Grace’s long hair, piled on top of her head and held there by a large claw clip; then the rest of her followed—covered by a towel that was knotted above her full breasts. A single blonde strand had escaped from the clip and caressed the nape of her slender neck.
Lauren, who’d been about to stand up from the bed, sank back onto the mattress. Even after four months together, the sight of Grace’s half-naked body made her weak in the knees. Her gaze followed Grace as she strode past the bed and went to the closet built into one side of the loft.
Grace rummaged through her wardrobe and selected a powder-blue silk dress—Lauren’s favorite. She held it out for Lauren to see. “Do you think this will do?”
“Will do?” Lauren echoed. “It’ll blow their socks off.”
“Let’s hope so. I need to look good today.”
“You always do.” Lauren took in the shapely behind that peeked out from beneath the towel.
“Maybe.” Grace sighed. “But it’s different now that the press knows about us. Every paparazzo in Hollywood will take about a million photos of Grace Durand and her lesbian lover.”
Lauren swallowed around the lump lodged in her throat. As a former publicist, she had a lot of experience with the press, but so far, she had always been behind the camera, not in front of it. “I think we should—”
Grace let her towel drop to the floor and stood in front of the closet completely naked. Sunlight streamed in through the skylight, making her skin—flushed with the heat from her recent shower—seem to glow.
Lauren forgot what she’d been about to say as she stared at Grace. Her gaze tracked a single drop of water that ran down the long lines of Grace’s neck. God, does she have any idea how beautiful she is?
When Lauren fell silent, Grace glanced over her shoulder and arched an eyebrow at her. “You think we should do what?”
Go back to bed and forget about the premiere and the paparazzi. “Uh, never mind.”
Grace stretched with feline sensuality and walked over to the dresser in the corner of the loft.
Nearly hypnotized, Lauren watched the soft sway of her hips.
Once Grace reached the dresser, she bent a little and opened one of the drawers, directing Lauren’s attention to her firm ass. Then she turned, her breasts swaying enticingly, and slipped a pair of dark red panties up first one long leg, then the other. The smooth silk slid over her skin with a seductive slowness.
Lauren’s mouth went dry. She leaned forward on the bed so she could take in every sensual detail.
Grace swiveled back to the drawer and bent over it. When she straightened and turned, she held a strapless bra and slung it around her back with practiced ease. Her fingers moved slowly to the front clasp and closed it; then she cupped her own breasts, settling them into the cups.
Heat swept through Lauren’s body. She had thought that nothing could be more erotic than watching Grace take off her clothes, but this reverse striptease was making her breath catch and her heart beat triple-time.
The rustle of silk teased her senses as Grace lifted the off-the-shoulder dress over her head and let it slide down her body with excruciating slowness. Somehow, she managed not to get it tangled in the hair clip. The dress settled around her curves, cradling her like the hands of a lover, and Grace smoothed her palms over her hips. Every movement seemed to linger for a second longer than strictly necessary.
Was Grace playing with her, putting on a show to tease her? Lauren wasn’t sure. Grace’s expression was innocent and self-absorbed, as if she was completely unaware of Lauren’s rapt attention, but then again, she wasn’t a three-time Golden Globe winner for nothing.
The fabric stretched over her ample chest as Grace reached up. She took out the hair clip and set it on the dresser. Her long, blonde tresses cascaded onto her bare shoulders. Grace looked up and met Lauren’s gaze. Her full lips curled into a knowing smile, and there was a twinkle in her ocean-blue eyes.
She knew exactly what she was doing. Tease.
“Ready?” Grace asked.
The low, intimate tone of her voice sent a shiver through Lauren. “Oh, yeah.”
Grace quirked a smile. “I meant, are you ready to go?”
Nothing was further from Lauren’s mind than leaving the cottage and having to share Grace with hundreds of fans and paparazzi. “It’s not your premiere. We could stay home.”