Night Whispers - Leslie Kelly [47]
He looked magnificent.
Mitch’s thick, dark brown hair was tied back into a short ponytail with a strip of leather. She hadn’t made that suggestion, but it worked perfectly, giving him even more of a rakish piratical appearance. He was unshaved, his face dark and lean, giving him a dangerous look. The white shirt gaped open, exposing the crisp dark hair on his hard chest, and her eyes followed the vee down almost to his waist. The tight red sash emphasized his lean build, and the black pants…well, if she started thinking too much about what Mitch looked like in those black pants, they’d never get to the ball.
“What do you think?”
“You look gorgeous…tall, dark and dangerous,” she admitted weakly.
He flashed her a boyish grin, and said, “I have to admit I do feel very Errol Flynn-ish. You and Celia did a great job. Where on earth did you find this stuff?”
“Just lucky, I guess. Some of it we put together ourselves, and some I got in the mall. I found the boots in a thrift shop.”
“Wait a minute,” he said, at last noticing the cape that covered her from the top of her head to her knees. “I want to see your costume.”
“No time,” she retorted. “We’ve got to go. And it’s raining a little. I don’t want to mess up my hair.”
Mitch frowned at her, but Kelsey ignored him and grabbed the bag she’d left sitting by the front door.
“What’s this?”
“Just some props. Finishing touches to my masterpiece.”
Kelsey rushed downstairs, glad to hear the rain still hitting the windows. It had given her the perfect excuse to wear the concealing cape. Mitch put his own coat on and opened the door, then glanced down and noticed her shoes.
“What do you have on your feet?”
Kelsey wore flat brown leather sandals. Instead of a buckle, they fastened with two long strips of leather, which she’d wound around her ankles and up her calves.
“Sandals, why?” she asked, offering no explanation.
Mitch sighed, glanced at her feet, then at the soggy yard. Not bothering to ask, he bent and picked her up in his arms. She gasped. He shouldered the front door open, and dashed with her across the front yard to his car. She didn’t utter so much as a word as he quickly opened the car door and sat her in the passenger seat.
As they drove toward the harbor, Kelsey began having second thoughts. What if Mitch outright refused to go along with it? It wouldn’t really matter, she supposed. They would both still be in costume, though hers might look a little strange. His pirate outfit would be fine. In fact, she acknowledged, this whole thing might blow up right in her face. Because if he balked at using her “props,” he would very likely be a target for every single woman in the place, Amanda included. She wished for a moment that she hadn’t done such a good job on his costume.
“Looks like a big crowd,” he said when they pulled up to the hotel entrance and he stopped in front of the valet parking stand. “Do you see anyone from work?”
Kelsey glanced through the raindrops on the car windshield and saw several costumed party goers. A man dressed in a green Godzilla costume stood out, but everyone else was indistinguishable.
The hotel was an elegant structure that had stood in the downtown area for probably forty years or more. Kelsey had read that the building had recently been renovated, and the interior gleamed. Casting an appreciative eye around the plush lobby, she noted a few costumed guests mingling in one corner, while a family with two impatient children checked in at the front desk. Leather sofas were arranged in intimate groupings, and a couple sat whispering to each other in one of them. An impeccably uniformed porter bustled toward the elevator, while sparkling lights reflecting off the crystal chandelier danced across his mauve uniform.
Mitch moved toward the coat check, but Kelsey caught hold of his sleeve. “Could you come here for a minute? I need to finish setting us up.”
“Setting us up?”
Kelsey