“Look at it before you say anything.”
She eased a breath from her lungs and carefully pulled the label off, then parted the tissue. The dress was deep fuchsia, almost the color of the wine still clinging to the sides of their glasses. The style was one-shouldered, the single strap beaded with a sleek cutout over the collarbone. The fabric, some type of soft, opaque netting, was sheered along the seam opposite the strap, creating a subtle radiating pattern through the body of the dress. “Oh God.” She breathed the words, running her fingers over the fabric. “It’s gorgeous.”
“Yeah?” he said, surprise and pleasure in his voice. “You like it? I went for understated but sexy with a touch of class. Take it out of the box.”
“Noah—” She was suddenly breathless. Emotions she didn’t understand welled up inside her, shrinking her lungs, rushing her heart, tightening her stomach.
“I’ve never believed a guy had any business trying to buy clothes for a woman, but this just screamed Julia to me.”
When she didn’t move, Noah stepped forward and lifted the dress from the box, holding it out to the side so they could both look at it.
“It’s fitted to show off the great shape of your body, one-shouldered to expose your awesome arms, and short, because your legs are nothing short of fan-freaking-tastic.”
Shit, shit, shit. He looked ridiculously sweet and vulnerable standing there holding the dress. Julia’s insides turned soft despite her attempts to remain distant.
“The color’s pretty flashy, but with your dark hair and eyes…”—he met her gaze and grinned—“nobody’s going to be able to keep their eyes off you. So what do you think? If it’s too much, I have a couple of other options. One’s bluish green. The lady at the store called it teal. The other one is black.” He gave her a self-deprecating half grin and lowered the dress, folding it over one arm. “Figured I couldn’t go too wrong with black.”
“You bought three dresses?”
“And shoes.” He reached over and picked up one of the heels Julia hadn’t noticed snuggled into the corner of the box. “But, I have to admit, she picked these. The dresses tapped me out. A man can only take so much time in a fluffy boutique like that.”
She picked up the other shoe. They were open-toed, four-inch spike heels with one pair of leather straps that crisscrossed over the toes and one pair that crisscrossed high on the ankle. Beautiful, classic, and wildly sexy in their simplicity. They also happened to be her perfect shoe size.
“How did you know my sizes?”
“You’re always pulling clothes off and leaving your shoes by the door. I just checked the tags.”
“Noah, I don’t know what to say. No one’s ever done anything like this for me. I’m just…sort of…speechless.”
“Yes.” He pumped his fist in a comical imitation of someone just winning the lottery. “I love when that happens.”
She laughed softly. “How did you find time? You’re always with me or Rafe.”
“Rafe swung me by the boutique on the way home last week.”
“And you didn’t mention it before now because…?”
His grin took on an edge of vulnerability. “Like I said, I was sure you were going to say no, and I was trying to circumvent your possible excuses. Trying to figure out a way to get you to say yes.”
Oh, good Lord. Her shoulders sagged. Her heart pulled hard.
Whoa. Hold on. Slow down.
&nbs
p; Julia slammed on her mental brakes. She was seriously, seriously, seriously that close to falling for this guy.
And falling hard.
The realization sent a zing of terror straight down her spine. Her mind flashed back to the weeks after Duncan bailed with the latest hot ticket on his arm and all Julia’s money in his bank account with no way for her to get it back, and her vow to never, ever let a man that close to her again.
Yet, she had absolutely no weapons to wield against this crazy attraction, one quickly turning into deep affection.
No, that wasn’t true. She had one. But using it came at a high price.
“So…” he prodded with hope filling his voice. “What do you say?”
As she looked into the deep blue eyes, she knew this party was her only salvation, the only way to put distance between them again. He’d see her completely differently after a couple of hours filled with stories of her tawdry background.