Thank you for your patience with these updates.

"Don't wait for me," Ruby called out, jogging to catch up with Emma. "I'm fine back here, by myself."

Emma was too lost in the numbers printed across her photo op to hear a word her friend was saying.

"Hey. Earth to Emma," Ruby called out, waving a hand between Emma's face and the photo she was staring at. "Did he write something filthy?" she asked, looking down at it.

"He gave me his number," Emma mumbled, making sure the people around them couldn't hear her.

"He did what?" Ruby shrieked.

"He gave me his number," Emma replied, a little harder, her tone conveying that she needed her best friend to keep it down. "Should I message him or something?"

"Hell yes!" Emma shot Ruby a disbelieving look. "I know, normally I'd tell you to make him sweat it out for a while and then call him. But this is different, Emma. You guys have done enough sweating recently. Send him a message. Oh, see if he wants to join us tonight for dinner?"

Emma wasn't sure who was more excited about this development – herself or Ruby.

But she did as her friend advised, typing out a simple,

Hi,

Just wanted to send you a message so you had my number.

Emma.

The two girls had made their way back to the hotel room, and Ruby was already enjoying a relaxing shower, by the time Killian replied.

Thanks.

Did you enjoy your weekend?

It definitely got better towards the end of it.

You?

I always enjoy spending time with you.

There was a short pause where Emma wondered what to say in reply, before her phone vibrated in her hand once more.

So, what are you and Ruby planning to do tonight?

I think we're starting with dinner.

Emma hesitated for another moment, wondering if it were too soon to ask him to join them, but decided in the end to suck it up and go for it. After all, he had given her his number.

Would you like to join us?

I don't want to intrude.

Emma squealed a little at his response.

"What? What is it?" Ruby asked, flinging open the bathroom door and peering round the room outside. "If it's a spider, call the front desk."

"It's not a spider," Emma hurried to reply, trying to school her features.

She needn't have bothered. Ruby knew what was going on the moment she spotted Emma's phone clutched tightly in her hand. "Texting Killian?" she asked.

"Just finish getting ready so I can shower," Emma sighed, watching as Ruby backed away and shut the door behind her once more.

You wouldn't be.

Ruby told me to invite you.

So… Ruby wants me there and you don't?

Shit! She definitely could have worded that one better.

No I do.

I just wasn't sure you'd wanna come.

Do you know where you're going?

Not a clue.

I think Ruby planned to just walk until we found somewhere that looked interesting.

I know somewhere that offers a little more privacy.

I can pick you both up in ninety minutes?

We'll be ready for you.

Emma wasn't even ashamed of the dreamy sigh that left her as she locked her phone and threw it down onto her bed.

Then the panic set in.

"Ruby!" she yelled, throwing herself off the bed to hammer on the bathroom door. "Get out. I need to shower."

"Alright, calm down," Ruby snapped, pulling the door open. "I'm almost done. What's gotten your panties in a twist."

"Killian's picking us up in an hour and a half and I need to shower and shave and pluck and moisturize and…. Oh God… I have nothing to wear."

Ruby chuckled as she grabbed her own makeup bag off the counter and left the room.

"It's a good job I brought something for you when I was giving you space yesterday," she told her friend, pushing her in the direction of the bathroom. "Now go and do what you gotta do."

Emma quickly shut the door behind herself and Ruby heard the shower switch on, before her friend emerged once more, running over to her bag to grab her toiletries, before running back to the steaming water waiting for her.

"So?" Robin asked, rocking back on his heels as he tucked his hands into his jeans pockets.

"Gonna need a little more information to go on," Killian mumbled, pulling out his phone to check it quickly, before tucking it back away.

"The pretty blonde in the photo op room?"

"There were lots of pretty blonde's in the photo op room," he hedged, hoping like hell that Robin would let this drop if he played dumb.

"Yeah but you didn't happen to know those all by name."

"Oh, Emma?" Killian really hoped his face wasn't giving him away in that moment. "She's been to every event this year so far, it's hard not to know her by name."

"And that's the reason you barely let me touch her?"

"What are you trying to get at here?" Killian snapped.

Robin sighed as he took in the thunderous look on his friend's face. "Just… be careful, okay? You've heard the stories."

"What stories?" Killian asked, already knowing what point his friend was trying to make.

"The ones about sleeping with your fans. Don't let a pretty face ruin your career." Robin left to use the bathroom before Killian could think of anything else to say.

"Where the hell did you even get this?" Emma asked, looking down at the dress Ruby had forced her into, as her friend tried to zip it closed.

