“She’s a lucky woman,” she replies, sounding disappointed.
“She deserves the best.”
The clerk steps away, allowing me to shut the door. I drive slowly out of the lot and through the streets until I’m on the freeway, where I tap the accelerator and let the car do half of what I know it can. This is a car you take out on the open road, where you don’t have to worry about police officers pulling you over and other people trying to cut you off, because there’s always that one guy who thinks it’s funny when he pulls in front of you, trying to slow you down.
I make it back to town, in record time, thanks to my newly adopted speed racer lifestyle. I love owning a Wrangler but going seventy-five in a Jeep is like going thirty in a Lambo. When I get to Sophie’s, I realize my one mistake—speed bumps. I have no choice but to park the car on the street and walk through her complex. Of course, her neighbors are outside, staring.
When I get to Sophie’s door, I pause before knocking. I questioned whether I should’ve brought her flowers or went totally Pretty Woman and brought her a dazzling necklace of some sort, something she can show off all night. The car is only good for when we pull up and all eyes are on who is getting out but is this enough? I raise my hand to knock but the door flies open, and I’m standing there, taking in every single inch of the woman in front of me. I don’t know where to look first. Her shoulders are bare, and the straps of her dress direct my eyes to her breasts, which are perfectly cupped by the fabric of her red dress. My eyes travel down until they land on the thigh high slit and I’m forced to swallow hard. I’m hoping to take everything off of her at the end of the night.
“Holy fuck,” I mutter as I try to gain some form of composure. I thought I had a hard on from the car, but no—Sophie is hot and sexy as hell. “Holy fuck,” I say again because it’s the only statement my mind can formulate.
“Do I look okay?”
“Okay doesn’t even belong in the vocabulary of how you look, Sophie.” I reach for her and place my hand on her hip and kiss her lightly on the cheek. “You’re fucking gorgeous,” I whisper in her ear.
Her hand goes to my chest and I feel her cheeks rise. I know she’s smiling because of me. “You make a tuxedo look sexy, Tanner.”
I step back and look at her again. Her long hair is pulled up, exposing every inch of her tanned skin. I don’t care that she’s my sister’s best friend, I want to be with this woman in every sense of the word.
“I have a surprise for you.” I take her hand and tug her slightly. She steps out and closes the door behind us. Together, we walk through the parking lot and the people who were staring earlier are now gawking, even the men. All I can think is, I’m a lucky fucking bastard to have this gorgeous woman on my arm tonight.
We walk toward the car and when the door opens, thanks to the fob in my pocket, she gasps. “You did not.”
“Oh, I did.”
“Tanner, this is too much.”
“Says who?” I hold her hand and help her into the car. I lean down when she’s seated and say, “You need to make a grand entrance and I’m here to help you with this.” I kiss her again on the cheek, wishing like hell we were in her apartment or my house, taking our clothes off. I rush to the other side and get in. The motor purrs and we take off. In between shifting, I place my hand on her bare leg, enjoying the feel of her skin against the palm of my hand. I’m desperate to know what she’s wearing underneath, but don’t want to be crass and ask her. Mostly because if I know she has nothing on or confirms she’s wearing a thong I can’t be held responsible for my reaction.
We pull up to the Governor’s mansion and as I suspected, there are cameras everywhere. The doors open and I hand the valet my key fob before I rush to the other side and push the other valet out of the way. I’m the only one helping Sophie out of the car. I have no idea who Warren is, but by the look of the guy who arrived seconds before us, he’s standing in front of us, watching our every move.
“Fucking gorgeous,” I mutter when she stands tall. Cameras flash, and I’m sure when the pictures come out, they’ll all show me looking at Sophie instead of the crowd, and I’m more than okay with this.