by Bridy McAvoy
“Forty dollars.”
He raised an eyebrow. “On each? That’s not going…”
“No, I meant overall. I wouldn’t expect anyone to give me a two-thirds discount like that, tempting though it would be.”
“So you were looking to pay…one hundred and forty.”
“Yes. If you can. Otherwise, I’d have to just buy the black and pale blue ones.”
“So I can sell you the two for one-hundred and twenty or all three for one-hundred and forty.”
“Well, it would be one hundred and fourteen. Katie already said five percent if the total was more than a hundred.”
“Even so, at one hundred and fourteen I’d make a better margin than I would at three for one hundred and forty.”
“Ah, well…” She sighed “…I guess I’ll just have to take the two then.”
He smiled at her and shook his head. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t, but I wouldn’t want word of deep discounts getting around.”
“I won’t blab, although I might shop here more often—without the discount request. I love your merchandise.”
“A woman of good taste, although many women tend to think what I sell is a bit…decadent.”
She shivered. “No, definitely not. I love these.” She gestured to the pile of underwear on the counter.
“And I bet you’d look good in them too.”
She could feel some heat rising to her face as she blushed at the compliment. “Thank you.” Her overactive blush reflex had got her into trouble on more than one occasion. She knew it was a side effect of her ginger coloring, and there was nothing she could do about it.
He walked over to the door, flicked the sign around, and pressed a button on the lock. She raised an eyebrow in question, her memories of Ike’s actions at the dry cleaners flooding back.
“Just want to make sure we don’t have anyone hearing the negotiations and assuming they can get the same discount.”
“I see.” Actually, she didn’t. “What negotiations?”
“Well, I could come down as far as one sixty.”
“I’m sorry, it’s not enough. I need to get forty dollars total discount to claim the red bustier at twenty dollars. Can’t do it any other way.”
He chuckled. “Someone works in sales.”
“So?”
“Well, how about you sweeten the pot for me?” He walked around behind the counter, picked up the three bustiers and laid them out on the counter top. She noticed he glanced at the size label and then looked at her.
“And how would I do that?”
“Buy something else as well. Let me pick something for you.”
Once more, he walked away from her, leaving her standing at the counter. She watched as he headed toward the back of the shop then came back toward her with a hanger in his hand. The green lace nightie was short and very thin, but she had to admit it was gorgeous.
“If you were to buy this as well…”
“That depends on the price.” She smiled at him.
“This one is seventy-five dollars.”
“That’s a lot of money for a wisp of lace.”
“It is slightly more than a wisp. There’s a lot of work gone into this as well. I think you’ll find it’s a perfect fit. Why don’t you at least try it on before you make up your mind? If you like it, I’ll let you have all four items for two hundred, so that meets your criteria, and then some.”
“I wasn’t really looking for any more nightwear. I don’t…” She fell silent, realizing she was about to reveal something she shouldn’t.
Ryan, though, was quick on the uptake. “You normally sleep naked. Lucky husband you have.”
“I wasn’t going to say that, no.”
He laughed. “Go, try it on. I guarantee you’ll like it.”
She took it from him and headed for the changing cubicles along the far side of the room. Ryan leaned back on the counter and folded his arms, smiling gently as she looked back over her shoulder.
“I won’t peep…too much.”
She frowned at him then laughed. His smile was so disingenuous. “I don’t expect you to peep at all.”
She made sure the curtain on the cubicle was pulled all the way across, just in case he wasn’t joking, then pulled her polo shirt off over her head. She slipped the lace nightie over her head and pulled it down. He’d picked the right size. It molded itself to her body perfectly, the wide shoulder straps were smooth on her shoulders and, as she looked at the reflection of her back, she could see the neckline lay flat. It hugged her breasts and then fell away from a cinched-in line just below her breasts, ending at the top of her thighs. One look at her in this, with nothing else, would have Max panting.
“If you kept your bra on, could I see too? I always like to see what my products look like when they’re correctly worn.”
She gulped, not having heard him approach the changing cubicles. He was just outside the curtain.
“It’s a bit risqué to be seen.”
“You kept your underwear on, though? And your jeans?”
“Yes.”
“So what are you worrying about me seeing? I assume your bra is opaque?”
“It is, but…” She knew she was prevaricating, and he had put a good price deal on the table. The nightie was a good fit, and she exposed more anytime she wore a semi-transparent top on a night out.
Making a decision, she turned and grabbed the curtain, pulling it all the way back. Ryan was standing there, waiting. His gaze travelled over every inch of her, slowly, and she could feel herself starting to blush again under his continued survey of her body.
“I was right. That color suits you, and I think it fits perfectly, although I can’t really tell.”
“You can’t?”
“No. It’s not a garment that’s meant to be worn over jeans or, for that matter, over a bra.”
“So you’re saying you’d like me to take my bra and jeans off too?”
