The words, “Thank you,” popped out of Lily’s mouth, and she bit her lip in surprise. When was the last time she had actually accepted a compliment?
More to the point, when was the last time she had actually believed a compliment?
The model walked away, and Janica called to Lily from several feet away. “You need to get in line behind Ellen.”
Lily took a deep breath and a crazy thought popped into her head. What if she acted like a model while she was out on the runway? What if she decided to be supersexy for a few minutes in her life? Who would it hurt?
Maybe with some help from The Dress she could be invincible.
She had seen the rehearsals and knew that the original plus-sized model had planned on shimmying and swaying to the music as she made her way down the runway. Janica hadn’t asked her to try it, knowing that Lily would have definitely said no.
The Dress would really shine if the audience saw how well it moved over the curves and valleys of a real woman’s figure.
With only seconds to go before she walked out onto the runway, Lily made up her mind. She would do it.
For as long as she had The Dress on she would behave like a queen.
A sexy, take-no-prisoners queen.
And then when the night was over, she would go back to being the same old Lily she had always been, having had a taste of something dangerous and wild to savor for the rest of her life.
Chapter Two
The emcee announced, “Spring Collection by Janica Ellis,” and Travis slid down deeper into his seat. He dreaded the moment that Lily plodded onto the runway, stuffed into a sheer, skin-baring outfit.
He could hardly believe that Lily had let her little sister bully her into taking part in a fashion show. Lily couldn’t find her spine if it bit her in the butt, but saving Janica by modeling in a fashion show was pushing things way too far. Even for Lily.
Travis had often wondered how Lily and Janica could have possibly come from the same gene pool.
Janica was the perfect opposite of Lily—a tiny little brunette with a big mouth and a sharp wit. She was Lily’s fiercest protector, and definitely hated him.
Several models had already made it down the runway, and he was finally getting comfortable when the music fell away and a redhead appeared from behind the curtain, a sparkling mask of feathers and sequins covering the top of her face. Her plump, red lips caught the spotlight. The lights changed from wild greens and blues to a deep, warm red, coating the woman in a sexy haze. Rich melodies from a Spanish guitar and a lilting tenor, promised sex to everyone in the audience.
Hot, slick, pounding sex.
The woman hadn’t even moved yet, had made no effort to slink down the runway to showcase her outfit, and yet chatter fell away in a hush. The front of Travis’s jeans grew tight, and every nerve came to life as he waited for her to slink down the runway.
She didn’t disappoint. The mesh, Asian print fabric molded lovingly to her every curve with her arousing progression down the catwalk. Her hips swayed side to side, one red-tipped, jeweled hand finding its way past her waist, stopping at the curve of her br**sts, while the other caressed the curve of her hip.
Travis was leaning forward in his chair, all of his practiced ease gone. He needed to have this woman. It didn’t matter that she was the polar opposite of every woman he had ever been with. Where he craved bones and angled lines, she was lush curves and soft promise. He had thought that small and blond was perfection, but the red-haired, full-bodied goddess consumed him with wanting.
The flamenco guitar grew more and more frantic the closer the beautiful model got to the end of the catwalk. In perfect time to the passionate music, the model began an exotic dance, throwing her head back in delighted laughter. Travis waited for her unveiling, holding his breath for the second time that evening.
The woman stopped dancing and reached for her feathered mask. She brought her tongue out to taste her lips, and a low sound came from deep in Travis’s throat.
She threw the mask to the floor, and the applause was ferocious. She was even more magnificent than she had been beneath her disguise.
Travis stopped clapping, unable to trust what he saw.
Lily Ellis, his twin brother’s meek best friend, was staring him straight in the eye.
And even though he tried to deny it with every fiber of his being, he wanted her.
The fashion show ended, and the party began. The music kicked up another notch, and with the chairs put away everyone was moving and dancing. Maybe it was the champagne, maybe it was the daring outfit that made her feel so powerful, so hungry, so restless. For the first time in thirty years, Lily felt in control and ready for action.
As long as she had The Dress on she could do all of the things she had always wanted to do but had always been too afraid to do.
Travis was out there in the audience. As soon as she stepped onto the runway and looked four rows back to the right, she had known that it was Travis. She had always been able to tell him and Luke apart, even if nobody else could. They were both tall and lean and muscular. They both had thick black hair that fell over their eyes. But Travis made Lily sizzle. Whereas Luke only made her feel warm.