"Will you stop wiggling?" Ruby huffed. "I brought it Saturday, after I told Killian where to find you. How do you think I kept myself away from the hotel room all day?"

"I think this is too much," Emma complained once more. "I'm dressed for a date, not a night out with friends for dinner."

"You're dressed to impress, Emma. Killian is going to trip over his own tongue when he sees you. And that's what we want. Who knows when you guys will see each other again? So, we are going to leave him with an image he's not gonna forget in a hurry."

Emma didn't have time to protest any further as there was a sharp rap on their room door. Instead, she shot Ruby a death glare as her friend pushed her over to open it.

She'd been expecting to see Killian on the other side, but the sight of him still took her breath away. He'd shed his light jeans and grey sweater from earlier that day and instead chosen a pair of dark-wash jeans, a white dress shirt and a grey vest.

"Wow," he mumbled, his jaw dropping slightly and his hand coming up to scratch at it. "You um… you look…" Killian couldn't seem to keep his eyes from wandering.

They started at the top of Emma's head, taking in the messy braids that had been pulled together to form a messy ponytail. A design that on anyone else would look like they'd just rolled out of bed. She'd left a few tendrils of hair down to frame her face beautifully, and was wearing a pair of earrings that Ruby had loaned to her.

He paused to take in the high collar of her black dress, and the lace inserts on her collarbone that left her arms completely bare. But most of his focus stopped on the high hemline of the dress itself. There were two lace panels on either side, meeting in the middle at mid-thigh level, which gave him a perfect view of her stunning legs. Even the platform black heels she'd chosen for the night were making his mouth dry.

"I know. It's too much, right?" she sighed. "I told Ruby that but she wouldn't listen."

"No, it's um… you look incredible, Emma."

"Really?" she asked, looking up at him. Killian could tell that she wasn't fishing for a compliment, like some girls did. She was genuinely worried that he wouldn't find her attractive.

"God yeah."

Emma's smile lit up her face, as she took a step back into the room. "I um, I just need to grab my bag and a jacket," she mumbled, before turning to go and fetch them both.

The groan that left Killian's mouth had her freezing in her tracks.

"Are you okay?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Killian's voice was pitched much higher than usual so she quirked a brow in question. "That dress is just…. I mean… your back is…."

"He means you look beautiful," Ruby jumped in to rescue him, handing Emma her bag and jacket.

"You do," he rushed to agree.

Emma blushed under his praise but didn't say anything else. Instead, she followed Ruby out of the hotel room, listening to her friend try to make conversation with Killian. She was acutely aware of the fact that he had dropped his hand to her lower back, to guide her down the hall and into the elevator at the end of it. Given how low-cut the back of her dress was, his thumb kept brushing against the bare skin just above the zip of it. Emma was finding it hard to think with him touching her in such a way.

"So, how are you enjoying Vegas?" Ruby asked, as the elevator doors slid shut. Emma tried her hardest not to remember the previous times she and Killian had been alone in elevators.

"It's good," he mumbled distractedly. "Not that I can say I've spent much time exploring it."

"I had a few hours to kill yesterday," Ruby teased. "I've always wanted to come to Vegas. But I'm pretty sure I lost part of my life savings on a craps table."

"Ruby," Emma chided.

"What? I said part. I know when to quit… Eventually."

"You're never gonna move out of Granny's," Emma sighed, trying her hardest to keep her eyes off Killian and her mind off the way his hand had migrated up her back a little, now fully touching her bare skin.

"I know. It's a shame I don't have a friend with a spare room who I could move in with and help out with the rent."

Emma knew there was more to what Ruby was saying than her tone conveyed, but Killian had found a ticklish spot on her back, and she was trying her hardest not to squirm under his exploration and draw attention to them both.

"Ugh. I have no idea why I suggested this," Ruby mumbled. Apparently, they weren't as crafty as they thought they'd been. "I'm gonna be stuck watching you two eye-fuck each other all night."

"I can leave if it would make things easier?" Killian suggested. The last thing he wanted to do was come between the two girls.

"Nah, I'm only joking. Mainly," Ruby explained. "I'm happy for you both. Just don't start mentally undressing each other over the dinner table and we'll be fine."

Emma flushed bright red at her friend's words but said nothing as the elevator came to a stop, and Killian guided her out towards the parking garage.

Emma's look here is based upon Jen's look for the Allure Magazine's Look Better Naked Issue party 11th April 2013.

Thanks for reading.