Lucie couldn’t believe it had already been a week since Reid moved in. The days had been a whirlwind of physical therapy sessions for him and beautification appointments for her. She’d had her hair trimmed with some long layers added in, which she really liked and had felt foolish for worrying about so much. It wasn’t until they did the foil highlights, making her into an aluminum Medusa, that she had an anxiety attack. Thankfully the girl knew her stuff and the subtle caramel streaks gave her darker brown a beautiful depth she hadn’t known was possible.
After that her brows were waxed, shaped, and plucked to the extent she thought her eyes would never stop watering. When it came time for her nails she’d had to admit to never doing anything other than trim them when they got too long, which made the nail technician place a hand over her heart and look at her like she was a charity case off the streets before setting to work. Now they were filed, devoid of excess cuticles, she hadn’t even known that was a thing, and polished a dark purple called Extreme Eggplant that sounded less like a color and more like a dish on Iron Chef America.
On top of all that, Reid handed her over to Trixie at the Nordstrom’s makeup counter with instructions to give Lucie a How-To for every possible life situation. After learning how to apply everything from a five-minute dash of color to an evening look to a dramatic photo shoot session, Lucie was confident she could moonlight as a makeup artist for a morgue or circus if the economy tanked. Though some of the lessons were obviously unnecessary, she gave Trixie her head and let her have fun. Her excitement had been too endearing to crush with the reality that only a quarter of what she taught would ever see the light of day. Or night.
However, at the end of the week, Lucie had to admit that she looked almost…beautiful. It was crazy the difference some slight adjustments in her beauty regimen could make. Or, to be more exact, acquiring any sort of beauty regimen at all.
“Gorgeous.”
Lucie spun around from the full-length mirror in her bedroom to find Reid leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed over his chest, the elastic cuffs of his black polo stretched to their limits over his biceps. The deep arcs and swirls of his tattoo seemed to extend from his shirt, making it look more like futuristic armor rather than a mere cotton blend. His dark jeans encased his muscular thighs and fell straight to bunch at the hem around his bare feet. She’d learned over the last week that he didn’t put socks or shoes on until he absolutely had to. And with that came the accompanying lesson of how sexy a man in jeans and bare feet was.
He pulled off the polished bad-boy look flawlessly. His hair was brushed into his usual style, but tonight the tips ended in a small peak over his forehead drawing her attention to his intense eyes. Tonight he wore earrings; square-cut diamonds that somehow managed to make him more manly, not less. When she’d cataloged every last detail and finally let her brain acknowledge the whole package, her mouth dried up and she had to swallow hard before she was able to speak.
“You look pretty good yourself,” she said. “But I still don’t know why you want to come to Lizzie’s baby shower with me.” Lizzie was one of the best nurses on staff at NNMC and was a month away from having her first child, so her friends and coworkers were throwing her a shower at a swanky steakhouse. “You’re going to be bored out of your mind.”
He pushed off the frame and crossed into the room. “I’m never bored. I always manage to entertain myself one way or another. Come on, we’re already going to be late.”
Lucie glanced at the clock on her nightstand, confirming their tardiness. “Crap!”
He chuckled as she raced to her closet to snatch her heels and purse. “Relax. Cinderella’s supposed to be late to the ball so everyone notices her when she walks in.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” she said as she hopped on one shoed foot while trying to make the other side match with little success.
“Here, let me.” Reid took the silver shoe from her and lowered himself to one knee. She stood holding onto the bedpost, mesmerized by his hands as they helped slip the shoe on her foot. The warmth of his fingers as they grazed her ankle sent shivers up her leg and spread through her sex as though he’d touched it directly.
He held her foot on his thigh with one hand while the other opened, releasing a silver chain he’d been hiding in his palm to dangle from where he held the end. Surprise left her speechless as she watched him wrap it around her ankle and clasp it in place.
The delicate chain was practically weightless, and she wondered if she’d feel it at all if it wasn’t for the charm and beads attached to the small links. In the front, a small silver bird in flight hung from the chain. Crystalline beads of sky blue dangled every inch or so, completing the piece with a classic beauty.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “But you’ve gotten me so much already, Reid. You don’t need to keep getting me things.”
“I know, but as soon as I saw it I thought of you.”
“Really? Why?”