"Okay, you can do this," I whisper, watching my naked form whisper back to me from the mirror over the dresser.
Lifting the gown, I drop it over my head, settling the elastic waist slightly lower than my breasts. This allows the short silk skirt to flutter around my hips, settling just below the area of my body that Drew loves best. In back, a peek of my rear is revealed, just below the hem of the skirt, another peek flirting above the lacy upper part of the skirt, and the smooth expanse of my back is left bare.
Lifting the lace panels on the front, I spread them carefully over my breasts, keeping the waist of the gown low, which exposes a deep "v" that lowers almost to my belly button and flatters my cleavage nicely. I tie the panels loosely behind my neck, enjoying the tickle as they sway gently over my skin with my hair.
"Okay," I say again, meeting my own eyes in the mirror. I look scared; this is the first time I've ever put on something like this, and though it does flatter my body, I am fighting waves of the old insecurity.
I take the time to slick on a pale red gloss that makes my hair look rich and my eyes look bold, then I turn and saunter to the bedroom door before I can change my mind.
Opening the door, I step out in the living room, forcing my eyes to come up and meet Drew's hot gaze.
"Oh my holy God," he whispers. "Are you trying to kill me?"
"You don't like it? I can throw it out, or something --" I mutter, feeling heat come to my face.
He surges up from the couch, crossing the room and coming to place his hands on my waist, slipping over the silky smooth fabric of the gown and coming to rest on the bare skin of my back.
"Oh, no," he says, stepping back, urging me with him into the living room. "Wherever you got that, I am ordering you right now to go back as soon as possible and buy more."
"Ordering?" I ask, arching a brow as our banter allows me to forget my fears. "Who are you to order me, mister? And in my own home too? This simply cannot be allowed," I retort, placing a hand on his bare chest, carefully avoiding the still healing incision a few inches below one flat nipple. Pressing slightly, I push him back to the couch, and then I release him.
With my hands on my hips, I toss my head, making my hair flutter around my shoulders, smiling wickedly as his eyes widen. So far, I have always followed his lead, learning what he likes, letting him teach me how to please him. But tonight, I will not be the one following orders.
"Sit," I command, laughing quietly to myself as he obeys.
"Woman," he warns. "Cass."
"Nope, I come," I say, pausing to watch his mouth fall open. "When I'm ready. Oh, but I forgot to tell you, you're rather overdressed." Turning, I walk away, knowing that this gives him full view of the back of the gown, the saucy little peek of bottom below the hem. He gasps, and I hear the rustle of his movement.
"Now that's better," I laugh, peeking over my shoulder in time to see his pajama pants flutter to the floor. I spin, slowly enough to keep my balance but still quick enough to swirl the skirt of my gown up around my hips, revealing the lack of any other barriers.
His eyes widen again, his tongue slipping out to moisten his lip. He swallows, watching me hungrily.
"Are you ready now?" he asks, and I take wicked pleasure in the tension of his body, the obvious effort it takes him to remain still.
"Oh, I'm ready," I whisper, laughing as I walk toward him, swaying my hips. Placing one knee to his right, and the other to his left, I hold myself apart from him and run the tip of my tongue down over his collarbone in one long stroke, up the column of his throat and over the curve of his chin.
He groans desperately, his hands settling on my hips, urging me closer.
"Now, I'm ready," I repeat, allowing him to lower me onto him.
Chapter Forty-Four
Waiting for Janet to pick up the call, I listen to the ringing on the line, propping my feet on the edge of my desk. Micah and I are on lunch break, and he's gone off to chat with his girlfriend, so this is a perfect time to invite Janet to meet Drew. If she ever answers.
"Hey, you!" Janet suddenly exclaims, breezing through the door of my office.
"Well, I was just calling you," I say, dropping my feet and walking over to hug her.
"I know," she laughs, waving her phone at me. My face smiles out from the screen, though the ringing has been silenced. "I wanted to surprise you," she says.
Slipping her giant shoulder bag from her arm and placing it on my desk, she begins pulling out little packages from a little burger diner down the street. Reaching out one dainty ankle, she draws a chair closer and sits down. "I brought lunch for my kid," she says with a grin.
"Thanks!" I exclaim, pulling my own chair around the side of the desk to sit with her.
"Well, I wanted to ask about how things are going, and I know you've been busy with Drew, so I thought I'd come catch you here when you have some down time for lunch."
"Things are good," I say, ripping the paper from a straw and popping it through the top of a cup she hands me. "Really good."
"Rick came to my house," she says, opening a straw for herself. "He said he talked to you."
