To Love and Protect (Must Love Diamonds 4)

She nodded, her throat too thick to manage more than a whisper. “Yes.”

Was that relief in his grin? She wasn’t sure because he turned away to put his seatbelt on, flipped the signal, checked his mirrors, and pulled back onto the road. When they reached his house, he came around to get her door as always, but kept his distance. This time, knowing his reasoning for not touching her and loving why, she didn’t take offense.

Inside, she hovered near the door as he reset the security alarm. “So…um…I guess I’ll go get ready?”

“Sure.” But then he turned with a frown. “Unless it’s too early?”

It was almost five o’clock. She shook her head. “Oh, no. I’m going to need at least an hour.”

“Really?”

“I mean, it is our first date.”

When he narrowed his gaze as if trying to gauge her seriousness, she barely kept her poker face i

n place.

“O-kay then. Let me grab my clothes and the master is all yours for as long as you want.”

Fifteen minutes later, Shelby dried off after her shower and belted her robe. She took ten minutes to put on just a light touch of make-up, then another ten to blow dry her hair. Leaving it loose, she turned to eye the two dresses she’d hung in the bathroom to steam out any wrinkles.

Black or burgundy?

Nude.

Stomach whirling, she fiddled with the collar of her robe as the idea spun in her mind. She knew exactly what was going to happen when they got back later, and it was amazingly sweet of Dev to want to take her to dinner first, but did she really want to wait any longer?

No.

Her pulse picked up speed as she crossed the bedroom to her suitcase. Now for the real question—would it still fit?

Chapter 25

Dev sat on the edge of the couch cushion, flipping through channels on the T.V. while checking the time every two minutes. He still had a good twenty-five minutes to wait, he noted with a grimace. Glancing down the hall, he wondered what the heck she needed a whole hour for? This whole past week, she’d never once taken more than thirty minutes and always looked beautiful on her way out the door.

Turning back to the T.V., he tried a few more channels. Not a single program caught his attention, so he shut it off and tossed the remote on the coffee table before pacing into the kitchen for a drink of water. Then he paced back to the couch.

Fuck, he hadn’t been this nervous since…he had no clue when. He’d showered, shaved, and dressed in slacks and a black dress shirt in about ten minutes. Which left him almost the whole hour to sit and think about the upcoming evening.

He was an idiot for torturing himself with dinner, but after the look on Shelby’s face when he asked her on an actual date, he’d endure ten dinners if need be. She deserved to know she was special.

“Dev?”

Shelby’s raised voice from the bedroom spun him around. “Yeah?”

“Can you come help me with my zipper?”

Really? Was she trying to kill him? He squeezed his eyes shut, drew in a deep breath, and blew it back out again. “Sure.”

He had the entire trip down the hall to mentally prepare for the sight of her, dress unzipped, in his bedroom. The entire hall, and his breath still shortened with every step he took. The door was ajar, and when he pushed it open, he froze on the spot as his mouth went dry.

Holy fuck.

Shelby kneeled on the bed in the late afternoon light, long, dark hair flowing down her back, wearing a nude-colored negligee edged in black lace. The nearly see-through silk stretched taut across her full breasts before skimming down to her thighs.

“I-I didn’t want to wait,” she said.

He swallowed past the lump in his throat, and then still had to clear it twice before any sound would come out. “Is that the same one?”