With Every Breath (Slow Burn #4) - Maya Banks Page 0,11

nor did she have a clue what looked good on her, something apparently Sterling felt he knew. And since he’d taken the liberty of choosing her wardrobe, he would hardly be able to find fault with her appearance tonight. She just hoped to hell she could avoid him and Gracie, make an appearance and then exit as gracefully and as unnoticed as possible.

Jesus, but she was the worst sort of idiot for even contemplating knocking Wade Sterling down a few notches and making him swallow his sharp tongue. She didn’t have time for making cute, being a tease with no intention of following through on the promise this damn dress offered not only to Sterling, but to any man. Gah! She hadn’t even considered the “other men” in the equation. Not that she had to worry about the guys she worked for. To them, she was one of them. But whoever else was in attendance wouldn’t be able to look at her sexy vamp look and remotely think, oh yeah, she’s one of the guys.

A prickle irritated her nape and she frowned at the sudden, unwelcome thought that for once, just one night, she didn’t want to be one of the guys. She was a woman even if she’d refused to give in to most parts of her femininity after the disaster that was Thomas. And now, when he was about to become a free man, unleashed on hapless women he would victimize, she suddenly wanted to reclaim everything he’d stolen from her? She had to be out of her goddamn mind.

She should have gotten laid a long time ago and gotten it done with. But Thomas Harrington controlled her from behind bars every bit as much as he had when he was a free man, and that fact disgusted her most of all.

Eliza pulled up to Joie de Vivre in the “swanky” part of Westheimer, as she termed it. Everything about the businesses, and even buildings, looked so new and shiny to practically scream wealth, power, influence. In other words, swank. And it was definitely a place she didn’t belong.

Reluctantly, she got out of her car, opting to have parked a block away rather than use the valet service Sterling had installed for the occasion. When it was time for her to ditch the event and get the hell out before drawing undue notice, the last thing she wanted was to have to wait in line for her car. Kind of defeated the purpose of fleeing in the first place.

She glanced critically down her body, biting her lips in vexation. Oh the dress fit. Even her heels fit, and they were the likes of which she’d never be caught dead in, but she’d fallen in love with them the moment she’d pulled them reverently from the elegant box they’d arrived in. Apparently it was get-in-touch-with-Eliza’s-feminine-side night.

She shimmered in silver from head to toe. Even her shoes sparkled and twinkled when they caught the light just so. The dressed was extremely formfitting, and yet somehow seemed to give the illusion of flowing motion when she moved, sending a glittery flash that enchanted her.

The thin material cupped her breasts lovingly in a seeming caress. Much like a man’s palms gently cupping and molding her breasts.

Now where the hell had that thought come from? And why the fuck had the hands in question belonged to Sterling?

Her cheeks were blazing and she subconsciously ducked her head in case she ran in to anyone she knew on the walk to the studio.

The dress was modest—again, when it wasn’t on her! By most standards. Anyone looking at only the dress on a hanger would likely think the dress plain, dull even, that it covered far too much. Not sexy enough. Too simple.

Eliza had thought the same and had been oddly grateful to Sterling for not having her outfitted like a tramp. That thought quickly evaporated when she’d put on the dress to get ready tonight. On the right person, the dress turned into a study in seduction. It outlined in stunning clarity just how large her breasts were, their shape, size. She prayed it wouldn’t be cold inside the gallery because if her nipples puckered, she was walking out and when she got home she’d burn the damn dress. Hell, she was burning it after tonight anyway.

In another time, under different circumstances, if she’d had such an opportunity to wear such a beautiful, provocative dress, she would have embraced and gloried in it. She would