Glimmer (Glimmer and Glow 1) - Page 82

“Yeah, okay.”

“It’s a unique color,” Deanna murmured a moment later as she brushed the pencil over Alice’s brow. “Eyebrows are usually darker than the hair on your head. Are you a light auburn?”

“Yeah, reddish blond, maybe. I don’t really know anymore. It hasn’t been that color in a long time, and I’m not sure what it’d look like if it ever grew out completely. Maybe it’s darkened,” she confessed uncomfortably.

Alice saw the concerned question in Deanna’s kind eyes in the reflection in the mirror. But then she noticed Alice’s attention, and she smiled, quashing her curiosity.

“How about if I help you with your dress?” Deanna enthused, stepping back.

“This has all been so nice of you. Thank you. But you really don’t have to—”

Deanna pulled a humorous, fake-wounded expression. “After all I’ve done, you’re aren’t going to let me see the grand result?”

Alice laughed. “If you really want to,” Alice said dubiously.

“I do. I haven’t had a project this rewarding in a while. I can’t wait to see Mr. Fall’s expression when he gets an eyeful of you.”

SIXTEEN

Alice looked around the outdoor terrace admiringly. Deanna and her staff had turned it into a romantic dream setting, including a candlelit table, set with low bowls of white hydrangeas, crystal goblets, and white and silver china. She noticed a waist-high machine near the table, and realized as she stepped closer that it was an air cooler. It worked, because the temperature felt comfortable next to her exposed arms and back, despite the warm summer night. Soft music was being piped onto the terrace, too, subtle notes drifting about on the gentle breeze. A metal frame had been set up around the lovely table, and white linen curtains had been attached. Each of the curtains had been caught back to the frame to grant a full view of the sun beginning to descend into the pale blue Great Lake.

Dylan didn’t see her as she approached because of one obscuring curtain. He stood outside of the metal structure. She could just make out his dark pant legs and his forearm resting on the balustrade. He wore a black suit and held a highball glass in one hand.

Alice approached the opening between the swooping curtains and paused. She opened her mouth to speak, but an uncustomary feeling of shyness swept through her, silencing her tongue. She felt beautiful in her new clothing, but also foolish, like the chamber-maid parading around in her employer’s finery.

Dylan looked over his shoulder, perhaps sensing her there. His expression stiffened. At first he didn’t move his body. Only his gaze descended slowly over her, lingering on her breasts. Her nipples tightened. Because of the cut of the dress and the open back, she couldn’t wear a bra with it. His stare lowered and then trailed up to her face again, taking his time.

He turned slowly, and she saw that he looked devastating in a black suit, white shirt, and thin black tie.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” she asked, her voice sounding congested with anxiety.

“What should I say?”

Alice exhaled, feeling a little let down by his flat reply. A trace of something—was it dissatisfaction?—flickered across his bold features. He stepped toward her, coming within several inches of her. She looked up at him uncertainly.

“I just meant that words don’t suffice. You’re a vision.”

A smile curved her lips as heat curled in her lower belly. “Deanna helped me,” she admitted, her gaze skittering away, as if his stare was too scorching to remain locked with it for long. “With my makeup and making sure the dress was on right and everything.”

“It’s most definitely on right,” he said, peering down at her. “I’ll have to remember to thank Deanna personally,” he murmured. He ran one forefinger softly beneath her chin and she looked up.

“This is the real you, Alice.”

She blinked. “If this is the real me, then why do I feel like such a fake?” she asked him. His smile was a sexual caress.

“Maybe the real you is a lot bigger than you thought. You just need time, to familiarize yourself with all the parts.” His head dipped. Her breath hitched. “To discover all the mysteries,” he added quietly.

His mouth brushed very gently against hers. Alice’s eyes fluttered closed. The moment felt sublime. The setting sun was warm on her cheek, the waves hitting the shore below sounding like a soughing sigh.

Dylan was right. Some things were mysteries. And maybe sometimes, you just had to accept the beauty of the unfolding moment. Because if you did what Alice usually did—doubt, question, and refuse to trust—if you grasped too hard to understand, you risked rupturing that fragile, ephemeral reality.

DINNER with Dylan was a feast for the senses, every bite of the exquisitely prepared meal a delight, each sip of the cool, dry champagne elevating her euphoric mood. But the man seated across the table from her was the vision on which she feasted most. She couldn’t get enough of him, so devastatingly handsome in his suit, his lustrous dark eyes capturing the candlelight as the sun slowly faded. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her, either, and that had only added to the intoxication of the night. He found her beautiful. Desirable.

Special.

Alice had never come closer to accepting that unlikely reality as she did on that sunset-gilded terrace.

“Would you like more of the cake?” Dylan asked her, and Alice glanced up sharply, hearing the humor and fondness in his deep voice. Night had fallen. Candlelight didn’t soften his bold features, but it did make them all that much more compelling. The five-course meal had been incredible, but still she’d found room for dessert—a delectable chocolate molten lava cake. She guiltily stuck her forefinger in her mouth, licking away the last evidence of her greed.

Tags: Beth Kery Glimmer and Glow Erotic
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