I didn’t have anything fancy enough to wear, so I’d borrowed from Ava—a simple black dress that crisscrossed in the front and wrapped around my neck. The plunging neckline revealed a lot more than I’d normally show off, and I was glad she’d had the foresight to send me home with double-sided tape, as well as the dress.
Promptly at six, the buzzer sounded, and surprisingly, I was just about ready. While I waited for Caine to ride the elevator up, I went into the bathroom to finish lining my lips. In for a pound, I thought as I painted my mouth with a bright red lipstick I also never wore.
I’d left my apartment door cracked open after Caine buzzed, and he knocked before entering.
“Rachel?”
“I’ll be out in a second!”
“Take your time.”
While that was a normal person’s response, I’d expected a comment about my always being late. The last two days, Caine had seemed off his game. He wasn’t as sarcastic as usual, and his texts weren’t even pervy. It had only been forty-eight hours since he’d dropped me off after our spectacular night together, but I missed the intimacy we’d shared already.#p#分页标题#e#
Stealing one last look in the mirror, I liked what I saw and took a deep breath before going out to greet Caine. I was nervous tonight—outside of my comfort zone and all dressed up to go to an opera.
I found my date in his usual spot at my wall of framed photos.
“What do you think?” I did the whole girly-twirly thing—also out of character for me.
The expression on Caine’s face when he turned was priceless. His jaw went slack, and he had to clear his throat to speak. “You look gorgeous.”
“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.” He wore a dark, slim-cut, three-piece suit that looked like it could have been made for him. Seeing the way it hugged his broad shoulders and biceps, I realized it probably had been. Pure class. It was all in the way he wore the suit, and the effect it had on me was probably similar to what lingerie does for a man. Suddenly I was warm in my sleeveless dress with barely any material up top.
Caine stood in place, his eyes sweeping over my body, and waited for me to walk to him. With my five-inch stilettos, I didn’t have to press up on my toes to greet him for a change.
“I like you in a formal suit. It does things to my girly parts.”
He smirked. “Oh yeah? We could stay home, and I’ll leave it on while I do things to your girly parts—with my tongue.”
God, forget peanut butter and jelly. There is no better combination than a dirty mouth and sexy suit. Caine gripped the back of my neck and kissed me roughly, not caring that he smeared my lipstick all over the place.
I swooned a little when he whispered, “I love the dress, but I can’t wait to take it off of you later.”
I felt myself beaming. Who knew I could beam? “I just need to change my purse, and I’ll be ready in a minute.”
In my bedroom, I fixed my lipstick, applying a fresh layer to my kiss-swollen lips, before grabbing a tiny, black, beaded clutch from the closet and tossing in the essentials.
“Ready?”
“You don’t have any pictures on the wall of you when you were little.”
That’s because there weren’t a lot of good times I want to remember. “There aren’t very many.” I shrugged. “You know, second child and all.”
Caine looked at me. “Do you have one? I’d like to see what you looked like when you were little.”
“My sister has most of them. But I can probably dig a few up.”
He nodded.
Outside, I was surprised to find he hadn’t driven. He’d hired a town car to take us, and when we approached, a driver hopped out and opened the back door. I really felt like Cinderella then.
“A car? You went all out. But I’ll let you in on a little secret—you were already going to get lucky tonight. You didn’t have to impress me.”
Caine smiled, but it felt sort of off. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but he just didn’t seem like himself. Our conversations were normal; any person looking in from the outside would see nothing but a couple on their way to a great night out. Yet, I had a pensive feeling for some reason.
On the way to the Met, we talked about school and work. I chalked my uneasiness up to nerves, or maybe things changing a little now that we weren’t fighting our togetherness. Maybe it was just a new feeling of being settled. I wasn’t sure.
Inside the theatre, we had a half hour before the show was to start, so we went to the lobby bar and ordered drinks. I ordered my usual diet soda, and Caine ordered a double scotch.