Free Surprised by Love: A Contemporary Romance (The Armstrongs Book 4) by Jessica Gray

glove. Tricia, in the meantime, was searching through her shoes for something to match.
    Toni knew there was only one pair of shoes that would do the dress justice. Moving Tricia out of the way, she reached inside one of her closed suitcases and pulled out a plastic wrapped parcel.
    “What’s that?” Tricia asked, eyeing the bag critically.
    “Shoes. I bought these the last time I was in Milan, with this dress in mind. I’ve never worn them.” Toni unwrapped the shoes and heard Tricia’s low whistle when she saw the red Italian leather dress pumps with a gold metal filigree adorning the back of each heel and down the four-inch stiletto.
    The heels were the tallest ones she owned, making her stand almost six-feet tall, but she had no choice.
    “Turn around so I can see the entire picture,” Tricia demanded.
    Toni hid her smile and then spun around.
    “That’s it, honey. That man will be salivating all over you.”
    That comment had her break out in sweat, “But I don’t want him to drool over me. We are only going out with him because his brother needs a break.”
    “Sure, Beautiful. Whatever you say.” Tricia completely disregarded her panic and strode for the door of the apartment. “Let’s go. We’re running late.”
    ***
    Douglas picked up his brother and they took the elevator down the hall to meet Toni and Tricia. Douglas gave his brother an appraising look and then a nod, “Hey, Patrick. Now at least you look like a person.”
    Patrick had shaved his beard off and had gone to the shopping mall and gotten a haircut. He’d even splurged and bought black dress pants. He brushed a hand through his short locks and gave Douglas a rueful smile. “So I pass muster now?”
    “Yeah.” They were both wearing black dress pants that showcased their firm buttocks, and white short-sleeved button-down shirts.
    A few minutes later, Toni and Tricia stepped out of the elevator. Patrick whistled and said, “That blonde is a total bomb. I wonder how she looks naked.”
    Douglas turned when his brother whistled, and when he saw whom Patrick was talking about, he saw red. No one is going to talk like that about her. No one. Not even my brother. Before he could check his reaction, he grabbed Patrick by his throat, glaring daggers at him. “Watch your tongue. And keep your hands off her!”
    Patrick held up his hands and adopted an apologetic expression. He could easily have fought his brother and removed himself from his grip, but he didn’t. Instead, he pressed out, “Sorry, man.”
    Douglas relaxed his grip and then took a step backwards as Patrick continued, “No reason to strangle me. Next time, don’t tell me you’re not interested in a girl, when you are.”
    “I’m not interested in her.” But the way he was staring at his brother showed exactly the opposite. He was into her. A lot. More than he wanted to admit to.
    His brother didn’t argue with him, he simply moved a step back and pretended to dust off his hands. Douglas looked up, thankful that the girls hadn’t noticed their quarrel and waved them over.
    Patrick moved directly towards Tricia, barely even touching Toni’s hand during a perfunctory handshake while saying hello. The warning had been loud and clear and he loved his brother enough to back off. One of the Armstrong family ground rules had always been not to interfere with one another’s girls. Whoever saw her first, got the first shot. With six brothers around, the rule had served them well and saved the family peace more than once and Patrick saw no reason to upset the status quo now.
    Douglas felt a pain in his chest when he saw Toni. She looked absolutely stunning. And that dress! He had no idea how he was going to keep his hands off her the whole evening. It would be a long evening.
    Turning to address Tricia, he complimented her on her dress. “You must be Tricia. Nice to meet you. You look wonderful in that dress. It makes your hair shine.” She was a pretty woman that he would