Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Reese
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“What about this one?” I hold one of Aunt Ileana’s dresses in front of me so she can see me on the iPad I have propped up in her closet against her mirror.
“Boring,” she calls out, and I roll my eyes. It’s the third time she’s yelled the same thing in the last ten minutes. As I assumed when I told her that Brodie invited me to go to New York with him for a fundraiser, the first words out of her mouth were, “Don’t buy a dress until you look through my closet.” Wait, that’s a lie. The first words out of her mouth were, “I need to look into him before you accept his offer.” Ten minutes after googling him with Marco at her side, she told me to raid her closet.
“What part of this dress is boring?” I ask, looking down at the sleeveless red dress with its high neckline, pretty lace, and sheer-panel details.
“It’s not you. You’re young and beautiful. That dress doesn’t show enough skin.”
“Should you be telling her she needs to show more skin?” Marco asks, looking at my aunt with a frown.
“She’s going on a date with a handsome man; of course, she should show more skin.”
“It’s not a date,” I cut in, and her gaze moves to me. “Brodie and I are just friends, remember?”
“Of course.” I swear she rolls her eyes, but the iPad is so far away, I can’t tell for sure. Shaking my head, I rehang the red dress and go back to sliding through her rack of dresses. When I notice a hanger with nothing on it, I begin to take it out just to hang it back with all her unused hangers. But when I tug it off the bar, I notice that it does have a dress on it, but the straps are so thin they’re almost invisible against the black hanger, and the dress is cut so low I didn’t see it before. My heart starts beating funny when I pull it fully out of its spot. The dress is absolutely beautiful. It’s also very, very sexy. The top is a lace bustier with a sweetheart neckline and black velvet detailing outlining the cups that almost look like a built-in bra. The black lace over the sheer material is body-hugging and would likely hit me at about mid-calf.
“Try it on,” I hear Aunt Ileana say and look across the closet. “I bought that twenty years ago in Paris and never had an occasion to wear it.”
“It’s so delicate.” And it is. The lace material is so finely detailed that one snag could cause major damage.
“Try it on,” she repeats. So, with a nod, I take it to her bathroom and close the door. It takes some effort to get myself into the dress and zip it up, but as soon as I have it on, I know it’s the one. Not only do I feel beautiful, but it fits me perfectly. I poke my head out the door and shout, “Don’t look yet.”
“Okay,” she calls back, and I rush across the room to her heels and grab a pair of strappy, flesh-colored sandals off her shelf. They have a high heel and a thin strap that crosses over the tops of my toes and then wraps around my ankle. When they’re on, I tie my hair back into a slicked-back ponytail and walk toward my iPad.
“Ready,” I say, and my aunt’s face appears on the screen.
“Oh, my beautiful girl.” She covers her mouth with her hand. “It’s…”
“Perfect,” Marco finishes for her softly.
“Yes. It’s perfect.” She smiles at me. “That dress looks beautiful on you, Reese.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with me borrowing it?”
“It’s yours. It was obviously made for you.” She smiles and then glances at my feet, grinning. “The shoes, on the other hand, you’ll have to return.”
Laughing, I turn to my side and take myself in. With the sun I’ve been getting, my skin isn’t its normal pale shade but a golden-bronze. And my hair has lightened in places, making it seem almost as if I had highlights put in. I don’t look like the same woman who moved here a couple of months ago. And I don’t feel like her either. I’m happy—happier than I’ve been in years.
“What are your plans this evening?” Marco asks as I take off the heels.
“Brodie said he got the stuff to make kitchen sink cookies, so we are doing that and watching a movie.”
“You two have been spending a lot of time together,” Aunt Ileana says casually, but I know her. And I know there was nothing casual about that comment. She’s digging, hoping I’ll tell her that something is going on between us. Like that I’m pretty sure he was going to kiss me yesterday evening. And I’m also pretty sure I would have kissed him back.
“We’re friends. And as he explained to me, this is his time off. When he starts practicing soon, I probably won’t see him as much.”
“He told you that he won’t see you as much?”
