tells me I look like a classless escort. “You look …”
I wince and wait.
“Beautiful.” His voice is almost a whisper as he steps closer to me, reaching out to curl his fingers around my hip. “So. Fucking. Beautiful.” He breaks up each word for emphasis, shaking his head as his other hand moves up to cup my neck. He pulls me against his hard body.
Beautiful? My insides clench, and embarrassingly, I feel tears prickle at my eyes because of his compliment. It’s so in contrast to the last time I wore this dress that my heart gives a pitiful whimper.
My hands come up, resting on his hard chest as I feel slightly wobbly. His thumb tracing across my jawline makes goose bumps break out on my skin and my nipples pebble. When he makes a low moan in the back of his throat, I clench my thighs to relieve the ache that throbs in my core in response.
Why am I so attracted to this man? It’s unfair!
Aubrey clearing her throat drags me out of the fog of desire I’m lost in. I blink as if coming out of a daze and swallow awkwardly, stepping back as heat sears across my cheeks.
“You want me to take a picture of you two?” she offers.
I nod dumbly as I look back at my best friend, seeing her massive grin. Her eyes twinkle with excitement as she pulls out her phone. Stepping back to Theo’s side, I feel a little thrill as his arm loops around my waist. I look up to see he’s looking at me at the same time; we smile at each other, and heat blooms in my belly.
When Aubrey’s got the photo she wants, she clasps her hands together and eases past us. “Well, you two have fun together. I won’t wait up.” She disappears into the living room after sending me a wink and a mouthed, Oh my God, behind Theo’s back.
I look back at Theo and smile shyly. “Are you all set? How’s your hotel?”
He texted me earlier to say he was all checked in and asked if he needed to bring wine or anything to the party.
“Hotel is fine. It’s only five minutes away.”
“You really do look so handsome, Theo. God, you’re gonna make Lucas shit a brick when we walk in together.” I grin, imagining the jealous expression on his face.
Theo’s eyes tighten as he smiles weakly and looks down at his feet while he stuffs his hands into his pockets. “Okay, so what’s the plan for tonight? What do you want me to do?”
I don’t really have a plan. Operation Make Lucas Sick As a Pig is basically me just winging it in a gorgeous dress with a hot guy at my side. I think about it and then shrug one shoulder. “Well, I want to make Lucas eat his heart out. I want him to miss me so much that he falls at my feet and tells me what an idiot he is and how he can’t live without me.”
Theo looks incredible. He is definitely the one to make Lucas jealous and to show people I’ve moved on and moved up—even though my heart still hurts.
“I want you to look at me like you adore me, like you can’t keep your hands off me and you want to rip my clothes off,” I finish.
I turn and bend, fiddling with my shoe strap that I didn’t fasten properly in my haste to see him. When I stand and glance back, I see Theo’s eyes are on my bum, his jaw is tight, and his bottom lip is rolled into his mouth. His gaze travels the length of my body so slowly that it makes me squirm on my feet. He’s looking at me like he wants to eat me, and he’s doing that eye-fucking thing again. The heat of his gaze seems to set my insides on fire as I remember how mind-numbingly good being with him is.
I grin and nod. Oh yeah, that’ll do it. I point to his face. “Yes! Just like that. Have you been practising? That’s perfect. Save it for when we get there though, okay?” I pat his chest, not wanting him to use that bad boy up too quickly.
He lets out a strangled laugh, and his eyes drop to his feet as he rubs at his forehead with his fingers. “Look at you like I want to rip your clothes off? I think I can manage that. Let’s do