Smiling at him, she spoke into the cell, saying, “Could I think about it, please?...Tomorrow? That soon...All right. I’ll call you back in the morning...Yes, thank you... Okay, you, too.” She disconnected and put the phone back in the wrist holder. “You all done?”
Curiosity gnawed on him. “Yeah. I’m supposed to help teach the self-defense class, though.” Mostly he’d volunteered since Vanity was taking the class.
“With that arm,” she said, appearing concerned, “you should maybe sit it out.”
“It’s fine.” He got her back on track. “Important call?”
“What? Oh, no. Not important. Just...” She bit her lip. “Another offer for modeling.”
“Yeah?” It distracted him, seeing how good she looked sweaty. She’d braided her long hair, but loose wisps clung to her damp neck and temples. Every breath filled his head with her intensified scent. “Where at this time?”
She didn’t meet his gaze. “Remember that pajama ad?”
“At the lingerie store.” He didn’t like where this was going. “Yeah?”
She cleared her throat. “Right. Same place.”
A sort of edgy possessiveness crawled over him. “More pajamas?” He hoped.
“Not this time, no.” Somewhat defiantly, she met his gaze. “This would be tasteful underthings.”
“Underthings?”
Hand in the air, she gestured. “Yeah, you know. Bras and panties.”
Stack just stared at her.
“It’s a new line of animal prints. Really pretty.”
There were no words. Vanity in slinky little panties in a magazine where everyone could see her? He shook his head but stayed silent, unsure what he should or could say.
She slipped in closer, and now that they were both sweaty, he didn’t mind. “Do you think I should—”
“No.”
“No?”
Damn it, he didn’t want to admit how much it mattered to him. “Do you want to?”
“I’m not sure. I enjoy modeling. It’s fun.” She scrunched up her nose. “But I have to admit, I’m a little squeamish about everyone seeing me in a bra and panties. I mean, it’d cover as much as a bikini, and being from California, I wore a lot of bikinis. But still...”
He nodded, agreed. “Still.”
Looking beyond him at the crowded rec center, she said, “You think the guys here—”
“Yes.” And then he added, “Definitely.”
“You didn’t let me finish.”
“Didn’t need to.” The dam burst, and somehow, he couldn’t get himself to shut up. “No, you shouldn’t model lingerie even though—maybe especially because—you’ll look amazing in it, and, yes, every dude here would know, would have a copy of the mag, and would probably keep it under his fucking pillow so he could—”
She smashed a hand over his mouth, red-faced but laughing.
Stack bit her finger, making her jump. Holding her face, he leaned down, his forehead to hers. “You’re about the hottest woman I’ve ever known.”
“Looks shouldn’t matter so much.”
“They don’t.” Not entirely, anyway. “When it comes to you, I like the whole package.”
Pleased, she smiled up at him.
“But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re gorgeous.” He pressed his mouth to hers for a firm kiss. “I don’t mean to overstep, but damn, darlin’, I don’t want every guy here ogling you.”
“Honestly, I don’t really want that either.”
Thank God. “So you’ll skip the panty pics?”
Laughing, she nodded. “Yes, I’ll skip them. I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about it anyway.”
Stack gave quick thought to leaving the rec center early. He wanted her. Right now. He was considering ways to convince her when the front door opened.
Standing in the doorway, holding it open and letting in a gust of cold air, Armie spoke to two women. They were both cute, one with short, spiky red hair, the other a blonde with purple streaks. “Go on now,” Armie told the ladies. “I have work to do.”
“You promise you’ll show up?”
“Yeah, yeah.” He started to ease the door shut on them. “I’ll be there.”
“Tomorrow, eight o’clock.”
He tapped his temple. “Locked away the details. I won’t forget.” The door was almost closed.