​“There you are,” Gemma said, coming out from behind the counter to give him a hug. “I was worried that if you didn’t get here soon, Triana would primp until she passed out. That girl has been working it in front of that mirror upstairs for nearly two hours.”

“Mom!” Triana scolded from the top of the stairs. “Don’t tell him that.”

Gemma laughed, her dark eyes dancing as Triana started down the steps. “Why not? I’m just subtly letting Remy know how much effort you put into this date, so he makes sure to properly show his appreciation.”

Remy laughed, but the moment Triana’s bare legs came into view on the staircase, her smooth, light-brown skin flexing as she carefully descended each step in her heels, the sound caught in his throat. The sight of her in the flowing, yellow, sleeveless dress was enough to ramp his heart rate up to the danger zone. Combined with her long, wavy hair, smoky makeup, and flowery perfume that accentuated her natural scent, the complete package was almost enough to make his heart stop beating altogether. Damn, damn, and double damn! Right then he was as sure as heaven above that he’d never met another woman as beautiful as Triana Bellamy.

She held his gaze as she sidled over to him, her head cocked to one side, the tip of her tongue just touching the center of her upper lip. All at once, her heart sped up and her body put off the most delicious aroma on the planet. It was the same scent of arousal that had surrounded her last night as they’d kissed. The mere hint of it made him go hard in his jeans. The idea of saying the hell with dinner and heading straight for “dessert” was suddenly the only thing he could think about. His fingers itched to scoop her up and carry her back upstairs. He might have done it too, if Gemma hadn’t spoken.

“Cold shower, anyone?” she asked, a knowing smile curving her lips.

Triana blushed. “Mom!”

Gemma only laughed as she went behind the counter.

Even though Triana still smelled as delectable as before, her mother’s words had achieved their desired effect. The trance Remy had been in was broken, and while he was still aroused as all hell, at least he was back in control. Another minute and he would have been panting.

Remy took a deep breath, then cautiously walked over to Triana, moving slowly to make sure he wouldn’t go all wolf and jump on her. Fortunately, while his hard-on definitely seemed to approve of getting closer to the object of its affection, nothing crazy happened.

Unable to resist touching her, he ran his fingers down her arm. “You ready for dinner?”

Triana nodded, casually intertwining her fingers with his. Remy stifled a groan. Damn, even that simple touch felt good. A little voice in the back of his head suggested his intense reaction to something as vanilla as holding hands probably meant something significant, but he shoved it back in the cluttered closet of his mind, and it shut up.

“Definitely,” Triana said, completely missing the fact that he was temporarily caught up in a distracting internal dialogue. “I’m starving.”

He motioned toward the door. “After you,” he said, enjoying the way her hips swayed as she walked in front of him.

“Good night, Mom,” Triana said over her shoulder as Remy opened the door for her. “I’ll probably be out late, so you don’t need to wait up.”

Gemma laughed. “Have fun you two.”

Triana’s hand found Remy’s again as soon as they were out on the sidewalk, and he tugged her a little closer, so he could enjoy the way their arms brushed against each other as they walked. Neither of them said anything for a while, instead simply enjoying the pleasure of being in each other’s company. Considering how keyed up he’d been just a few minutes ago, it was kind of amazing how relaxed he was now that he was with Triana. Sexually aroused, yes, but pretty chill other than that.

“The weather is so perfect tonight,” she finally said. “It’s hard to believe that stupid storm is still out there in the Gulf.”

“Tell me about it,” Remy said. “I checked the weather before coming to pick you up. Ophelia barely moved more than a mile today and the so-called experts still don’t have any idea whether it will keep moving toward Texas or turn toward Louisiana. At least it’s not getting any stronger, which is good. But as far was where it will make landfall, they’re pretty much in wait-and-see mode.”

Triana smiled at him. “Well, at least we know she’s not coming this way tonight, so there’s nothing to get in the way of our dinner date.”

He paused midstride to lean in for a quick kiss that ended up being not all that quick as he got a taste of her lips. His cock hardened even more at the slight hint of her tongue, and he had to remind himself that they were on a public street. If the hadn’t been, he might have been tempted to pin her up against the nearest wall and go exploring under that flowing, yellow dress.

“Absolutely nothing to get in the way of our dinner date,” he agreed after pulling away to get his breath back.

They walked along again in silence for another block or so until Triana spoke. “Speaking of dinner, are we going anywhere in particular?”

“I made reservations for us at Muriel’s, if that’s okay with you?”

She gave him a sidelong glance. “I’m not going to complain if you want to take me to Muriel’s, but you know we don’t have to go somewhere that fancy, right?”

He smiled. “I know. But I thought since this is kind of a reunion dinner, it should be kind of special. Like you.”

Triana’s lips curved. “Remy Boudreaux, you got all smooth on me in your absence, didn’t you? You realize flattery really will get you everywhere, don’t you?”

He chuckled and nudged her shoulder with his. “Promises, promises.”

“Actually, it is a promise. But I think you already knew that.”

Remy felt his jeans tighten uncomfortably and his heart rate climb back up at the heat in her gaze. Damn, she was going to drive him insane before they even made it to dinner.