praying Alex was too concerned with the laces to notice, she glanced up in the mirror.
If nothing else, Cora had fantastic taste in lingerie.
‘Okay, now for the fiddly part.’ Alex began lacing her back up again, fastening hooks and eyes, and pulling tight on the ribbons.
‘I would like to be able to eat at this wedding, you know,’ Lily told him. ‘And possibly even breathe.’
Alex chuckled, but he let the laces slacken a little. His fingers brushed against the top of her back, a light touch, almost soft enough for her to confuse it with the ribbons against her skin. She shivered a little at his touch. Shouldn’t she be past that by now? After weeks of constant touches and looks and feeling his body against hers… Surely she shouldn’t still get turned on by the touch of his fingers against her back. But apparently her body hadn’t got the memo, because she did.
He stepped away, and the loss of his heat left her chilly. ‘There, all done.’
Lily looked up and met his gaze in the mirror, watching her own eyes widen at the heat in his. ‘You like?’
‘Very much.’
Encouraged by the want in his voice, Lily studied her reflection. The ivory lace pulled her in and accentuated her curves and slim waist. Her skin, flushed pink above the sweetheart neck, positively glowed beside the lace. And her breasts… Well, they’d never looked as impressive as that before.
Cora had it spot on, as usual. This, this woman in the mirror, this was who Lily was now. Not the awkward teenager, not the stupid girl who fell for the wrong guy, and definitely not the wife Edward had expected her to be. She smiled at the thought. Edward would have had a he
art attack if he’d seen her in this.
No, this was who she was now. Free, single, herself. The woman in the mirror looked like she could do anything, go anywhere, see everything.
At least, once she put some clothes on.
‘Pass me the dress?’ she asked, and Alex stared at her blankly for a moment. ‘It’s hanging behind you,’ she said, turning to face him.
‘It just seems a crime to cover it up,’ he said, and Lily couldn’t help but laugh. He was such a man, sometimes.
She held out a hand, and Alex reached behind him, shaking his head, but gave her the dress. Lily slipped the dark pink silk over her head and wriggled her hips to let it settle. Fiddling with the zip on the side, she finally got it fastened and looked up to see the desire in Alex’s face replaced by something else.
‘What? Don’t you like it? Is it awful?’ Lily spun round to check the mirror again, but the dress looked just as it always had, from the first fitting – slim cut, elegant, pinker than she’d like, but less pink than Cora had initially argued for. Maybe it wasn’t the most flattering dress ever, but with Cora’s magic lingerie, her waist looked tiny, and it fell prettily over her hips.
She glanced up to meet Alex’s gaze in the mirror again, but he still had that stunned look on his face. Then he shook his head, a rueful smile playing around his lips.
‘Sorry,’ he said, running a hand down over her waist to rest on the curve of her hip. ‘Guess I was just amazed by how beautiful you look.’
Lily leant back, and felt the warmth of his chest against her back. His hand snuck farther round to rest against her belly, holding her close. ‘So I scrub up okay, then?’
‘God yes.’ He chuckled. ‘I’m just not used to you looking this good with clothes on.’
It was the right response, the right amount of jokiness, with some sexiness thrown in. Perfect for their not-a-relationship. Exactly right for a fling.
Except…
Somehow, it still felt all wrong. His eyes weren’t laughing, they were wanting, and not the way they had earlier when he’d seen her in the lingerie. This want was deeper, more possessive. Far, far, scarier.
‘Alex, what is it? What are you thinking?’
