Drinking in Sloan’s confident, cocky grin as he addressed the crowd, she wished her future would keep her with Sloan.
Patrick left her side to join the other designers as Sloan introduced them. They looked like a melting pot of styles side by side, but the combination had been wildly successful. The standing ovation was proof positive.
Standing alone in the wings, Ziara’s heart warmed with gratitude. Sloan had attained success, just as he deserved. He’d been right and she and Vivian had been wrong. In the end he’d saved the company they all loved.
Catching a change in Sloan’s voice drew her focus back to him.
“There’s one other person I must thank for making tonight the success it is. Not only did she work tirelessly behind the scenes, she played mediator, organizer and even stagehand.”
Ziara’s heart thumped so loudly Sloan’s next words were almost blocked out. “But most importantly, she served as the inspiration behind some of my new lingerie pieces. She taught me a very important lesson—the most amazing thing you can do in life is to be true to yourself. Not what people want you to be, the mold they shove you into, but to be what you want in life. That’s the greatest challenge. She encouraged me to create some of the designs you saw tonight, and it’s one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done. I hope my father would be proud.”
He turned, staring straight at the spot where she trembled backstage. Gooseflesh prickled her bare arms as she listened.
“Please welcome Ziara Divan, my executive assistant at Eternity Designs.”
When his hand extended toward her, she knew he meant for her to join him. Her mind was numb, yet she forced one leaden foot in front of another. As she stepped from the shadows out into the bright lights and applause, her mind came alive, racing with a dozen questions.
She ignored them, intent on reaching Sloan’s side to slip her shaking hand into his outstretched one. Leaning down, he buried his head once again in the hair near her ear. “I love you, Ziara.”
She shook her head, pulling back to stare with wonder into those glittering blue eyes. “What about—” she began in fear.
Sloan silenced her with one warm finger against her lips.
She heard the crowd erupt into applause, but she could only lose herself in Sloan’s hot gaze and hope the fears would disappear like mist under the heat of his desire.
* * *
Later that night, long after the last guest was gone and the last dress packed away, Sloan found himself enjoying a very different kind of show in the privacy of his luxurious bathroom.
“Sloan, I really can’t do this.”
“Ziara, look at me.” Sloan gently cupped her chin, guiding it up so she could watch the two of them in the full-length mirror. He knew she didn’t want to see herself, but he wasn’t going to let her hide. His gaze devoured her sensuous curves in the coppery silk. He probably shouldn’t push her tonight, after everything she’d been through at the show, but part of him needed her to see the truth.
When he’d said she had been the inspiration for his lingerie pieces, he hadn’t been lying. But this particular piece had been created for her—and him—alone. Like layered veils of transparent copper, burnt-orange, pale yellow and gold, the floor-length sheath both covered and revealed the curves of her body. Tempting him with her exotic beauty, showcasing the woman she was meant to be.
“Are you your mother?”
Her sharp intake of breath threatened to strain the zipper, but he wasn’t backing down.
“Answer me.”
“No, not even a little bit,” she said, her assurance translating to her body. Her shoulders straightened. Her tension dissolved.
“Are you a beautiful woman who deserves to wear pretty things? Who wants to see how strong and sexy she is?”
Swallowing hard, her constrained voice came out a whisper. “Yes.”
“Then wear this. For me.”
Sloan let his eyes wander down her reflection. Luscious mounds of plump flesh overflowed the cups. While the effect wasn’t quite pornographic, his body responded by tightening immediately, hard and throbbing. He’d fantasized about Ziara in various pieces of the lingerie he’d designed, but they hadn’t gotten around to her wearing any for him. The reality was more spectacular than he’d imagined.
Unable to wait any longer, he did the one thing he’d been dying to since he’d seen her backstage earlier that evening—covered her lips with his own.
She pulled back way too soon. “Please understand, I didn’t do this for any other reason—” He could almost hear her throat close, hear the fear she hid inside.
He knew of only one way to convince her of his love, to prove how much she deserved to be cherished and respected. That he wanted to be with her for an entire lifetime. Only one way to break through her barriers and convince the woman within.