“I’m pissed! That bitch deliberately took the things she knew would hurt Shelby the most. Reece, you better press charges, because Shelby won’t. She never does.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about it this time. As I said, she’s as angry as you are. But,” he added when she made a sound of protest, “if she won’t do it, I will.”
A knock drew his attention to the still partly open door, and he spotted two uniformed officers. “I have to go. The cops are here.”
He spent the next half hour answering the police’s questions as best he could, and then it was Shelby’s turn. He was half afraid she’d lost her nerve, but she was steadfast in that she wanted to press charges. The cops left with a list of the items taken and a picture of Katrina Bremer.
Shelby stood in the middle of the living room after they left, staring at the mess. “I wish we had time to clean this up, but we have to finish getting ready. We’re already going to be late.”
With that, she retreated back to her bedroom.
Reece watched her go and considered following, but shook his head to dislodge the idea. She wasn’t going to let him blow off the gala, even as much as he now wanted to. Stubborn woman.
He made sure the door was locked, then went to his own bathroom. It didn’t take him long to shower and change into his tux, though he left the bowtie undone around his neck. As he strode down the hall toward the living room, Shelby called out to him. He backtracked, peeked in her room. She wasn’t there, but the bathroom door was open so he walked over—and stopped dead in his tracks in the doorway. Her gown was black with a back that dipped almost indecently low, held together by dainty chains. And for a heartbeat he was struck dumb. She looked amazing. Sleek and sexy without being over the top.
Before he realized he was moving, he stepped forward and trailed a knuckle down her spine. “Shelby…”
The note of heat in his voice made her legs go to gelatin, and she suppressed a shiver of pure desire.
Get a grip, girl.
She needed to focus. So many of his recent problems were her fault—the blackmail, the fire at his parents’ house, and now she’d allowed her mother to rob him—but she was going to make up for it by going to the gala and playing the part of a perfect wife tonight. And she refused to put Wilde Security in further jeopardy all because the sound of his voice sent her hormones into hyper drive.
Forcing a smile she didn’t feel, she held out her tube of makeup. “Can you help me cover up the tattoos on my back? This dress dips too low, and I can’t reach to do it.”
He didn’t move. “We should cancel tonight.”
She lifted her gaze, met his in the mirror over the sink. “You know that’s not a good idea, especially since we slipped away from dinner early the other night.”
He hesitated, then took the tube from her like it would blow up in his hand. She laughed softly and handed him the application sponge. “All you have to do is squeeze some on the sponge, then rub it on. Just make sure it’s an even layer so it covers everything.”
Scooping up her hair, she turned her back to him and waited. But he still didn’t move, just stood there frowning, the makeup in one hand and the sponge in the other.
She let her hair drop again and faced him. “What’s wrong?”
“What if you don’t cover them?”
She pressed a hand to his forehead. “Are you running a fever?”
“What?” Scowling, he waved her hand away. “No, of course not.”
“Are you sure? Because you’re obviously delirious. I can’t show up to an opera fundraiser covered in ink.” When his scowl only deepened, she sighed and clasped his cheeks in her hands. “Hey, we’ve come this far, right? Might as well see it through to the end.”
“What if I don’t want it to end?”
Her heart bungeed all the way down to her toes and back up into her throat. She dropped her hands and tried to back up a step, but the sink was blocking her escape. “Don’t be silly. Of course it has to end. East and west, remember?”
“You’re forgetting the rest of the poem,” Reece said softly and set aside the makeup. His hands wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her closer. “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat; But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, when two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth.”
She couldn’t look at him, not when he stared at her like that, with such earnest intensity. “I’m not a man.”
“But you’re strong. One of the strongest people I’ve ever met. We’re opposites, there’s no denying it. East and west, night and day. But we’re also equals, and I’m starting to think we might be two different halves of the same whole.” He caught her chin, lifted it until she could no longer avoid his gaze. He stared into her eyes like he was trying to see into her soul. “I don’t want this to end.”
Oh, God. He was serious.
She shrugged away from him and turned back toward the mirror. “We need to hurry or we’re going to be late.”