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My heart skittered as I realized he was wearing a beautiful dark suit with a green and charcoal colored tie. Jett was the kind of guy who could own anything he was wearing. He looked just as comfortable in a suit as he did in a pair of jeans, and I was pretty sure the green in the tie would match his eyes.
I froze as he finally looked up and saw me, noticing that I’d been right. The gorgeous green in his tie really did match his eyes.
He dropped his phone in his pocket, and then got up slowly, his intense stare never leaving me as he stood.
“What in the hell did you do?” he said gutturally.
“You don’t like it,” I said as I finally moved, my shoulders slumping as I moved toward him. “I was trying something new, something that looked nicer than jeans, but less fussy than what I have in my wardrobe,” I added, trying to sound upbeat when I actually felt crushed.
He reached out and fingered a fat curl as I stopped in front of him. “Mission accomplished,” he said in a low, sexy baritone. “You look stunning, Ruby.”
“But?” I questioned, knowing something wasn’t right.
“But I’ll be fighting every guy who so much as looks at you,” he said in a husky tone. “Because I’ll know that when they look at all that beautiful skin you’re showing, they’ll be thinking about getting you naked.”
My heart thumped against my chest wall, and my body started to tremble as he ran a finger along my bare shoulder.
“The only guy I want to notice me is you,” I said breathlessly. “I wanted you to be proud of the woman you’re with. I tried on everything in my wardrobe, but none of them felt like me.”
He tipped my chin up so our eyes connected. “I’ve always noticed you,” he said firmly. “And you’ve always been beautiful. But tonight—you take my breath away. And I should have known better than to try to buy you clothes. I can send them all back.”
I sighed as I fell into his beautiful eyes, unable to look away. “I was afraid you didn’t like the new look. Not that I’m going to look this way every day,” I said hurriedly. “I’m not a fussy kind of female. But I did like the manicure. My nails were a mess.”
He took a lock of my hair between his fingers. “And what did they do to your hair?”
“They had to cut it to get it healthy again. All my ends were split and dry.”
“I’ll pay for all of this, Ruby. I should have thought about it before now,” he said regretfully.
I smiled at him. “You did pay for it. I had to take money from my savings. But I’ll put it back. And we need to talk about you putting that kind of money into my savings account,” I informed him. “I nearly had heart failure.”
“Not tonight,” he said hoarsely, his eyes still glued to me. “I’m going to have the most beautiful woman in the world on my arm. I want to savor that.”
I fake punched him in the upper arm. “Okay, now it’s getting pretty thick,” I teased. “But I’m glad you think I look acceptable. It’s nice to feel like a woman for once.”
“You need a coat,” he said. “We’ll be on the water.”
“I didn’t quite get that far,” I confessed. “And I definitely didn’t need one in Miami.”
“I have some female stuff in the last bedroom at the very end of the hallway upstairs. But I’m not sure if she left a coat,” he said thoughtfully.
“I refuse to wear anything that bitch left here,” I said before I could censor my words.
But I wasn’t at all sorry I said them. I’d rather freeze than wear anything that Jett’s ex had worn with him.
He took my hand and tugged me toward the elevator. “I don’t think Dani is really a bitch. But my sister definitely has her moments.” He punched the elevator button once we were safely inside.
“Oh, God. I’m sorry. I guess I immediately thought about…” My voice trailed off in embarrassment.
He was grinning at me. “My kitten has claws,” he drawled.
“I don’t like what she did to you,” I said firmly.
He leaned closer. “Are you trying to protect me, Ruby?”