"Sure?" I say. Lightning fast, I make a calculation. I figure if I stretch the cord on the handset far enough, I'll be halfway to my bedroom before I buzz him up. That should give me enough time to pull on something that makes me look halfway decent.
"Great." Tony must be down there wondering just how slow someone can be when it comes to buzzing someone up. There's only so long I can delay it. I glance over my shoulder to my bedroom door and press the entry button.
Darting forward, I ditch the handset, not caring that it clatters to the floor. I'm already whipping my nightshirt off, yanking open my drawers to find something to shove over my t-shirt bra. I fling a cami onto the bed, but realize there's no way I want Tony seeing me in my PJ pants either.
"Oh, crap."
I tug out a sundress from the closet and pull it over my head, wiggling it down over my chest and hips, thankful that I waxed my legs. The stretchy fabric and wrap-over style makes me feel feminine and the skirt flares out, all full, and it's a million times better than the slob look, even if I haven't had time to run a comb through my hair. Tousled, that's a thing, right? I hope he thinks so.
I breathe out a sigh of relief that I've averted disaster as I tug my PJ pants off, but a glance in the mirror shows the line of my bra showing above the neckline of my dress.
Out in the hall there's a solid knock on the front door and I grimace at my reflection. I don't have time for this. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Without another thought, I whip my bra off and toss it down onto the bed.
In a rush, I pull my bedroom door closed on the carnage I've just created and it's only when I ram the intercom headset back into the cradle and yank the front door open that I realize I'm still wearing my fuzzy socks. Self consciously, I push my unruly hair back behind my ears and pull on my best, biggest grin. So much for playing it cool. Every time I look at Tony, my heart rate goes crazy and the world doesn't seem so bad.
Tony
I feel my pupils dilate, lust taking over, as soon as I set eyes on Libby. I can't stop myself from taking in the teasing bounce of her soft breasts beneath the stretchy material of her dress. She can't know what she does to me. But maybe she has some idea.
Her nipples are standing upright, pointing straight out like they're honed in on me, and there's nothing I can do to stop my cock from doing exactly the same thing in return. She's got a breathless kind of flush to her cheeks that makes me think about what she'd look like on my bed, underneath me, crying out my name as I show her all the ways I want to worship her.
Out of her bakery uniform, out of that shapeless coverall that hides every tempting curve, she's even better than I remember and it's all I can do to stop myself from pushing her up against the wall and claiming her right there and then.
"Hey," she says, and I'm damn near hypnotized by the way her teeth find her plump lower lip.
She looks up at me with her wide, perfect blue eyes and the ability to string a sentence together leaves me. I can just about speak caveman. That I'm sure of. But she deserves better than that.
"Hey. How you doin'?" I ask, finally finding my words.
"Me? Oh, I'm fine. I'm good. You didn't have to check up on me. Those guys are just jackasses."
My jaw clenches and I can't stop the growl that the memory of those idiots conjures. Never again is anyone going to make the mistake of thinking Libby's fair game. She won't be when she's mine and that's only a matter of time. As little time as I can make it.
"They shouldn't have said that shit. They won't say it again."
Her cheeks flare red and she looks down sharply, like she doesn't even want me bringing this up. Does she think I'd think that those idiots were right? I step towards her, driven by a surge of protectiveness like I've never felt for anyone in my life. "Listen to me. They're jackasses, just like you said."
Libby still doesn't look up, but she does nod slowly. "I know," she says quietly.
I'm not all that convinced that she believes what she's saying. "Libby…" I say, tilting up her chin so that she has no choice but to meet my eyes and immediately my focus goes to the plump swell of her lips all over again. "Listen to me. You could have anyone you damn well want and they'd be lucky to have you."
Her eyes shy away from mine, cutting sideways. "Oh that's really not true."
"Yeah?" I clench my jaw again, green with the idea that she already has a guy she likes. Well, I'll just have to show her how much of a better choice I am. "Well he's a jackass too. You want me to take him down a peg or two?"
Libby's lips press in on each other and she finally looks up to meet my gaze
