Travis had often wondered how Lily and Janica could have possibly come from the same gene pool.
Janica was the perfect opposite of Lily—a tiny little brunette with a big mouth and a sharp wit. She was Lily’s fiercest protector, and definitely hated him.
Several models had already made it down the runway, and he was finally getting comfortable when the music fell away and a redhead appeared from behind the curtain, a sparkling mask of feathers and sequins covering the top of her face. Her plump, red lips caught the spotlight. The lights changed from wild greens and blues to a deep, warm red, coating the woman in a sexy haze. Rich melodies from a Spanish guitar and a lilting tenor, promised sex to everyone in the audience.
Hot, slick, pounding sex.
The woman hadn’t even moved yet, had made no effort to slink down the runway to showcase her outfit, and yet chatter fell away in a hush. The front of Travis’s jeans grew tight, and every nerve came to life as he waited for her to slink down the runway.
She didn’t disappoint. The mesh, Asian print fabric molded lovingly to her every curve with her arousing progression down the catwalk. Her hips swayed side to side, one red-tipped, jeweled hand finding its way past her waist, stopping at the curve of her br**sts, while the other caressed the curve of her hip.
Travis was leaning forward in his chair, all of his practiced ease gone. He needed to have this woman. It didn’t matter that she was the polar opposite of every woman he had ever been with. Where he craved bones and angled lines, she was lush curves and soft promise. He had thought that small and blond was perfection, but the red-haired, full-bodied goddess consumed him with wanting.
The flamenco guitar grew more and more frantic the closer the beautiful model got to the end of the catwalk. In perfect time to the passionate music, the model began an exotic dance, throwing her head back in delighted laughter. Travis waited for her unveiling, holding his breath for the second time that evening.
The woman stopped dancing and reached for her feathered mask. She brought her tongue out to taste her lips, and a low sound came from deep in Travis’s throat.
She threw the mask to the floor, and the applause was ferocious. She was even more magnificent than she had been beneath her disguise.
Travis stopped clapping, unable to trust what he saw.
Lily Ellis, his twin brother’s meek best friend, was staring him straight in the eye.
And even though he tried to deny it with every fiber of his being, he wanted her.
The fashion show ended, and the party began. The music kicked up another notch, and with the chairs put away everyone was moving and dancing. Maybe it was the champagne, maybe it was the daring outfit that made her feel so powerful, so hungry, so restless. For the first time in thirty years, Lily felt in control and ready for action.
As long as she had The Dress on she could do all of the things she had always wanted to do but had always been too afraid to do.
Travis was out there in the audience. As soon as she stepped onto the runway and looked four rows back to the right, she had known that it was Travis. She had always been able to tell him and Luke apart, even if nobody else could. They were both tall and lean and muscular. They both had thick black hair that fell over their eyes. But Travis made Lily sizzle. Whereas Luke only made her feel warm.
Lily wished she could have fallen in love with Luke. He was so gentle and kind. Knowing that her attraction to Travis was futile from the first stirrings of arousal she’d felt for him, Lily had made a concerted effort to see Luke as sexy, boyfriend material. But it was impossible. She cringed remembering the kiss she’d given Luke in high school, late one night when they were talking under the huge apple tree in her grandmother’s front yard. He had been still as a stone, but then, not wanting to hurt her feelings, he had kissed her back.
Luke’s kiss was perfectly pleasant, but the awful truth was she hadn’t felt anything. No tingles. No shivering with need in his arms. It was yet another thing she couldn’t do right. She wasn’t even smart enough to fall for the brother who was nice to her. Instead, she had harbored an insane lust for someone who would never return her feelings in a million years. Not unless one day she woke up as a size-two supermodel.
Lily cursed herself up and down for being stupid enough to keep holding out hope that the nice Travis would come back. That the fun-loving boy she had been friends with as a child would one day reemerge from within the cold, distant man he had become.
Her heart raced in her chest, and Lily was more than a little shocked about what she was about to do.
She didn’t know why Travis had come to the fashion show instead of Luke. On any other night she would have been furious with Luke for doing the twin-switcharoo on her.
But this wasn’t any other night. Tonight was special. And even though it was crazy, even though she might as well take a knife and drive it into her heart to save herself time, Lily thanked God that Luke had sent his sexy-as-sin twin brother.
She had wasted thirty years waiting for him to notice her. She wasn’t about to waste another second. Not when she and The Dress had plans for him. Big plans that made her heart beat triple time and the vee between her legs pulse with need.
The Dress was going to make Travis want her.
It had to.
A sudden surge of doubt overwhelmed her as she reached out to part the thick red velvet curtain. She couldn’t ignore the mighty chance that Travis would take one look at her and laugh. Or worse, turn away as if she were invisible. It was more than a chance, she thought with dismay. A professional gambler would have to be crazy to bet on Lily, not when Travis could have his pick of any skinny, perfect woman in the room.
She closed her eyes and moistened her lips. No, she told herself, you’re not going to give in to these fears. It’s either now or never. Are you going to take the chance? Or are you going to continue to be a wimp for another thirty years?
That did it. Pushing past the curtains, Lily stepped out onto the dance floor, her eyes trained on what she wanted. Travis stood surrounded by women, each more gorgeous than the next, all vying desperately to get his attention.
But she knew he was waiting for her.
At least she hoped he was.
On the runway, instead of making her want to dive for cover, Travis’s presence had emboldened her. Lily had reached deep inside herself to bring forth the sensual woman she had kept so well hidden.
Finally, she was going to show Travis what he had been turning his back on for so long, what he had been missing.
Pleasure.
Lily knew that most people saw her as mousy and timid. She rarely offered her opinion, and people were always cutting in front of her in line at the movies. It had hurt at first, but once she got used to being overlooked it almost became a comfort. Lily could always disappear into the background, and she used her invisibility like a suit of armor to protect herself.