Loose blond curls cascaded over the side of the dress with the sleeve, and the rest had been pinned up with a gemstone barrette that matched her jewelry and the heels on her feet. She’d done up her eyes in that way women did to make them look bigger, a black pointed line at the corner, and her lips were an intoxicating shade of crimson that had his mouth watering for a taste.
Long story short, she looked like a shiny present, and he desperately wanted to unwrap her and play with her all night long.
“I could’ve used you a few minutes ago, when I was down on my hands and knees,” she said, and that sound you hear when you go under water? Well, he must be in over his head, because that warbled noise rushed through his ears. She held up a dangly earring. “I dropped it, and you’d think it’d be easy enough to find, but it went way under there and this dress isn’t for crawling around, you know?”
Did he? Perhaps a demonstration was in order.
“Gavin?”
It took him clearing his throat twice merely to be capable of speech. “Yeah?”
Right. He’d come here for a purpose, and she was asking after that purpose. He gestured to his open shirt, and the way she bit her lip as she looked him up and down wasn’t helping the growing situation in his pants. “I suck at buttoning my shirt with my left hand. My fat fingers kept fumbling—which isn’t a problem I usually have, FYI—so I’ve come to you for help.”
Once she finished securing her earring, she strode across the room, and a smile curved her lust-inducing lips. “Finally, a sport I’m good at.” She reached for the bottom button and pushed it through the hole.
“This is a sport now?”
She tugged the sides of his shirt hard enough he wobbled in her direction, and it took every ounce of his restraint to stop himself from giving in to the sway. “It is since I’ve been working on my sexy moves. How’s this…?”
She ripped open his shirt, and that one button she’d secured didn’t have a chance.
He remained completely frozen and, when she didn’t add to the move, blinked at her. “Was that it? I mean, it’s a good start, but you might want to throw in some light touches. Really rev the guy up as you torture him with getting the right stuff in the right holes.”
At that, she giggled. “Are we still talking about buttons?”
“I’m not sure,” he said, which was a little too true.
The tips of her strappy heels hit the ends of his toes as she moved that much closer. Within a handful of seconds, she’d secured the bottom three buttons.
Her gaze lifted, and crackling energy charged the air as they locked eyes. She placed a flat palm on the center of his abs. His muscles twitched, and just when he didn’t think he could take it anymore, she glided her hand up to the center of his chest.
His heart threw itself at her mercy, and then he was the one who was about to drop to his knees and beg her not to stop. Her eyebrows arched the tiniest fraction, and he placed his hand on her hip to steady himself.
Not that he felt anything close to steady.
“Gav—”
A loud rap of knuckles broke the spell, and they jumped apart as the door swung open. “Oh, good,” Nikita said, her labored breaths suggesting she’d been sprinting around the house in a mad rush. “You two are ready to go.”
“Almost,” Gavin replied, and hopefully his rasp didn’t give away the desire laying waste to his insides.
“Wow, Julie, you look amazing.” She strode farther into the room and bumped her shoulder into his. “Doesn’t she, Gavin?”
This wasn’t about his sister or how she put her nose in his business. Obviously, Julie needed to hear it and, since he’d already admitted his attraction to her, it made it safer to flash her a smile, and say, “Absolutely. I’m completely captivated—which is the opposite of bored, in case you didn’t know.”
That dimple in her right cheek was seriously going to kill him. Her red lips were like the line of an exclamation point, and that indention was the accent. “Aw, thanks guys. Speaking of amazing, that white and gold dress is fire, Nik. With those pin curls, the bright red lipstick, and matching nails, purse, and heels, you look like a festive, pinup girl.”
Nikita completed a bow, and Mom called that it was time to go.
“Did you grab your coat?” Gavin asked Jules. While it would be a shame to cover up a single inch of her skin or that dress, she’d freeze without one.
“Thank you for reminding me. Your mom is clearly ready to go, and I don’t want to make us late by having to sprint upstairs in heels while in a hurry—that usually ends with me tripping.” She snagged her black wool peacoat off the nearby chair and draped it over her arm. Then she secured her hand in the crook of his elbow.
They headed downstairs and, as they were about to exit the house, Jules tugged him to a stop.
She readjusted his collar, smoothed her hand down his tie, and gave the end a tug. “You look rather dashing yourself, by the way.” She moved her lips dangerously close to his ear, reigniting the fire that’d blazed to life the night they’d decorated cookies. “And I’m definitely the opposite of bored whenever we’re together.”
Chapter Nineteen
The pageant had been its usual charming self. Nearly every resident in town showed, the kids were gratuitously blushed and hair sprayed, not to mention adorable and fun to watch. One of the little girls sang three times as loud as anyone else, either oblivious or unconcerned that she was off-key.
An angel fed Herod his lines, which made for an interesting twist where the heavenly messenger was seemingly on the wrong side. Mary also dropped baby Jesus a couple times, but luckily, he was played by a plastic doll.
As for the unusual? Near the end of the second act, Gavin reached over his armrest and slipped his fingers between hers. While Julie did her best to play it cool, internal squeeing was absolutely occurring.
Does he not care whether anyone sees us holding hands? Not that holding hands necessarily signaled anything more than friendship. The whorl of heat unfurling in her gut, however, spoke volumes.
As the entire cast bowed in their best approximation of unison, the crowd applauded. Clusters of people popped to their feet, setting off a wave. Never in the history of the pageant had the production received anything less than a standing ovation, and not only because it felt wrong not to cheer for the son of God and all his angels.
Julie secured her hand in the crook of Gavin’s elbow and spoke over the roar of the audience. “I know I say this every year, but that was for sure for sure the best pageant yet.”
Gavin did a double take in her direction, as if he’d forgotten how she looked, and she internally fist-bumped herself for splurging on the dress. Originally, she’d planned to wear it to make the guy she was having a fling with drool. If it affected the guy next to her the same way, though, even better.