The Barons of Texas: Jill by Fayrene Preston

the desk. “Great. Would tonight be too soon to start?”
    She hesitated. Why? she wondered. He was only trying to set into motion what she’d just told him she wanted. “No, tonight would be fine.”
    “Then I’ll be at your house at eight.”
    “Why?”
    “We’re going out to dinner, but before we do, Ineed to go through your closet and pick out what you should wear.”
    “For heaven’s sake, why? I go out to dinner at least four times a week.”
    “Maybe, but your dinners are always about one of two things—business or one of the charity committees you work on.”
    She thought about it and decided that, once again, he was right. “Okay, so how will this be different?”
    “Tonight is going to be a date .” His brown eyes held a golden-colored twinkle that for some reason made her feel warm and uneasy inside. “Tell me something, Jill. Can you even remember the last time you went out with a man that had nothing to do with work or charity?”
    She tried to recall such an occasion and couldn’t. “No, but how hard can a date be?”
    “That’s what we’ll find out tonight. Okay?”
    She nodded, once again feeling as though there was something more to this deal than she was seeing. But how could that be? She’d agreed to what Colin wanted, and in turn, he was going to teach her what she needed to know. Quid pro quo. So why was she concerned?
    Apparently he read her mind. “Don’t worry, Jill. I’ll do my best to make sure that, in the end, you get exactly what you want.”

Four
    “I was right.” Colin exited her vast walk-in closet. “You don’t have anything appropriate to wear for tonight.”
    Tapping her foot, Jill stood in the middle of her bedroom, dressed in an ivory silk bathrobe, beneath which she wore neutral-colored bra and panties. Her hair and makeup were already done. She was just waiting for Colin to find something for her to wear of which he approved, and her patience was almost gone. “First of all, what do you mean, you were right?”
    “I didn’t think I’d find anything for you to wear tonight.”
    “And how could you possibly know that?” Her irritable tone matched her mood.
    “I see you often enough to know what type of clothes you wear. Plus, I was in your closet last night,looking for something warm to put on you, and even though I was in and out pretty fast, I didn’t remember seeing anything that would be appropriate for our purposes.”
    She inwardly sighed. Last night . The more she tried to forget what had happened between the two of them the night before, the more she was reminded. “Somewhere in that closet there has to be something appropriate for our purposes, whatever that means.”
    He grinned, and suddenly she remembered how easily that same grin could make a woman melt at his feet.
    “Why, Jill, I can’t believe you’ve forgotten. Something that will be appropriate for our purposes means something that will attract Des’s attention.”
    She blinked. Heaven help her, she had forgotten. Ever since this morning, when she had awoken with Colin in bed beside her and discovered he’d held her all night long, she had been focused almost totally on him. That had to stop. “There must be something in there,” she said, gesturing toward her closet. “The contents would stock a clothing store.”
    “I agree with that. And by the way, I’m not knocking your taste. It’s impeccable.”
    She threw out her arms. “Then what is it?”
    “There’s no color in your wardrobe. You always wear neutrals. Men like color. Plus, you dress in a very tailored style, which is fine. But every once in a while men enjoy something less tailored, something that shifts and flows and, at the same time, fits closer to your body and perhaps shows a little more than you like to show.”
    She crossed her arms and sent him a suspicious look. “Shows a little more what? ”
    “Flesh, honey. Flesh. I’ve never seen you look anything less than ladylike, even though I have to admit