Skintight by Susan Andersen Read Free Book Online Page B

makeup.
    Despite her best intentions, Treena knew Julie-Ann had introduced a faint niggle of unease into her anticipation. It disappeared, however, the moment she clapped eyes on Jax when she entered the main salon a short while later.
    He straightened away from the pillar he’d been leaning against, his gaze frankly admiring her. “Yowsa,” he said, stepping forward to meet her. “You look fantastic.”
    â€œThanks. You’re looking mighty spiff, yourself.” And he was. Carly’s description of big and built accurately described him in his pin-striped, double-breasted suit coat that stretched wide across his broad shoulders. Once again he was wearing jeans, but tonight he’d paired the two items with an elegantly knotted, subtly striped silk tie and a fitted royal blue dress shirt that accentuated the shade of his eyes.
    â€œThank you, ma’am.” He ran his finger beneath the tie. “Believe me, this is strictly in your honor. I don’t know who invented these things, but if you ask me they oughtta be shot.”
    She laughed. “Poor baby,” she said without an iota of sympathy. “But you’re a gambling man. I’ll see your necktie and raise you the average bra anytime. You dragged that out for a special occasion? Try wearingsomething that digs grooves in your hide twelve to eighteen hours a day, every day of the week.”
    His gaze dropped to the wide scoop of her bodice where it culminated in a deep V between her breasts. “Not a particular problem for you tonight, I see.”
    Doing her best to ignore the sudden heat flashing through all her secret places, she shot him a grin. “Yeah, well, if only one of us gets to be comfortable, I vote it’s me.”
    â€œThat seems fair.” He took her elbow and escorted her out onto the street. The night sky was a rich midnight blue, and a balmy desert breeze whispered gently through the palms. “Now, this is more like it,” he said in satisfaction. “I’m afraid I’ve lost my ability to adapt to triple-digit-degree weather.” He looked from the neon-lit Strip to her tall-heeled, strappy sandals. “What do you think? Can you walk to the Aladdin in those things? I can always call for a car.”
    She made a rude noise. “Please. I can play basketball in these. Walking a few blocks is a piece of cake.”
    â€œIf you say so,” he said skeptically. “Forget the necktie and bra. If you ask me, those have gotta be the real torture device.” Then his gaze rose slowly from his contemplation of her ankles, grazing her calves, her knees and her thighs, before continuing higher. His eyes were an intense and brilliant hue that pinned hers in place when they finally reached her face. “But I have to admit they make your legs look fabulous.” He glanced down at the fringe that swung against the limbs under discussion. “Or maybe it’s your legs that make the shoes look sexier ’n sin.”
    â€œOh, man, you’re dangerous, you know that? I cansee I’m going to have to stay on my toes if I want to avoid getting swept right off my feet.”
    He arched a brow. “Like you don’t come equipped with an arsenal all your own? What do you call those shoes, that dress, those lips? Honey, I have a feeling you were born loaded for bear. I’m the one who’d better stay on my toes here or I won’t stand a chance.”
    His voice went flat on the last sentence, but when she shot him a questioning glance, he gave her a rueful smile and shrugged. “Sorry. Had a sudden flashback there to my geeky, gawky teenage years.”
    â€œOh, sure,” she said doubtfully. “Like I’m supposed to believe a big, good-looking guy like you wasn’t overrun with more girls than you knew what to do with? You were probably captain of the football team, beating off perky little cheerleaders with a stick.”
    Jax