Except he’d never asked Marie to a place this fancy before. And he’d never asked Marie out dancing. And Marie had never been this close to admitting to him how deeply she felt.
She stalked over to her full-length mirror. Yeah, admit that she was in love with him and watch him recoil in horror. She reminded him of his sister, right? Angela. Which was ridiculous, because Marie had met Angela. She was slender, dark and lovely. Marie was short, plump and…
Hmm. She couldn’t help grinning at her reflection. Funny that she’d be thinking of Angela because the first time Marie saw Quinn’s sister, Marie had been wearing this dress in a doomed attempt to get Quinn to notice her sexually. She’d shown up at Roots, decked out in this blow-him-away finery, and had seen Quinn with his arm around a beautiful woman. Assuming he was in the midst of a seduction, Marie had turned tail and run, unnecessarily devastated.
Silver lining—Quinn still hadn’t seen her in this dress, which would be perfect for tonight. And yes, she still looked wonderful in it. The white cotton knit bodice criss-crossed over her generous breasts, giving him more of an eyeful than she was used to showing, but inflicting maximum cleavage on people seemed to be the style now, so why not?
Under her breasts, a band of solid blue, then a cascade of blue lining and a blue-green floral overskirt to just below her knees. The dress worked. It slimmed her, complemented the auburn shade she’d chosen for her hair, and made her skin look fresh and alive, bringing out good colors in her hazel eyes. Add the miraculously easy-to-walk-in blue heels and matching purse, and she was dressed to kill in a way Quinn had never seen. He’d better react.
Another look, turning this-way and that-way, enjoying the swirling folds of fabric. Would she be the sexiest woman there? Not by a long shot. Would she be the most beautiful? Ha! Not even close. But did she look about as good as she could? Absolutely. Which was all she wanted tonight.
Um, okay, that was a bald lie. She wanted a hell of a lot more than that tonight. When she opened the door to Quinn, she wanted his eyes to widen in astonishment, then narrow with lust. She wanted him to take her arm possessively, use any excuse to touch her, growl at other men who might glance her way, hold her too close while they were dancing, and leave early to get her into his bed where he’d declare undying passion before making love to her with every part of his body and his heart and his—
Wake up, Marie! Back to reality. Tonight she’d be thrilled with attentiveness, admiration and the pleasure of his company. She did not want to set herself up for feeling the evening was anything but a huge success.
One step forward and she examined her makeup more closely in the mirror. Maybe a touch more of the blue-green liner around the corner of her eyes, though excitement had made them large and shining. So maybe she’d—
Her phone rang; she crushed down the dread that it was Quinn calling to cancel. No negative thoughts tonight. None. Everything low-key and calm. That was the only way she’d get through this intact.
“Hey, it’s Kim.”
“Kim, hi, how’s it going?” She grinned at her reflection. The date would go on.
“Everything is going great! Nathan got a job with a local firm specializing in green architecture. We were on our way to meet with the caterer and he just got called.”
“How fabulous!” Marie’s shriek startled her gray tabby, Jezebel, who’d been sleeping on the bed. She gave Marie a withering look and settled back down. “I’m so happy for both of you.”
“Yes, it’s wonderful. He starts next week. It’s done a lot for him.”
“I can imagine.” Marie gave a secret smile. Nathan had done some impressive growing up in the last few months. “And what about your job? How is the Carter website coming along? They liking your designs?”
“Loving them. The bureaucracy is making me want to tear my hair out, but artistically it’s really satisfying.”
“I am thrilled for you, Kim. Sounds like life is shaping up.”
“It’s pretty great. I’m calling also because Candy’s crazy busy this week, but she wants to set up a meeting with Darcy to go over the Milwaukeedates party plans she emailed you, look at menus, and so on. We wondered if Monday at 10:00 a.m. would work for you?”