But she wasn’t looking for pretty today. She was aiming for straight-up sexy. Borderline inappropriate would be even better.
She knew exactly which outfit would fit the bill.
Still, she found herself hesitating as she reached for the formfitting, light purple dress that Lori had insisted she buy even though Suzanne knew she’d never wear it outside of the boutique’s dressing room. Though she shouldn’t feel guilty about thwarting her brothers’ annoying sister-sitting plans, a part of her did anyway. Roman had been right when he’d said they only wanted the best for her, even if their way of showing it was sorely misguided.
Suzanne forced herself to shake off the guilt. This was her life and she’d live it exactly the way she wanted to. Especially since she knew how poorly her brothers would take it if she ever tried to do something like this to one of them. They’d brush off her concern the way they would a fly buzzing through the air. Men.
Sliding the dress off its hanger, she braced herself to be brave enough to slip it on, along with the nude heels Mia had insisted she buy with it. Turning to the full-length mirror, Suzanne nearly gasped aloud.
She’d forgotten that the silk was so fine it clung to her curves like plastic wrap. On top of that, it was short enough that she’d have to be careful not to flash everyone her underwear when she sat down. Suzanne didn’t deliberately try to hide her figure, but she rarely put it on display like this. Simply taking the elevator from her apartment or walking down the sidewalk was going to feel strange.
But hopefully, if she played her fake-seduction cards right, Roman would break before she did. Especially given that walking for any prolonged amount of time in these heels was going to hobble her.
Carefully, she made her way over to the drawer in which she kept her rarely used makeup and hair dryer. Though she usually tied her hair back into a ponytail and couldn’t be bothered with blush or mascara, she never went into a plan half-cocked. Either she did this right, or she didn’t do it at all.
By the time she was done blow-drying and making herself up, she barely recognized herself. When she walked into the Sullivan Security headquarters in an hour, her employees were going to take one look at her and wonder if she had a screw loose.
But it would all be worth it if she achieved her goal of getting Roman so hot and bothered that he freaked out about betraying his friendship with her brothers—and left her the hell alone.
Strangely, by the time she’d finished eating breakfast and transferred her laptop from her faded computer bag into a sleek leather bag that had been a gift from one of her cousins in Maine, she was almost looking forward to coming face-to-face with Roman again.
Would he be a worthy opponent? Or would he crumble at the first sign of trouble?
Instinct told her to lay odds on worthy.
* * *
One silent curse after another streamed through Roman’s brain as Suzanne walked out of her apartment and he breathed in her delicious scent.
Damn it. He needed to stop noticing how good she smelled. And he sure as hell needed to stop being bowled over by her beauty.
She’d been a stunner last night in black jeans and boots, and he’d done enough security in the tech world to guess that she must have come straight to the gallery from her office. But maybe he’d been wrong, because this morning she’d poured herself into a purple scrap of fabric that had his eyes bugging from his head like a cartoon character’s.
He didn’t know where to look. Or where not to let himself look.
Tall and curvy, Suzanne definitely wasn’t some scrawny computer geek. If he’d been asked to define the looks of his perfect woman, she’d be standing right here in front of him.
Her long, dark hair fell like silk down her back and over her chest. His mouth watered and he swallowed hard as he averted his eyes from her gorgeous breasts…only to be hit with a view of tanned, toned legs that were a mile long.
“Good morning.” The two words drawled from her lips in a way that reminded him of her brothers’ innate confidence. Brothers who would tear him into a million little pieces if they knew he was having sexual thoughts about their sister.
When he finally managed to drag his gaze back to hers, one corner of her mouth was slightly lifted, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking despite his attempts not to.
“Ready to go?”
Her tone was surprisingly cheerful. But she couldn’t have flipped to her brothers’ viewpoint this quickly. Not after how furious she’d been last night. Unfortunately, his brain was addled enough simply from being this close to her that he couldn’t work out her motives this morning.
Giving her a strictly professional smile, he gestured to the elevator. “After you.”