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‘Was it your first?’ He turned to face her.
‘Actually, yes, it was.’
But Elias couldn’t reply. Couldn’t tease any more. Couldn’t think.
‘Did the meeting go well?’ she asked.
‘Hmm?’
‘With Vince.’
Oh. ‘Yeah.’
‘Elias?’
He just stared.
She walked forward and waved her hand in front of his face. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes.’ He blinked, but it didn’t matter. He was still transfixed.
‘Really?’ A caustic note sounded in her voice even as the colour in her cheeks steadily deepened. ‘You’re going speechless on me? Just because of a dress?’
It wasn’t the dress. Although that was a stunning silky confection that enhanced her height and shape. And he’d never seen her with her hair loose either; she always had it tied back—either in a ponytail or a plait, or coiled into a bun. Tonight it wasn’t pinned back at all. It was longer than he’d realised and it shone in the light and he wanted to run his fingers through it. But it wasn’t her hair rendering him brainless, either. It was the shimmer in her eyes and the sparkle in her teasing smile, and they were not created by cosmetics. That was spirit. Vitality. Darcie herself. All Darcie. The part of Darcie she’d kept hidden from him for such a long time.
‘Uh...’ He cleared his throat. ‘You’re glowing.’
‘Oh. That must have been the full body massage.’ She suddenly smiled. ‘I’ve never had one of those before, either.’
‘Haven’t you?’ He almost choked as he blinked away the images that sprang to mind. ‘And you’re usually in grey.’
Until yesterday he’d only ever seen her in those trouser suits. With minimal make-up, it had been a simple, perfectly acceptable style that she’d never switched up despite the steady increases to her pay packets. But now that silky blue wrap-style dress showed skin. Smooth, satiny skin that screamed warmth and softness. He’d known those curves were there—the usual uniform of loose blouses and wide-legged pants couldn’t hide everything. They’d hinted, tantalised. And maybe because he’d not looked for so long, now he couldn’t stop staring.
‘Yes. It was my intention to be as unobtrusive as possible.’
Unobtrusive? He stared at her for another second before an involuntary laugh shook him. She looked shocked, then insecure. Instant regret swamped him. Darcie wasvulnerable. And he’d been such a fool to ever think she were as emotionless as he.
‘The grey accentuates your eyes. They’re the palest blue...’ But now this dress brought out a different shade. It brought warmth. He stepped forward and took her hand. ‘You could never,everbe unobtrusive, Darcie.’
For a second she looked stricken again. And he understood she’dwantedto be. She’d wanted to hide. She’d never wanted to draw attention to herself.
‘Why would you want to be?’ Why, when she was so beautiful, so capable, so fierce? Because she was fierce now.
‘Unobtrusive is safe.’ She bit her lip but kept her head lifted. That blue of her eyes was now the narrowest of rings around pupils that were dark and dilated and drew him closer still.
‘Safe?’
‘If you’re not seen, you’re less likely to be sent away. Old habits, I guess.’ She lifted her chin. ‘Is this okay or should I change?’
Okay? The silk hugged some curves, skimmed others, and the tips of his fingers screamed with the desire to slide the material away altogether.
‘What do you want to do?’ he asked huskily.
Heat surged. Not just the stirrings of attraction that he ought to suppress. This was a tsunami.
‘We should go,’ Darcie breathed. ‘They’ll be waiting.’
Yet neither of them moved.
