Fortune's Proposal by Allison Leigh Read Free Book Online Page B

is for work.”
    â€œWell, even that might be debatable,” he’d drawled, and had joined her in front of her tight closet. He’d reached in and pulled out a frothy thing shoved far to the side. “Wear this, then.”
    â€œWhat’s that supposed to mean?”
    â€œIt means,” he’d held the hanger up against her shoulders. “It doesn’t look like something you’d wear to work. So? Good for a wedding or not?”
    She hadn’t been thinking about the dress. She’d been thinking about his comment about her suits. They fit and they were professional-looking and the complete opposite of the short skirts and clingy blouses that her fashionista mother preferred.
    But knowing that the jet was waiting for them and not wanting to be the cause of their being any later than they already were, she hadn’t pursued the matter.
    And now, she held the dress up to her shoulders in much the same way that Drew had, and turned to look at herself in the mirror.
    It was a vivid, bright pink for one thing, and with her hair, that wasn’t a color she ever wore.
    For another, it was ruffled.
    Well, not exactly ruffled. The skirt was just made of dozens of pieces of fabric that all seemed to float independently of each other, making it look like it rippled even when she was holding it still. And the narrow, halter-style bodice was snug. And low.
    She’d never worn it before.
    For that matter, she hadn’t bought it.
    Gigi had. She’d given it to Deanna for her last birthday, and when Deanna had protested that it was too expensive—a more tolerable excuse than that the dress simply wasn’t to Deanna’s taste—her mother had produced the receipt to prove that the clearance-priced dress wasn’t returnable. She’d lamented how her little Deedee just thrived on thwarting her and in the end, rather than go to battle over what was supposed to be a birthday gift, Deanna had taken the dress and put it in the back of her closet.
    Where it had stayed. Lurking, as if it had been biding its time, waiting for Drew Fortune to find there.
    Even as tired as she was, Deanna recognized the ridiculousness of the notion and she rubbed her eyes. At least the dress had come with a matching wrap. It was thin and almost translucent, but it would cover up her bare shoulders.
    And as much as she didn’t want to wear a dress chosen by her mother, she did have to admit that it was more suitable for the occasion than anything else her closet had contained. So she hung up the dress and its wrap behind the door that J.R. had indicated, and she made quick work of unpacking the rest of her items, most of which she left folded and tucked in one of the empty chest drawers. When the suitcase was empty, she wedged it out of the way in one corner of the closet on the floor, hung Drew’s garment bag on the rack asfar from her dress as was physically possible, and then turned to ponder his well-used duffel bag that was still sitting on the bed.
    As his assistant, she really shouldn’t have had any issue with simply unpacking his things for him. And as his fiancée, if she were one of the true variety, she wouldn’t have had any issue, either.
    Instead, she stared at the thing as if it would singe her fingers raw if she dared to unzip it.
    In the end, she chickened out of dealing with it entirely, and transferred it from the foot of the bed to the chair in the corner.
    Then she carried her small tote bag into the attached bathroom where she quickly washed her face and cleaned her teeth, changed into her cotton tank top and flannel pajama pants, and padded barefoot back to the bed.
    Which side of the bed did Drew like?
    She felt her skin flush just from having the question enter her mind and chewing on her lip, she jerked back the downy-light comforter to reveal crisp white sheets with a lovely embroidered edge.
    She would have sighed with purely feminine appreciation for the