“I hope you didn’t give the baby any of that,” she teased.
“What? No,” he said, swiveling slightly to see her, then stopping short. His poleaxed expression was compliment enough for her. “Wow. You look…”
Serena grinned. “Like it? I tried on a bunch of different stuff, but after wearing pants for so long, I wanted to feel like a girl tonight.”
“Beautiful,” he murmured, standing slowly as if in a daze. “You look beautiful, Serena.”
“Thanks.” Heat shimmered inside her as their eyes caught, held. Oh yeah. He was definitely getting some tonight. Was there anything hotter than a man with his kid? At the moment, she couldn’t think of anything. She set her bags aside, then rummaged around inside one of them for his gift. “Here, I got you something.”
She handed him the square blue box with one hand and took Gracie from him with the other. The baby stirred and stared at her with wide blue eyes, one tiny hand reaching up to grasp a strand of her hair. “Hi, baby girl. Do you like Mommy’s new do, huh? Do you?”
Gracie squealed with glee.
Noah opened the box and scowled. “You didn’t have to do this. It’s too expensive.”
“I know I didn’t have to,” she said, leaning slightly to see the glimmering silver of the Omega Planet Ocean Watch with Blue Dial she’d bought him. She’d asked the clerk what watch 007 would wear and the man had told her this one, so that was what she went with. She bit her lip. “I wanted to. After everything you’ve done for me and Gracie, I wanted to give you a gift. Don’t you like it?”
He inhaled deeply and looked up at her. “I love it. It’s incredible, but you don’t owe me anything for doing my job. Seeing you and Gracie happy and safe is enough for me.”
Her heart squeezed and her core melted. “Please, take it. I want you to have it, Noah.”
He pursed his lips and stared down at the watch again. The seconds ticked by slowly, until finally he smiled. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then headed toward the bedroom. “Now, get ready because the man from the tailor shop downstairs will be up soon to fit you for your tux.”
“Tux?” Noah’s dark brows drew together. “What do I need a tux for?”
“The casino. The high-limit room only allows guests in formal dress in to play and I feel like gambling tonight. After all, I’ve been pretty lucky today so far.”
14
By the time Noah got through with the tailor and the alterations were made to his new tux, he had to admit he felt like a million bucks. As he admired his reflection in the mirror, it still took him a moment to wrap his head around the fact that this was real.
Twenty-four hours prior, he’d been scrambling to find a way to get Serena and Gracie out of this place and back home to the US without getting them all captured or killed—all while praying that Gracie’s fever wouldn’t get worse. Now, the bad guys were caught, the baby was better, and Serena had turned up after her spa day looking hot as hell.
Maybe after they gambled for a bit, they could come back here for a little romance…
“How are you doing in here?” Serena called from down the hall of the suite. Moments later came a soft knock on the door. “Can I come in? Are you decent?”
“Not since the day I was born,” he joked, then walked over to the door to open it. He expected to see her with Gracie in her arms, but she was solo. Serena had also changed, from the pink floral dress she’d had on earlier to a breathtaking deep purple gown that hugged her sweet curves in all the right places and made her creamy skin glow. Noah blinked and swallowed hard, opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again, fumbling for words. “You, uh. You look…stunning.”
“Thanks.” She tilted her head to the side and narrowed her gaze on him, reaching out to run her palms down his lapels. “You look pretty breathtaking yourself, sir.” Her fingers stopped at his wrist, tracing over the expensive Swiss timepiece there before taking his hand. “You might not like to wear a tux, but man. That tux loves you.”
A slow smile spread over Noah’s lips. He didn’t spend much time thinking about his looks. Usually he was too busy working or fighting. But tonight, he’d never been so glad that Serena found him attractive. Lord knew he couldn’t stop staring at her. The silky hair, the perfect makeup, the gorgeous face. The globes of her breasts teasing him over the top of her strapless gown, as if begging him to cup them in his hands and toy with her pretty pink nipples. His body tightened in response to his erotic thoughts and he coughed to clear the sudden constriction in his throat, focusing instead on more pressing concerns. “Where’s Gracie?”
“The hotel sent up a babysitter to watch her for us while we go to the casino.”
“You’re okay with that?” He frowned slightly. In all the time they’d been together the past days, Serena had seemed almost as protective of the baby as he was. Sure, they’d left her with the B&B owner’s daughter while they’d had dinner their first night at the B&B, but they’d been just a few steps away the whole time. “Are they qualified?”
“Immensely,” Serena said, sidling past him to smooth her hands down the back
