Sinful Desire (Sinful Nights, #2)(34)
“Sweet blonde ass,” the guy said with a whistle. She couldn’t tell if it was the guy with ink all over his arms or someone else, and it didn’t bother her terribly.
But it bothered Elle.
Elle called the guy’s name then admonished him. “Watch it. Show a little respect, like we’ve talked about,” she said in a strong voice, and he muttered a low “Sorry.”
Elle turned to Sophie. “They’re works in progress.”
Sophie smiled. “Aren’t we all works in progress?”
Elle laughed lightly. “That we are. Lord knows I certainly am.” Then she turned more serious. “Thank you again for everything. I know we can do so much more for these kids when this comes together.”
“We have great donors behind this. It’ll happen.”
As she said goodbye, backing away from the Buick then heading in the direction of the Strip, her damn brain went haywire again, trying to figure out what was happening with Ryan. She muttered a curse as she turned onto the highway, dropping her shades over her eyes to shield them from the sun. She gripped the wheel tighter, trying to focus solely on driving. But still her mind whirred and raced as she played out scenarios and cycled through relationship permutations, just as she had with computers.
The questions rattled her brain and drove the tension in her body sky-high.
When she returned to her building, she felt like a radio station tuned in badly—all warped, fuzzy, and off-kilter. She’d been frazzled by what she needed to do next—push Ryan into something that might feel more serious, when he hardly seemed the type.
But then she shoved all those feelings aside once the front desk attendant told her there was a delivery for her. He handed her a silvery gift bag with slim handles, and instantly she was sure it was from the man she had a third date with. Desperate to open it, she clutched it tightly as the elevator shot her up to her floor.
The second she opened her door, she tore in and found a small white box, tied with a white bow, resting inside the red tissue paper. She pulled off the bow and removed the lid.
Wow. She lifted the satiny fabric. The panties were dark pink with sheer lace in front. But it was the back that knocked the breath out of her. The rear was comprised solely of crisscross satin pieces of fabric that would leave most of her bottom exposed. A cage-open panel, it was called, according to the tag.
She called it a prelude to multiple orgasms.
Sophie owned many pairs of pretty panties, but this was by far the most alluring. This took sexy to new heights. Moments later, her phone pinged with the notification that a message had arrived.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: July 16, 3:48 PM
subject: Delivery
I hope you’ll forgive me that they aren’t pale pink.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: July 16, 3:54 PM
subject: Forgiveness granted
I do forgive you. I forgive you so much I promise to be wearing these next time I see you.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: July 16, 3:57 PM
subject: Don’t test me like that
See you in five minutes then.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: July 16, 4:04 PM
subject: Don’t tease me like that
Good things come to those who wait…
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: July 16, 4:07 PM
subject: Not teasing…
How’s 7:00 tonight? If that’s presumptuous, I can wait ’til 7:30. But no later.
from: [email protected]
to: [email protected]
date: July 16, 4:12 PM
subject: Presume…
You can take me for that drive in my car that you wanted. I’ll be out front at seven-thirty.
Looked like that third date would be happening sooner than expected.
Chapter Thirteen
It didn’t matter where they were going tonight or what they were doing.
She was wearing a dress. She was not toying with him today because she wanted what he wanted.
Access.
She adjusted the slim orange shoulder straps as they curved into a tight white bodice that was practically fused to her breasts. Just enough cleavage ensured his eyes would pop out of his head, and then the skirt itself would pretty much blast all his brain cells away. Full and gathered, the white skirt with oranges printed on it swished as she walked. The waist cinched with a slim belt, and she wore matching orange pumps with a strap over her instep. The cotton sateen fabric of the dress wasn’t see-through, so she could wear the pink panties he’d sent, no problem.
As if she’d wear anything else right now.
This was a sex date, wasn’t it? Sophie’s lips twitched up as she answered the question herself. It was. Oh yes, it was, and she wanted it, needed it, and was damn eager to have it.
Ryan was an enticing mix of enigmatic and open, of caveman and gentleman. The combinations she saw inside him intrigued her, body and heart. His quickness with words and the ease of his flirty banter ignited her mind. There was something else in him, too, that simply gripped her—the man had a magnetic intensity. It drew her to him, lured her under his spell.