“If you want to, yes. I’d love to see you in just that and nothing else.”
Her blush this time was hot and red. She knew heat had flooded her face. She glanced back at the mirror behind her, confirming her face was beetroot.
“I’m a married woman.”
“So? All I’m asking is that you make sure of your purchase by trying it as it is meant to be worn.”
“While you watch.”
“As you’re inviting me, yes, I’d love to watch you get undressed.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.” He grinned. “But, it would be fun, for both of us.”
“Did you just make a pass at me?”
“I don’t know, did you feel something, or was it just mere words?”
“It was just words, but it was still a pass.”
“Can you blame a guy for trying when he owns a lingerie shop and a gorgeous woman is standing there in a barely-there piece of lace?”
“I can’t blame you, no, but hopefully the refusal won’t offend.”
“Of course not, I still want to make the sale. Now, tell me something, were you thinking of wearing the bustier as underwear or as something for a night out with nothing on top of it?”
She smiled. “Both.” A moment later she inwardly cursed as she realized the trap she’d just fallen into. His words proved her right.
“So how about letting me see you in the black bustier, then?”
She frowned at him, conscious of the way her body was reacting to his presence. Her nipples were hardening inside her bra, but at least the padding meant they weren’t visible. She knew she wouldn’t have stood here talking to him like this if she’d worn the lacy bra she’d originally decided on.
“Does that get me the discount?”
“On all four, I think so.”
He walked over to the counter and returned with all three garments, laid two of them on a chair and handed her the black one.
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.”
She shivered. His voice seemed to have a dropped a little as if he too was starting to get turned on by their interaction. She made sure not to drop her eyes to check if he was getting hard–she didn’t want to give him the idea that she was checking out his package.
Julia stepped back into the cubicle and pulled the curtain closed behind her. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and took a deep breath and then pulled the nightie off over her head before returning it to its hanger. She stood still for a second and then caught a movement at one edge of the mirror. Maybe it was because she’d got so used to seeing Steve watching her from over the road, always catching him in the mirror on her wardrobe, that she saw the movement now. Whirling around, she realized she hadn’t quite drawn the curtain all the way across and Ryan had moved so he could see through the slit.
“Naughty!”
He shrugged. “Why? I’m not the one who didn’t make sure the curtain was fully drawn.”
She pulled the curtain across, making sure it was all the way across, sealing her into the small space. He chuckled and she took another deep breath. Undoing her bra, she stripped the straps down her shoulders but held it in place across her breasts as she checked the curtain remained closed. She didn’t think he’d open it, but she might have caught it herself. Satisfied, she dropped the bra to the stool in the corner and picked up the bustier, removing it from the hanger and then holding it up in front of herself before opening it out and pulling it into place across her chest.
“Would you like some help with the fastenings?”
She giggled. “How did I know you were going to ask that?”
“You’re a woman, I’m a man. Women have a sixth sense about these things.”
“I did manage it all right the first time.”
“Ah, but you weren’t flustered then.”
“And what makes you think I’m flustered now?”
“The breathless tone of your voice, the flirty giggle. I’d definitely say you were flustered.”
She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Holding the front on wasn’t a problem and he’d see nothing he wouldn’t be seeing once the bustier was on properly. Her back—well, that was naked, but so what? She wore backless dresses all the time. Her face was red as she stared at herself in the mirror. He’d fallen quiet, obviously waiting to see if she would take him up on his offer. She took a deep breath and nodded to herself. Why not?
“You can help if you wish, but if your hands move round the front I’ll scream.”
The curtain swished back. She hadn’t realized he was quite that close. She gasped as she saw him standing there, silhouetted against the bright lights in the shop. She leaned to the side, peering around him to make sure the changing cubicles couldn’t be seen through the windows.
“You’re perfectly safe, and your skin…it’s flawless.”
She shivered as he ran his fingertips down the curve of her spine. She couldn’t help arching her back as they travelled down from her neck to her waist.
“You…You’re supposed to be doing the hooks up.”
“Of course.”
His fingers were soft, his touch gentle as he reached for the two halves of the back of the bustier and then pulled it tighter around her, cinching it in so he could fasten the very bottom hook. She gasped at the sensation, and then again as his fingers trailed a couple of inches up the exposed V of her back before returning to the next hook up from the bottom.
Julia bit her lip and looked up into the mirror, seeing his eyes watching her, the deep blue nearly black now as his body betrayed his desire for her.
He did the same thing with his fingers each time. Every hook seemed to require him to trail his fingers over far more exposed skin than was strictly necessary. Inside the confines of the bustier, she could feel her nipples expanding. Deep inside her jeans, she could feel her panties stretching as her outer lips swelled with her own desire.
