Switched At The Altar. Metsy Hingle

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ swing as a little boy, urging his mother to push him higher. He’d wanted to reach the tree’s limbs and capture one of the purple flowers from the vine tangled in its branches. It had been the first and only time he’d lived with his parents—before they’d divorced, before they’d left him with his grand-father and gone on to their new lives—lives without him.

      Pushing the melancholy thought aside, Alex prowled the room while he waited for Desiree. The place was a mess, Alex decided as he looked at the beautiful Queen Anne desk covered with stacks of papers, magazines and bound copies of what were evidently plays. A battered-looking computer sat haphazardly on a desk blotter. Framed photographs took up what little space was left. Alex picked up one of the snapshots of a much-younger Desiree flanked by a timid-looking blonde and a serious-eyed brunette—all dressed in toy soldier costumes and tap shoes. He grinned at the way Desiree mugged for the camera despite two missing front teeth.

      “That was one of my first starring roles,” Desiree told him from the doorway. “You’re looking at the Mason Sisters Trio. Tap dance recital for four- to six-year-olds,” she explained.

      She was still wearing the wedding dress, but the veil and flowers were gone. Most of her hair had escaped from its combs, leaving long strands of red shot with gold trailing along her neck and cheeks. “Must have been quite a performance,” Alex replied.

      “Oh, believe me, it was.”

      She walked toward him, the sound of her skirt swishing as she moved, and his eyes immediately zeroed in on those sashaying hips.

      “My sister Lorelei—she’s the blonde—lost her dinner in front of the entire audience before we even got to the first ‘ball-change’ in the dance routine. Stage fright,” she said as though that explained everything.

      “And my sister Clea—” she pointed to the brunette “—she’s the perfectionist. She was so miffed at Lorelei for ruining our act, she walked off the stage in the middle of our number and hung up her tap shoes for good. I’m afraid it ruined any hopes my parents might have been harboring that we’d be a dancing version of the Lennon Sisters.”

      “What about you? What did you do when your sisters dropped out of the show?”

      “The Mason Sisters Trio quickly became a group of one. They had to yank me off the stage because I insisted on completing the number by doing everyone’s part.”

      Alex heard the smile in her voice even before she looked up from the photograph he was holding and he saw it on her lips. “And you’ve been dancing ever since.”

      “And acting.” She took the picture from his hands, stroked the edges of the frame lovingly before returning it to her desk. She glanced up at him. “But I’m sure you didn’t really follow me in here to hear about my sisters and our failed attempt at show business, now, did you?”

      “No.” He hadn’t, and Alex tamped down the urge to ask her to tell him more about herself and her family. Once more the lady had distracted him from his purpose. “I’m here because we didn’t finish our conversation about you and Kevin.”

      “We did as far as I’m concerned. There’s nothing further to discuss.” Desiree turned around, offering him her back. “Do me a favor, will you? Unhook the back of this thing so I can get out of this dress.”

      Alex stared at her bare shoulders and tried to ignore the faint hint of flowers that seemed to emanate from her skin. His gaze strayed to a heart-shaped mole just above her left shoulder. He had an incredible urge to run his fingertip across it.

      “I had Mindy—she was one of the bridesmaids—help me get into this getup, but she’s already gone, and now I can’t get the thing off by myself. I can’t imagine why a designer would make a dress with all those tiny buttons down the back. How do they expect you to get the thing off?”

      “Since it’s a wedding dress, I suspect the designer assumed the bride’s husband would be helping her to take it off.”

      Desiree stilled a moment, and then he heard her laughter. “Kevin said you tended to take things literally. He was right.” She looked at him over her shoulder again. Her green eyes sparkled, a mischievous grin curved her mouth. “Well, since my groom isn’t here at the moment, maybe you could do the honors for him. Or is that a problem?”

      Alex caught the note of challenge in her voice, saw the dare in her eyes. “No problem at all.” He’d show the little tease. Did she think she could unnerve him by asking him to help her undress? He reached for the first button. His fingers brushed against her skin, and it was just as soft as it looked. And warm. Despite his efforts not to respond to her and all that soft, bare skin, the blood heated in his veins as, one by one, he released the tiny buttons from their silken loops. “There. It’s unbuttoned,” he told her and stepped back.

      Clutching the front of her gown with one hand, she reached behind her to the bow at her waist. She fumbled with the fastening. She turned slightly and lifted her gaze to his. The challenge was still there in her eyes, but there was also an awareness now that hadn’t been there a moment ago. “Looks like I need you to unhook the train for me, too,” she told him in that honey and whiskey voice before giving him her back again. “There’s a row of hooks beneath the bow.”

      Alex felt the punch of desire hit him as he forced his gaze down the length of her bare spine where the dress gaped, to the curve of her waist, to the jutting of her hips.

      “Can you see the hooks?”

      “I see them,” he said, irritated by his body’s response to her. Swallowing, Alex hesitated a moment before stepping closer. He lifted the bow that draped over her shapely bottom and, gritting his teeth, he fought back the urge to cup her in his hands. Instead, he caught her at the waist with his right hand and used the fingers of his left hand to work at the tiny hooks attached to the bow. All the while he was conscious of the slope of her hips, the warmth of the satin-covered skin beneath his fingers.

      Finally the bow and train fell free from the gown. After placing them on the desk, he started to attack the row of buttons that ran from her waist to the top of her bottom. He’d barely finished opening the first button when Desiree reached behind her and grabbed his hand.

      “Stop!”

      Alex looked up, surprised at the unsteady sound of her voice. She whipped around. Still holding the front of her dress, she snatched up the train and bow with one hand and took a few steps away from him. When she looked at him, heat licked at him again as he recognized the flame of desire in her eyes. He slid his gaze down the length of her and back up again, noting her flushed cheeks, her quickened breathing, the rise and fall of her breasts. Alex itched to reach out, pull her fingers away from where they clutched the front of the dress to her. He wanted to peel the lace edges away from her breasts and touch them. He took a step toward her.

      Desiree moved a step back. “Th-thanks. But I think I can manage the rest of the buttons myself,” she told him, then began to inch her way backward across the room until she reached the door she’d emerged from earlier. She fumbled with the doorknob, pushed the door open with the heel of her foot. “Goodbye, Alex. I’ll tell Kevin you were looking for him,” she said before disappearing behind the door.

      Alex took a deep breath. He scrubbed a hand across his face. Muttering an oath, he jammed his hands into his pockets. No wonder Kevin was in trouble! Hell, he had been in trouble there for a minute. The woman had him feeling like a damn teenager who’d just discovered the opposite sex. Another five minutes of touching her soft flesh, smelling that flower-scented skin and he would have СКАЧАТЬ