Switched At The Altar. Metsy Hingle

why a designer would make a dress with all those tiny buttons down the back. How do they expect you to get the thing off?”

      “Since it’s a wedding dress, I suspect the designer assumed the bride’s husband would be helping her to take it off.”

      Desiree stilled a moment, and then he heard her laughter. “Kevin said you tended to take things literally. He was right.” She looked at him over her shoulder again. Her green eyes sparkled, a mischievous grin curved her mouth. “Well, since my groom isn’t here at the moment, maybe you could do the honors for him. Or is that a problem?”

      Alex caught the note of challenge in her voice, saw the dare in her eyes. “No problem at all.” He’d show the little tease. Did she think she could unnerve him by asking him to help her undress? He reached for the first button. His fingers brushed against her skin, and it was just as soft as it looked. And warm. Despite his efforts not to respond to her and all that soft, bare skin, the blood heated in his veins as, one by one, he released the tiny buttons from their silken loops. “There. It’s unbuttoned,” he told her and stepped back.

      Clutching the front of her gown with one hand, she reached behind her to the bow at her waist. She fumbled with the fastening. She turned slightly and lifted her gaze to his. The challenge was still there in her eyes, but there was also an awareness now that hadn’t been there a moment ago. “Looks like I need you to unhook the train for me, too,” she told him in that honey and whiskey voice before giving him her back again. “There’s a row of hooks beneath the bow.”

      Alex felt the punch of desire hit him as he forced his gaze down the length of her bare spine where the dress gaped, to the curve of her waist, to the jutting of her hips.

      “Can you see the hooks?”

      “I see them,” he said, irritated by his body’s response to her. Swallowing, Alex hesitated a moment before stepping closer. He lifted the bow that draped over her shapely bottom and, gritting his teeth, he fought back the urge to cup her in his hands. Instead, he caught her at the waist with his right hand and used the fingers of his left hand to work at the tiny hooks attached to the bow. All the while he was conscious of the slope of her hips, the warmth of the satin-covered skin beneath his fingers.

      Finally the bow and train fell free from the gown. After placing them on the desk, he started to attack the row of buttons that ran from her waist to the top of her bottom. He’d barely finished opening the first button when Desiree reached behind her and grabbed his hand.

      “Stop!”

      Alex looked up, surprised at the unsteady sound of her voice. She whipped around. Still holding the front of her dress, she snatched up the train and bow with one hand and took a few steps away from him. When she looked at him, heat licked at him again as he recognized the flame of desire in her eyes. He slid his gaze down the length of her and back up again, noting her flushed cheeks, her quickened breathing, the rise and fall of her breasts. Alex itched to reach out, pull her fingers away from where they clutched the front of the dress to her. He wanted to peel the lace edges away from her breasts and touch them. He took a step toward her.

      Desiree moved a step back. “Th-thanks. But I think I can manage the rest of the buttons myself,” she told him, then began to inch her way backward across the room until she reached the door she’d emerged from earlier. She fumbled with the doorknob, pushed the door open with the heel of her foot. “Goodbye, Alex. I’ll tell Kevin you were looking for him,” she said before disappearing behind the door.

      Alex took a deep breath. He scrubbed a hand across his face. Muttering an oath, he jammed his hands into his pockets. No wonder Kevin was in trouble! Hell, he had been in trouble there for a minute. The woman had him feeling like a damn teenager who’d just discovered the opposite sex. Another five minutes of touching her soft flesh, smelling that flower-scented skin and he would have been hard-pressed not to beg her to let him make love to her.

      Kevin was definitely in over his head where Desiree Mason was concerned. His brother wouldn’t have a prayer at resisting the woman if she’d set her sights on marrying him. His only hope, Alex decided, was to find Kevin fast and get his brother back to Boston and as far away from Desiree Mason as he possibly could. It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to get himself out of range as well.

      Desiree leaned against the door of her bedroom. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. Whew! Talk about playing with fire. Alexander Stone ranked right up there with a four-alarm blaze. She must have been out of her mind to bait him the way she had. Pushing away from the door, she finished unbuttoning the wedding dress and shivered as she remembered the feel of his fingers brushing against her skin. Her stomach fluttered as she recalled glancing up and seeing the heat of desire in his dark eyes.

      Thank heavens she’d had enough sense to call a halt to things when she had. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened. Desiree frowned. From everything Kevin had told her about his older brother and his aversion to romantic involvements, she didn’t doubt for a moment that she’d have been the one who would have ended up getting burned.

      She arranged the gown on its padded hanger and did up some of the buttons to keep it in place. As she fingered the satin-covered buttons, she thought of Alex’s comment about the dress being designed for a man to take it off. A tremor of excitement danced along her spine as she wondered what it would have been like to have Alex undress her for real.

      Dangerous, she told herself at the crazy thought. Give it up, girl. The man is definitely not the “marriage and happily ever after” type. And since she wasn’t interested in an affair, there was no point in even thinking about it. She reached for a pair of white cotton shorts and the tropical-print blouse that she’d laid out on the bed earlier. She should be thanking her lucky stars she’d gotten rid of the man, she chided. But instead of relief, she felt an odd sense of disappointment.

      Desiree laughed aloud at herself. Evidently catching the bouquet at her sister Lorelei’s wedding and then taking on the role of a bride in this play had fried her brain. Why else would she be the least bit disappointed to see the last of Alexander Stone? The guy might be gorgeous and maybe he could make her blood spin with just a look, but she’d have to be nuts to even consider getting involved with him. Not that there was much likelihood of that happening, since he believed she was engaged to his brother.

      She felt a prick of conscience at that thought. She probably shouldn’t have let him think that she and Kevin were engaged. But even if she’d come clean and told him the truth—that she and Kevin were nothing more than friends—he probably wouldn’t have believed her, anyway. He’d made up his mind, before he’d known who she was, that she was after Kevin for his money. Well, Alex Stone would have to just stew over her pretend engagement to his brother until Kevin returned, and then he could set the man straight. In the meantime she was short one actor and had yet to speak to Bernie.

      After knotting the blouse at her waist, she slipped on her sandals and headed out the door. She stepped into the sitting room that she’d converted into her office and headed straight for her desk to find Bernie’s number. She came to a halt mid-step at the sight of Alex standing at the window, staring out at the oak trees. Her chest tightened at the sad, lonely expression on his face.

      As though sensing her presence he turned around to face her. The vulnerability that had been there a moment ago disappeared. His eyes darkened. He slid his gaze over her like a caress, and Desiree’s disobedient pulse immediately picked up speed. With far more calm than she was feeling, she walked over to her desk. Retrieving the stack of business cards she’d bundled together with a rubber band weeks ago and had yet to organize, she began to shuffle through them in search of Bernie’s phone number. “I didn’t realize you were still here,” she told him, praying he wouldn’t notice how unsteady her fingers were.

      “Contrary to what you might prefer, I have no intention of leaving until I speak with my brother.”

      “But I told you, Kevin isn’t here.”

      “I know what you said. But I don’t believe you. I wouldn’t put it past Kevin to hide out just to avoid facing me. He knew I’d be furious with him for dropping out of law school,