He kept her gaze locked with his own, working on the hooks and eyes with practiced fingers that needed no guidance. Working on her, he must have touched her for six times longer than he did the garment itself. He pulled it tight to fasten the top hook, and she swallowed hard. For a moment, she wondered if he would make a move then but he dropped his hands to her waist, sliding them around to the side. She tensed, but he just gave the bustier a slight tug to pull it down at the back. He didn’t pull it hard enough to make her breasts pop out of the top, but his action did expose them that little bit more. The bustier had looked great when she put it on herself. Now it looked incredible.
He backed away and she turned around to face him, then stepped forward into the brighter lit section of the shop as he beckoned her toward him. “You look sensational. That is a perfect fit on a beautiful woman.”
She smiled. She could see the compliment was genuine, his eyes sparkling as they drank her in. She knew the choice was right for her, and she knew Josie would love hers as well. She was pretty sure Max wouldn’t let her out of the house in it, though, not without peeling her out of it first.
“There is one issue, though,” he said.
“Oh?”
“It is underwear. It doesn’t go with jeans.”
She lowered her lids a little and gave him what she hoped would be interpreted as a stern look. “You want me to lose the jeans?”
“What an excellent idea. It’s a pity I didn’t think of that myself.”
She winced. “That’s pretty corny, you know.”
“No, you’re the one who’s pretty. I’m just the one who wants to see just how pretty.”
“You expect me to step back into the cubicle, draw the curtains, and then step out again without my jeans.”
“Almost.”
“Almost?”
“Yeah. Just one thing wrong with that statement of yours.”
“Oh, what?”
“The bit about the curtain. I don’t think we need that coming between us, do we?”
She shuddered. He’d made his intentions quite plain. He wasn’t just wanting to look at her in his products, he wanted to watch every move she made.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.” She knew the way her chest was heaving was sending a different message than her words were.
“Why not?”
“Well, for one thing, I’m not going to put my panties on display where people can see through the window.”
He picked up the other bustier, leaned past her, grabbed the green nightie and her own clothes and then, taking her hand, started moving toward the back of the shop.
She followed him a couple of paces then stopped. “Where are we going?”
“Well, you don’t want people to see your underwear, so I’m taking you through to the stockroom. No windows.”
“Oh.”
He resumed pulling on her arm and she followed him. Knowing what he was really up to made her pussy clench inside her clothes. Her nipples were hard now, fully hard, and aching to be released from the tight confines of the bustier. She had no doubt he’d help them achieve their escape, and she’d already made up her mind to let him. She was still going to play along, though.
By now he’d guided her through into the back room. Boxes were piled on racks along two sides of the room, but against a third wall was a desk with two chairs in front of it. He laid her clothes, the other bustier and the nightie on the desk and, when he turned around, leaned back against it and folded his arms.
“I believe this solves one of your problems. So are you going to slip out of those tight jeans and show me how good that bustier really looks?”
She glanced down at his crotch, confirming the bulge she’d guessed would be there, then looked up, meeting his eyes, challenging him.
“Are you sure that’s all you want me to do?”
“Not sure at all. If those legs of yours are as good as I suspect they are, then I’ll probably want to see you in the other bustier too.”
“So why did you bring the nightie?”
He grinned. “To see
you in that again, as well.”
She swallowed. “And I suppose it would be too much trouble to give me back my bra before I put that on.”
“Far too much trouble. Now tell me something, what color panties are you wearing?”
“White.”
“I guess they’re not going to match the either bustier then…or the nightie.”
She shivered, unable to stop the reaction as her hands went to the waistband of her jeans and she started toying with the button at the top of her fly. He’d put his cards on the table. He had no intention of letting her stop at her jeans.
He smiled and leaned back, his eyes never leaving her as she slowly undid the button then drew the zip down. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“What?”
“Your shoes. You’ll never get those jeans off over those.”
“I’d need to sit down to do those.”
He motioned toward the seat nearest him and she walked toward him, putting a little strut into her walk. She watched as recognition flashed across his face. She’d just told him she was willing to play his little game.
Sitting down, she went to bend to undo the laces on her shoes, only he beat her to them, lifting one foot onto his thigh as he crouched in front of her. “Allow me.” Pulling her laces open took him only a moment but he took his time easing her shoe off—no, caressing her shoe off. As he put it down, she lifted her foot away and, unbidden, offered him the other leg. The same process was repeated and then he pulled away, and offered his hand, pulling her to her feet. She glanced down. If anything, his erection was even more evident, and she noticed the bustier had slid down about an inch too, exposing more of her breasts. She couldn’t quite see her areolas, but it did make her cleavage look impressive.
He stood back as she slowly pushed her jeans down, taking her time, teasing him, just as much as he’d teased her over her shoes. When they cleared her hips she made sure her panties weren’t being dragged down as well, then turned her back to complete the process. As she eased her jeans down her legs, she bent at the waist, knowing this stretched her panties across her butt and she was sure he’d like the view.
