Dancing Away With My Heart (Wishful 12)
“Not sleeping in jeans, silly.” Before he could protest further, she unzipped them and began wriggling them down those curvy hips.
Oh dear God in heaven.
Her bikini briefs were black. Of course they were. They were seared into his brain before he could tear his eyes away to fix them on something, anything else. The erection he’d been fighting since the seatbelt came roaring to life.
“Need a hand, Zach.”
She’d managed to get the jeans to her ankles but didn’t seem to be coordinated enough to step out of them without falling over. Taking a firm grip on his control, he reached out to steady her while he gently worked her free of the denim. One foot.
“Okay, now the other,” he ordered.
She braced a hand on his shoulder and began to lift her foot.
He didn’t know how it happened. One second he was bent in front of her, detangling her from her jeans, the next they’d tumbled onto the bed, with him sprawled atop her, between her bare legs. And now he knew for sure that her skin absolutely was as soft as it looked.
Lexi didn’t giggle. She didn’t shove him off. She stared up at him, those melted chocolate eyes going darker and darker as they dropped to his mouth. He couldn’t stop himself from mirroring the move, gaze tracing over her parted lips. They were full and rosy and right there. What would she taste like? He could feel her quickened breath against his skin, and every cell in his body screamed to close that tiny distance and kiss her.
On a sigh she closed her eyes. Beneath him, her body went lax.
“Lex?” he whispered.
Her only answer was a soft, wiffling snore.
He didn’t know whether to curse or send up a prayer of thanks.
Moving as carefully as he could, Zach eased off her. He tugged off the jeans still dangling from one ankle and draped them over the chair. Then he folded her, burrito-style into the comforter on the bed. He couldn’t resist stroking a hand over the hair spread over her pillow. Silk. At least now he knew that, too. But as he quietly turned out the light and let himself out of the house, he didn’t think the knowing would do a damned thing to stop this inconvenient attraction.
Chapter 4
“I’m so glad you’re here to help me with this. I’ve been wanting to clear out this closet for ages, and I just can’t ever seem to get to it.”
Lexi had no idea what had possessed her mother to want to clean out the guest room closet today. Possibly it was subtle punishment for the mild hangover neither of them was acknowledging. Or maybe she really did just want to take advantage of having Lexi as free labor. Either way, Lexi dutifully returned to the closet, grabbing up another armful of clothes from the rack and hauling them out to the bed.
“I’m thinking a lot of this can just go straight to the donation pile. I don’t think either of us has worn this stuff in going on a decade.”
“But so much of it is in such good shape. I could change up some of the lines, add some embellishments, update the style…”
Lexi lifted her brows. “Mama, just because you can remake this stuff doesn’t necessarily mean you should.”
She understood how hard it was for her mother to just let go of something that was still good, still useful. Leandra had grown up poor, the daughter of Puerto Rican parents who’d moved to Mississippi for a new start. New clothes had been a luxury, and her skill with a needle had meant she’d been able to update whatever they’d had. That same skill had been pressed into use in the years after Katrina, when they’d been rebuilding from nothing. But things weren’t that dire anymore, and Lexi didn’t want to see her mother pushing herself too hard outside her work for Brides and Belles.
“You’re supposed to be resting, remember?”
“I am resting. You’re doing all the heavy lifting.”
Rolling her eyes, Lexi disappeared back into the closet for the next load. And she found it in the back, still draped in plastic. The Dress. The exquisite, perfect dress her mom had made for prom all those years ago that had never been worn. She could hardly bring herself to touch it. God, she’d wept over this dress and everything it had represented. Her one and only attempt to change things. At being brave and striking out into the unknown. And she’d been thoroughly smacked down by the Universe. Lesson learned. Risk all in business but never in matters of the heart. Maybe she needed that reminder as she and Zach worked their way back to friendship. Because friendship was the only thing that had ever been on the table.
Bracing herself, she grabbed the dress and carried it into the guest room. “Why is this still here?”
“It’s a gorgeous dress. I couldn’t see getting rid of it. I thought maybe you’d eventually want to wear it for something else.”
It was gorgeous. Some of her mother’s best work. But she could never wear it. “I don’t live the kind of life that calls for formalwear, Mama.”
Leandra clapped her hands in inspiration. “You could wear it to the class reunion! Babette told me there’s a formal dance. Several of your former classmates have been into the store the past few weeks looking at dresses.”
“I’m not going to the reunion.”
“Oh, but why not? You’ll be in town. I’d think you’d want to hang out with all of your friends.”