I frown. “No, he just told me he will have to practice most days.”
“Hmm.” She hums, and I shake my head at her. “I’m going to go change and then head up to his place. I love you.”
“Love you, too. Have fun tonight.”
“Thank you. And thanks again for letting me raid your closet.”
“What’s mine is yours.” She smiles. “I’ll call you when we get to Rome since we are traveling tomorrow.”
“Okay, be safe.” I blow her and Marco a kiss and then wander back into the bathroom, carefully getting out of the dress. When it’s back on the hanger, I put on the sweats and tank top I had been wearing earlier, then check on Mickey to make sure he’s good before leaving the apartment and taking the elevator up to the penthouse on the top floor.
When I get to Brodie’s door, I knock and wait, then knock again when he doesn’t answer after a couple of minutes. Taking out my cell, I check the time. I’m a few minutes early, but only a few. He should be here. The door swings inward, startling me, and my head flies up. I blink as my eyes collide with a half-naked Brodie wearing nothing but a thick white towel around his waist, his broad chest beaded with water. I swallow while my nipples pebble and the space between my legs throbs. You’d think, having seen him in swim trunks, I would be able to control my reaction to seeing him like he is now—or mostly like he is now because I’ve never seen him dripping wet, and his towel is doing nothing to hide just how well-endowed he is.
“Sorry, my agent called when I was just finishing with my workout, and I didn’t realize what time it was, so I jumped in the shower.” He reaches for my hand and drags me into his apartment, which is a good thing because I doubt I could have gotten my feet to move on their own.
“No problem.” I look anywhere but at him, then thank my lucky stars when Jeb decides to make an appearance at that moment and comes to greet me. “You can get dressed.” It sounds like an order, and he laughs.
I glance up at him while I rub Jeb’s head. Yep, he’s laughing, or he was. Now, he’s just smiling at me like he thinks I’m funny. My cheeks warm. “I’ll be right back. The stuff for the cookies is on the counter with the recipe.”
He turns and starts down the hall, and I watch the muscles in his back move as he disappears out of sight. Looking down at Jeb, I drag in a breath and then wander to the kitchen. Because Brodie isn’t here to tell me I can’t, I give Jeb a couple of treats from his jar, then pick up the cookie recipe. I’ve never heard of kitchen sink cookies before, but as I look over the ingredients, I know they will be delicious. They have butterscotch chips, both dark chocolate and regular chocolate chips, pretzels, toffy bits, and coarse sea salt. They sound sweet and salty—my favorite combo.
“Ready?” I look up at Brodie when he walks around the edge of the counter and groan inwardly because while he did get dressed, he forgot a shirt. And since he’s a guy, he doesn’t technically need one.
“Is it safe to bake without a shirt on?” The question is out before I can stop it, and he grins, rubbing his hands over his ridged stomach.
“We’re not frying anything, so I think I’ll be okay.”
“Right,” I mumble, disappointed.
Walking to where I’m standing, I hold my breath when his big body presses into mine, and he reaches around me for the standing mixer on the counter.
“How was work?” he asks, plugging it in.
“Umm. Good. Busy.” I bite my bottom lip when he moves into my space again and starts opening the bags on the counter.
“I got our plane tickets. Our flight is at almost eight, so that should give you plenty of time to come home and get ready before we head to the airport.”
“Great.” I step to the side to give him some room—or me some room. Grabbing the butter, I open two sticks and put them in the mixing bowl while he starts measuring the sugar.
“My shoot is at seven a.m. on Saturday, so I figure you can sleep in while I take care of that. Then we can go have breakfast and explore the city. I know you said you’ve been to New York, but is there anywhere you want to go?”
“The library.” I glance over at him. “I haven’t ever gone to the New York City Library, and I know I can’t take any books out, but I’d like to see it in person.”
His smile is soft. “I can make that happen.”
“Thanks.” I smile back, and then the two of us work in sync, making cookies that are just as delicious as I imagined they would be. The movie we decided to watch, however, is absolutely horrible. But in the end, it doesn’t matter because everything seems a little better when I’m with Brodie.