A Bravo Homecoming

She returned to the suite, where Jonathan called her amazing for the second time that day.

By then it was almost six. Time to put on the beautifully fitted knee-length stretch satin dress with its skinny straps and built-in bra. A big rhinestone cuff and four-inch Dolce & Gabbana black lace pumps completed the outfit. She grabbed her small satin bag and the cute velvet shrug to keep her shoulders warm outside in the cool November darkness.

And she was ready.

When she came out of her room, Jonathan actually applauded.

She laughed and spun in a circle. “Pretty good, huh?”

He got out his camera and took a whole bunch of pictures. Sam almost felt nostalgic. Was it only Monday that they’d started together? Had she come so far in such a very short time?

It appeared that she had.

The firm tap on the suite’s door came at seven on the dot.

She went to answer.

The look on Travis’s face when she opened the door…oh, it was priceless. He actually gaped.

And then he said, his voice barely a croak, “Sam? My God. Sam.”

She laughed in delight. “Oh, Travis…” And she threw her arms around him. He stiffened at first—because she seemed so different, like a stranger?

She wasn’t sure. She started to feel kind of awkward, that she had maybe scared him by jumping all over him.

But then he relaxed. His arms came around her. He hugged her good and tight and he whispered, “You are drop-dead gorgeous, you know that?” He pressed his cheek to hers. “And you smell so good….”

She could have stood there, holding him tight like that forever. She liked it, so much, the glorious feel of his big, hard body pressed against hers. In his arms right then she felt so…feminine. Not soft, exactly. She was too buff for that.