“Wow,” Joyce said, “that’s a gorgeous dress.”
“I love yours, too.” Noticing that the photographers were already pointing their cameras her way, Tatiana asked, “Where would you like me to go? Maybe I could stand over there, in front of the foundation’s logo?”
“That would be amazing. Thank you so much for doing this.”
“I’d like to do more, but hopefully this will be a good start.”
Joyce took her coat and Tatiana smiled for the flashing cameras that immediately surrounded her. She’d never stood in front of the press in quite so revealing a dress, and she could still feel the flutter of nerves inside, but amazingly, instead of wishing she could hide or cover up, she realized with some surprise that she felt beautiful.
Truly beautiful.
She’d posed for photographers a hundred times at premieres and other industry events and fundraisers, but she’d never felt quite so radiant, as though she could look down and find her skin sparkling.
Because despite the words they’d thrown at each other that morning, nothing could erase the beauty of the night she and Ian had shared. Every moment they’d been together—kissing in his office, making love in his bed, seducing each other in his bathtub—Ian had made her feel radiantly beautiful.
As a little girl Tatiana had been cute. As a teenager, cute had shifted to pretty. But now that Ian had made her his, she finally felt like a woman, inside and out.
* * *
Ian looked up from his conversation at the sudden commotion. All the invited members of the press were leaving the main ballroom at the same time to head out to the entrance hall. Instantly, he knew why they were all so excited. So thrilled.
Because it was exactly the way he’d always felt whenever Tatiana was near.
She was standing in the entry in front of the foundation’s banner, already surrounded by photographers. Between the circus her life had to have become the day after her Oscar nomination and the way things had been left between them that morning, he’d been absolutely certain she wouldn’t show. Any other woman would have stayed away, would have nursed her fury at him, or at least celebrated her own success by letting the world fawn over her.
But not only had Tatiana kept her word by coming to the fundraiser...she looked positively incredible. Through the excited crowd he could catch only flashes of her beautiful face, her long, red-blond hair curling softly over one shoulder, but it was enough to see that she was glowing. Sensual. Sparkling.No one would ever guess that just hours before, she’d cried as she walked home in the rain. She’d tried to hide her tears, but he’d seen them, and knowing he was the reason for them only made him more convinced that he needed to stay away from her.
He’d already hurt one woman by thinking he was capable of giving her the love she needed, only to neglect her when he just didn’t have it in him to be a true husband or partner. Ian would never forgive himself if he did anything more to damage Tatiana’s bright, positive outlook on life and love. She not only deserved love, but she also deserved to find it with a guy who would devote everything he was to her.
After a long while, when it was clear that the photographers would never feel that they had enough pictures of her, Joyce carefully escorted Tatiana away from the group.
That was when Ian finally saw what she was wearing.
Almost nothing.
Her dress was barely more than a shiny scrap of gold fabric. Thin straps hung from her shoulders as if by a thread above a bodice that dipped way too low and clung much too tightly to her luscious br**sts. A slim belt wrapped around her waist, and the shimmering fabric highlighted her hourglass figure as it hugged her hips. And her legs...
Lord, how was he ever going to forget what it felt like to have her perfect legs wrapped around him as she urged him to take her harder, faster? As she’d begged for more.
He’d seen pictures of her in the past with his cousin at their film premiere and had been in Napa with her at the family wedding months earlier. But he’d never seen her wear something so revealing, so purely sensual.
Last night, especially once he’d realized the harsh way he’d taken her virginity, he’d wanted to make it up to her by showing her the kind of deep pleasure her body was capable of. Of course, he’d desperately wanted to know her pleasures for himself, too.
Tonight, she was embracing her sensuality in a way she never had before. And if he saw it, Ian knew everyone else must see it, too.
She was still elegant, still sweet...but overlying both was pure sex.
He’d believed—or hoped, at least—that as soon as they’d had a few hours to cool off away from each other, he’d be able to think things through in the same calculated manner he would an investment gone wrong. That way, he could make the necessary corrections to set everything straight again and minimize loss and suffering for everyone involved.
Only, despite the fact that he hadn’t seen her since that morning, and that his day in the office had been one of the busiest he could remember, Tatiana hadn’t been out of his thoughts for one single second.
All day long, he’d thought about the way she’d trusted him with both her heart and body. He’d replayed, again and again, the way she’d laughed in the bathtub with him. He’d remembered how perfectly she’d fit against him as she’d fallen asleep in his arms. And his gut had twisted every time he’d remembered the way her face had fallen when he’d hurt her in the morning.
He’d sworn up and down that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her more. He’d vowed to remain rational no matter what. And, he’d promised himself he wouldn’t give in to the desperate urge to kiss her, to make love with her, ever again...even if it damn near killed him.