She packed her flatiron, makeup, and black dress in the gym bag she seldom used and carried them to work like a giddy secret. Despite her protests about wearing jeans and a cute top, she was excited to take the black dress out and show it a good time. She wore trousers and a blouse to work, hair pulled back—but she felt like Superman, like she had a dangerous secret beneath her clothes, although instead of superpowers and a leotard, she had the bra and panty set. She couldn’t help but smile.
She kept her phone on silent and tucked it in her drawer once she got word from Paxtyn that the blood draw had gone okay, and she was back home safely. Paige worked busily, never texting Luke, never even popping up to his floor to say hello to Gina. She was perfectly focused and productive, but beneath her skin buzzed the anticipation for tonight. She felt fizzy, effervescent at the prospect of an entire evening with Luke Conners.
Paige worked through lunch, skipped the meal just so she could make certain all her work was finished in time for a five o’clock exit. She shut down her computer station promptly at five and took her gym bag to the ladies’ room.
She had wondered about the propriety of dodging up to the executive floor to use the private bathroom, so no one on her level saw her changing for a date with the CEO, but she reasoned that no one other than Gina knew who her date was with tonight. She was being paranoid, she decided, and if anyone asked, she could say she was going out with a guy from accounting. No one would ask further questions about a guy from accounting—the men in accounting were mostly of the balding with wire-rimmed glasses variety, pleasant but largely similar.
Armed with her clever lie, she wriggled into the black dress, tugged down on the hem. The dress was off the shoulder, so she tucked her bra straps down into the sleeves, realizing she hadn’t thought to bring a strapless bra to change into. She stepped into stilettos, plugged in her flatiron and put on a thick sweep of black eyeliner. In fifteen minutes, more or less, she was ready. She messaged Luke that she’d meet him in the lobby unless he wanted to leave separately.
“I’m sending a car for you,” he barked into the phone when she answered.
“I’m at the office. It’s not like I could get home and change in less than thirty minutes.”
“You got dressed here?”
“Yes. In the bathroom.”
“That’s okay. I’ll have my car pick you up two blocks over at that little diner...in about five minutes.”
“I get it. We have to be discreet.”
“No use stirring the pot.”
“I’ll make sure the coast is clear before I wave you down.”
“See you soon.”
“Can’t wait.”
She scanned her reflection in the mirror. She liked what she saw, although the daring short dress was a little bit daringly shorter than she’d remembered from when she bought it months before. She’d been excited to show off some leg, but not perhaps all of her leg. The dress hugged her curves. In fact, she could see the line of her lacy panties. But barely. But she was not about to take them off. That wasn’t happening. For one thing, the dress was short enough she’d flash a Britney Spears getting out of the car. For the other thing, those panties were, in her mind, the only thing between her and a backseat hookup with the boss. The panties had to stay in place. It was too risky to remove that last barrier. So visible panty line was the winner.
Paige was waiting in his car when he emerged from the building. He had changed from his usual designer suit to a gorgeous deep purple dress shirt open at the collar and a pair of dark jeans. He looked amazing, good enough to eat. The dark purple set off his gorgeous tan, his blue eyes. He would have looked at home leaning on a Maserati in an ad for designer sunglasses in Vogue, is what she thought. He looked that good. She was disappointed that he’d see her sitting down, that the full effect of dress, heels and long legs would be wasted, but she scooted over to let him in any way.
“You said you were wearing jeans and a cute top,” he blurted out. She smiled at his discomfort. Clearly, the dress was working, because his manners and charm had slipped for a second as his gaze traveled up her stems and along her collarbone.
“I had this dress I never wear and thought I might take it for a spin tonight. I hope you’re not disappointed,” she lowered her voice to a purr and watched him swallow hard.
“Not—not at all,” he said, obviously discomfited by her appearance, by her outright flirtation.
“Will I be overdressed for where we’re going?” she said.
“Overdressed would imply you had on too much clothing, so I don’t think that could be said about you and your little dress.”
“Overdressed meaning too fancy or dressed up,” she smirked.
“You might cause a stir, but I think people would stare no matter where we went tonight,” he looked at her appraisingly as he spoke.
“I felt like dressing up,” she admitted, “I wanted to impress you.”
“You did. You have all along,” he said.
Luke covered her hand with his and held it. She closed her eyes tight for a minute, just soaking in what he’d said to her and the warmth of his hand. The fact that, even though it made no sense and clearly meant nothing at all, she felt safe and protected with Luke holding her hand. Obviously, her hand was on the seat between them, and he just needed a place to put his hand. But it felt like it meant something. It felt perfect. So, instead of questioning it or pulling her hand back, she just sat there in the quiet darkness of the back seat and held Luke Conners’ hand like it was the most natural thing in the world to do.
Chapter 16
THE CAR SLID THROUGH chic uptown, past restaurants with waiting lists and the kind of clubs that are featured in magazines as hot spots. Away from the glittering nightlife, they pulled up in front of a building lit with neon and blasting music. It looked like a pizza place. She grinned. He was slumming
for her, taking her someplace she’d be comfortable instead of showing off his VIP status to get her into some sold-out show or going backstage at a concert. This was less like a fairy tale, more like a real date to her. She squeezed his hand.