Abby Gaines - The Engagement Project / Her Surprise Hero - The Engagement Project / Her Surprise Hero

“What if he doesn’t show up?”

“He’ll be here.”

“How do you know?”

“Because he’s not Darrin.”

“Thanks for that reminder,” she muttered sarcastically.

“As if your mind wasn’t already spinning in that direction.”

Megan refused to acknowledge that fact, because doing so would be to admit that she’d never fully gotten over the humiliation of being invited to the prom by a guy who never showed up.

“Gage will be here,” Paige said again. “Which means that we need to get you into your dress.”

“That’s why you’re really here, isn’t it? Because Ashley’s afraid that I might duck and run.”

“Your sister knows you would never let her down,” her cousin said, the pointed tone bringing a guilty flush to Megan’s cheeks. “And I know that everyone gets a little nervous before a first date sometimes.”

“Speaking of dates.” Megan opened the closet to reach for her dress. “Is Josh picking you up here?”

Paige shook her head. “No, Ben is meeting me at the party.”

“What happened to Josh?”

“Nothing happened to him. We still go out occasionally, but we’ve never had an exclusive arrangement.” She dangled a pink bag in front of her cousin’s nose. “These go on before the dress.”

She snatched the bag with a sigh. “I don’t know why you and Ashley worried about finding the right bra for my dress. It’s not like anyone would notice even if I wasn’t wearing one.”

“True. But it’s not a bra, it’s a bustier, and believe me, it will make everyone take notice,” Paige promised.

Megan had never liked being the focus of attention and her cousin’s response only made her more wary, but she shrugged out of her robe and, with Paige’s assistance, into the black satin-and-lace undergarments her sister had carefully picked out for her.

“Now the dress,” Paige said.

Megan wriggled into it.

“And the shoes.”

She dutifully shoved her feet into the skyscraper-high heels—

“Jewelry.”

—and added the chunky, silver earrings and necklace that Ann-Marie had picked out for her. The long chain meant that the teardrop-shaped pendant nestled in the hollow between her breasts, and when Megan glanced down at it, she was stunned.

“I have cleavage.”

“Not much,” Paige teased, “but some.”

Megan turned to face the floor-length mirror that she rarely bothered to glance into and stared at her reflection. If not for the shell-shocked expression on the professionally made-up face that so perfectly depicted her feelings, she might have believed she was looking at a stranger.

The deep square neckline that had looked so simple and unassuming when she’d tried it on in the store now highlighted the swell of breasts she hadn’t even realized she had. And the A-line, knee-length skirt showed off a lot of leg that, with the help of the three-inch heels, somehow looked more shapely than skinny.

Megan’s hand went instinctively to the low neckline of the dress. “I can’t go out in public looking like this.”

Paige lifted a brow. “Like a beautiful, desirable woman?”

It wasn’t such a stretch, Megan realized now, for someone to make that assumption. But she knew the truth, and the escalating panic inside of her confirmed it. “I can’t,” she said again. “It’s not me.”

“It is you,” her cousin insisted. “Only dressed up a little on the outside.”

Dressed up beyond recognition was more like it, but before she could say anything else, the doorbell chimed.

“That will be Gage,” Paige guessed.

“Can you get it?” Megan pleaded with her. “I think I’m going to throw up.”

Paige caught her arm as she turned toward the bathroom. “You’re not going to throw up,” she said firmly. “Now take a deep breath and go meet your date.”

Megan went to the door, grumbling the whole way, and while her stomach was still in knots, the sound of the doorbell had caused them to loosen somewhat. No matter what other surprises or disasters the night might hold, at least he had shown up.

She took a deep breath and pulled open the door.

Gage was reaching forward to jab the button again when the door swung open. His lips started to curve in an automatic smile, then froze at the sight that greeted his eyes.

Megan?

The violet eyes confirmed her identity, even though they weren’t hidden behind thick-framed glasses any- more. That was the most immediately obvious change, but not the only one. Her hair was different, too. Instead of being confined in the usual braid or ponytail, her long tresses had been fashioned into some kind of fancy twist, with a few strands left loose and curled to frame her face.

And how had he never noticed that she had such stunning features? Not just those fabulous eyes, but cheekbones that any cover model would die for and lips that made a man think of long, slow, deep kisses.

Then his gaze dipped lower, and his jaw nearly dropped when he realized that the dress she wore showcased curves that she’d kept well hidden beneath the boxy lab coats she wore at work. And the sexy heels made her mile-long legs look even longer.

When Gage had agreed to be Megan’s date for tonight, he’d been prepared to go through the motions. He hadn’t been prepared for the woman standing in front of him.

“Gage?” Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. A lip that was slicked with glossy color that brought to mind thoughts of a sun-ripened peach, making his mouth water. “Is something wrong?”

“No, um, nothing. It’s just … I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress before.” Against his will, his gaze drifted downward again.

“It’s a push-up bra,” she blurted out the explanation, then crossed her arms over her chest as her cheeks flooded with color.

But instead of hiding her newly revealed assets, the action only succeeded in pushing her breasts up farther, closer to the neckline, and enhancing his view. With great reluctance, he tore his gaze away.

“It, uh, they, I mean, you look great,” he finally man- aged, and offered her the bouquet of purple tulips he’d kept concealed behind his back.

“You brought me flowers.” He saw both surprise and pleasure in her eyes, heard them in her voice and wondered whether anyone had ever given her flowers before.

Gage shrugged. “I was walking by the florist and, when I saw them in the window, I thought of you.”

“I love tulips, and these are beautiful.” She uncrossed her arms and took the bouquet carefully, almost tentatively. “Thanks. I’ll just go put them in some water.”

He followed her inside, watched as she went through the routine of finding a vase, filling it with water, and arranging the flowers. It was a routine he’d watched dozens of women perform before, but he’d never seen anyone take such genuine pleasure in the task, find such joy in a simple gesture. Heck, a lot of the women he’d dated would have turned their noses up at the simple flowers because they weren’t imported orchids or exotic calla lilies, and he was pleased that he’d gone with his instinct and bought the tulips.

Of course, his instincts now were pushing him in a whole different direction—toward the new and stunningly sexy Megan Roarke—but he managed to hold them in check. And if he couldn’t help noticing how the skirt that hugged the sweet curve of her backside inched up a little as she leaned over to set the vase in the middle of the table, well, he was only human.

“I guess we should be going now,” she said.

He yanked his mind back to the present. “Do you have a coat?”

She went to the closet, slid open the door.

Gage took the garment from her, holding it while she slipped the first arm in. As she turned to reach for the other sleeve, the side of her breast brushed his hand, and somehow that fleeting contact sent his blood humming.