Carmen glanced at Alex and he grinned at her.
"Still hungry?"
"I am!" Jonathan proclaimed. "Are we going to have pizza for lunch?"
Carmen stepped around Alex, smiling up at him.
"I thought ... maybe spaghetti?"
He laughed and slapped her playfully on the backside.
"Pizza it is," he said to Jonathan, but his amused gaze clung to Carmen's. "Lets take them out for lunch and then to Katie and Bill's house. I want to finish some paperwork before we leave for the reunion."
At least he was planning on attending. He wasn't too keen on the idea when she first told him about it. She could hardly blame him. He wouldn't know anyone there. She told him she wanted to show him off. In a way, that was true. Alex was quite a treasure and she was proud of him, but the truth was, this was the first time she had been in charge of anything so detailed and she wanted his support. Maybe he knew that. He was pretty intuitive.
After they dropped the children off and returned home, Alex worked in his office while Carmen took a shower and started getting ready. Katie had helped her pick out the dress. It was the first time she had worn a long dress, but Katie assured her it would make her look taller. Carmen had selected the black sandal heels for that purpose as well. The black dress was fitted and had off-the-shoulder sleeves. A slit ran down the side from a little above her knee. She left her hair down, brushing it until the long blonde curls shined. Surveying herself in the mirror, she decided that the hanging pearl earrings would set off a little brooch Alex had given her. She was searching in the jewelry box for it when Alex came into the bedroom.
He stopped and whistled his appreciation.
"You look lovelier than ever tonight."
She smiled up at him. "Thank you. I thought that little broach you gave me would look nice on this dress."
She continued her search and finally found it.
"Here, let me help you," Alex said.
After pinning it on her dress, he pulled her close.
"We have almost an hour before it starts. Why don't we take advantage of this time alone?"
She met his hopeful gaze. "It would take me that long to look like this again."
He lifted a brow. "Well ... it would be worth it, wouldn't it?"
She wrinkled her nose at him. "I don't want to be late."