The Cinderella Deal - Jennifer Crusie [70]
When she left the bathroom, Linc was waiting on the landing.
Daisy was wearing something that looked like a black lace bathing suit that didn’t have a bottom, and she had on black bikinis underneath it, and Linc felt dizzy just looking at all that black lace on the body he loved. “Well, that’s interesting,” he said. “How does it come off?”
“Hooks.” Daisy moved past him into the bedroom. “Lots of hooks. You can play with it after the show.”
Linc moved into the doorway and watched her slip on her stockings, smoothing them over her full calves and thighs. “I may not be able to wait until after the show. Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”
“All the time.” She smiled up at him faintly. “Usually I’m undressed when you mention it.”
“That’s because every time I get near you, I undress you.”
“I love you.” She stopped fumbling with her garters and looked up at him, and her voice was intense. “I really love you. More than anything or anyone. I’ll be anything you need me to be.”
Linc tried to pull himself out of the haze the black lace had brought on. She was telling him something important here, and he wasn’t getting it. “I don’t need you to be anything but Daisy Blaise.” Her face crumpled a little, so he moved to the bed and pulled her onto his slap. “Don’t be scared, Magnolia. Everything’s going to go fine tonight. You’re a terrific painter, and after tonight everybody will know that.”
“I know.” Daisy scrambled off his lap. “Wait until you see this dress.”
He watched her bend over to finish her garters and felt the buzz return. “I’m already crazy about the underwear.”
Daisy pulled on a black lace slip, smoothing it over her hips, and he wanted to help her. Then she jerked a dress off the hanger and pulled it over her head, turning her back to him so he could zip her up. It was depressing watching all that warm flesh and black lace disappear as he eased the zipper up, but what went up would come down again, and he could wait.
Then she turned and held out her arms to show him the dress. “What do you think?”
Linc had spent a lot of time with a lot of women, and he wasn’t stupid. “You look great,” he said, but he thought, What the hell is she doing in a dress like that? It looks like something Caroline would wear.
“Good.” Daisy turned to her mirror. “I think I look adult and respectable.”
“Absolutely,” Linc said. She did look adult and respectable. He hated it. “You ready to go?”
“I’ll be right down.” She picked up her brush and started on her hair.
“What are you doing?”
“My hair. Go on. I’ll be down in a minute.”
Linc left, feeling very uneasy, and he felt worse when she came downstairs. She’d pulled her hair back into a tight knot on her neck. The black velvet bow that kept her curls imprisoned framed her face like black wings. She looked pale and forbidding and cold and unhappy.
“Daisy,” he began, and then stopped. It was her night. If that was the way she wanted to look, that was the way she could look. “Let’s go, Magnolia. You look great.”
The gallery was full when they got there, and Bill grabbed Linc as he and Daisy walked through the door. “Where have you been?”
Linc jerked his head at Daisy, who had moved past them and into the gallery. “Nerves. Don’t say anything. She’s terrified.”
Bill squinted at her and frowned. “Why is she dressed like Morticia Addams?”
“I don’t know.” Linc spread his arms helplessly. “She’s been nuts for a couple of weeks now. I can’t wait until this is over and things go back the way they were.”
“Don’t count on it.” Bill grinned at him. “Daisy’s a hit. We’re almost sold out already. I’ve had a couple of offers on your portraits too. Huge offers. Will you sell?”
“My portrait? Absolutely not.” Linc grinned, remembering Christmas. “It was my second-best Christmas present.”
“The first one must have been a beauty,” Bill said. “How about the other one?”
“What other one?”
“Whichever