The Duke's Runaway Princess Page 0,39
Zarah. “I’m guessing from all the ladies who are pushing each other out of the way to get into the Duke’s bed that he’s one of those with an extremely good map!”
Zarah couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s analogy. “I’ll concede you have a point.”
Suzanne sighed and shook her head. “But you’re not going to do anything about it, are you?”
Zarah bit her lip and thought about it. “I can’t promise anything right now. But I’ll definitely think about it. Is that good enough?”
Suzanne clapped her hands, careful not to spill any of her wine. “Absolutely! Now show me what you’re going to wear tonight.”
Zarah laughed and stood up, getting into the spirit of the evening. “I don’t know how formal this night will be so I was thinking about wearing my green silk dress. It could fit into several categories.”
Suzanne was already shaking her head. “Wear the red one you wore that night we went to the opera. That looks fantastic on you. And you can borrow my red lipstick to really add some oomph to the night!”
Zarah thought about it and finally agreed. “Okay. The red one it is.”
“Good!” They both jumped up and headed for Zarah’s room where she pulled the red silk dress out of the back of her closet and dug out the box for the red satin shoes that matched. As Zarah got ready for the evening, Suzanne lounged on Zarah’s bed, giving her a pep talk about all the ways she could send the signal to Derrick, or ‘the Duke’ as Suzanne persisted on calling him because she felt he needed the title due to his ‘hotness’ as she put it.
Zarah laughed at most of her suggestions, but some of them stuck in her mind. Not that she was going to do anything about making love with Derrick tonight, but she’d promised to think about it. In reality, Zarah could barely think about anything else. The swim in the lake kept creeping back to her mind and images of how wonderful it would be if Derrick would just finish what he’d started persisted in her imagination.
By the time the doorbell rang at two minutes before seven o’clock, Zarah was a nervous wreck. Suzanne had to answer the door because Zarah just stared at it as if the wood had turned into a stream of snakes that were ready to bite her at any moment.
Zarah heard Suzanne greet Derrick, and his deep voice replying, but she couldn’t get her feet to move an inch, much less look as if she were ready for a casual night out with a handsome man.
Derrick came into the apartment and stopped when he took in Zarah in a figure hugging, red satin dress. His mind instantly returned to the lake, and he knew that the dress wasn’t just flattering on her, but the figure underneath was truly magnificent.
“You look beautiful,” he said, his voice a bit huskier than normal.
Zarah blushed and glanced down at her dress, relieved that he was wearing a charcoal grey suit with a red, silk tie. She hadn’t anticipated matching him so perfectly, but he was devastatingly handsome in that dark suit and crisp, white dress shirt.
“Thank you,” she finally got out, her hands fluttering around the silk of her skirt nervously. “You look exceptionally handsome yourself.”
She noticed the smile in his eyes and blushed, hating that reaction.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked superfluously.
Zarah picked up the matching red clutch purse, checked to make sure she had her cell phone, wallet and Suzanne’s red lipstick, grabbed her keys, then nodded. “I’m ready.” She couldn’t shake the feeling that tonight was going to be a turning point. There was nothing different about his attitude, except she knew that he knew what she looked like naked. Or almost naked.
She drew in a shaky breath and pulled her eyes away from his. “Yes. I’m ready I guess.”
He walked up to her and took her hand in his, warming her cold fingers and giving them a reassuring squeeze. “It’s going to be okay.”
She wasn’t sure if he thought she was nervous about whatever guests might be dining with them, or if he knew that she was afraid of being alone with him.
He led her out of the apartment, nodding his thanks to Suzanne who was leaning against the wall, an all-knowing grin on her face, excited about her part in bringing these two people together. Zarah knew that Suzanne would probably pour herself another glass of