"He did," I say, smiling. "I think he was afraid to, but he happened to see Drew and me at the mall and he came up, asking me to talk."
"Oh, he didn't mention Drew. Were they okay, meeting like that?"
"I thought so," I answer, nodding. "Drew went walking so that Rick and I could talk, and it went well. Drew came back as we were finishing up, and they shook hands before Rick left."
"I see. And how are you and Rick now?"
"I think a little better," I answer, accepting the carton of tater tots Janet pushes across to me. Dunking one into a puddle of ketchup, I watch Janet, waiting to see if she will tell me how her visit with Rick went.
"That's good, he seemed a lot more peaceful when I saw him," she says, unwrapping a burger. "He said he felt better, after talking to you. You gave him your therapist's number?"
"I did. I just mentioned something about my therapist being able to help me get over stuff, and I guess he didn't know I'd been seeing someone. Rick said he'd been thinking of seeing someone himself, so I gave him a card for Dr. Caswell."
"That's nice of you, Cass," Janet says, gesturing with her Styrofoam cup. "Do you think he'll call?"
"I have no idea," I say, shrugging.
"Okay," she says, swallowing a bite from her burger. "Tell me about the man. You've been seeing him for some time now, haven't you?"
"Yeah, he's been staying with me since he was shot, kind of, um, recuperating. He should be back to work soon though."
"And how are things going with him?" Janet asks, choosing to ignore the fact that I've obviously been sleeping with Drew.
"Things are good. I want you guys to meet," I say, popping another tater tot into my mouth.
"Well that's good," she laughs. "Are you serious, then?"
"I think so," I say. "We'll just see how things go, I guess."
"So when do I meet him?" she asks, waiting while I chew a bite from my own burger.
"He wants you to come with us to this little fondue place that he likes," I say after taking a drink to rinse my mouth. "Maybe this weekend if you can come up again that soon?"
"Oh, I'll be there," she says, laughing.
We chat a while longer, sharing our lunch, and all too soon, Micah taps on the door of my office. "Ready to get back to the grind soon?" he asks, grinning.
"Absolutely. Give me a few more minutes," I answer, swallowing the last bite of my burger as Janet finishes packing the garbage into a paper sack. She drops it into my garbage can, while Micah leans on the wall in the hallway.
"Call me with the details," she says. "And if there's anything special I'm supposed to wear or bring."
"I will," I assure her, leaning in to give her a farewell hug. "I should be able to call tonight, once I get home and talk to Drew about when he goes back to work and stuff."
"That's fine," she says, her eyes sparkling as she l
ooks into my face. "You're happy with him, aren't you?"
"I am," I say, smiling. "I really am."
"Well, I can't wait to see," she giggles, and then she's gone.
Chapter Forty-Five
Watching Janet drive up, I stand and wait by the door of the restaurant to meet her. Drew has gone inside already to secure our table, and of course, to order drinks and appetizers. She exits her car looking nervous, walking to the door with her cell phone in her hand, but her face lights up when she sees me. Giving a little squeak of surprise, she quickens her pace and comes to me, smiling.
"I was just wondering how I was going to find the two of you in this big place!" she exclaims, and I laugh, because the atmosphere inside is such that it feels like a very tiny and intimate place.
"Well, I will be your guide, then."
Janet pats the fabric of her dress, drawn close to her slender waist by a wide black belt. "Is this fine?" she asks.
"Of course, you look great!" I answer. "Drew is inside already; I told him what you like to drink, so he's ordering drinks and some food, waiting for us. We didn't want you to have to come in and find us."
"Oh, the poor guy, I bet he looks lonely in there at a table all by himself."
"Either that, or he looks really odd sitting there, obviously a man, with my purple purse and coat sitting beside him," I laugh.
Janet giggles, amused as always by my joking nature. "Well, maybe they'll just think he's got multiple personalities then, what with all the drinks and everything."
"When we go in, maybe we'll wait for the server to come, and then start calling him Helga to see what he does," I laugh, knowing I wouldn't embarrass Drew that way, but still terribly amused by the idea.
"Let's hope he doesn't pick up your purse and go along with it," Janet laughs, following me through the doors and toward our table.
"Imagine the look on the waitress!" I whisper, drawing close to the table and easing down next to Drew. Janet slips into the booth across from us, laughing to herself at the confused look Drew gives us.
"Imagine the waitress, what?" he asks, sending Janet into a fit of helpless giggles.
"Helga," she manages, between bursts of laughter.
Drew looks over at me, and I feign confusion, but he's not buying it. "What have you said to her?" he says, lowering his voice and trying to sound stern.
"I'll have to tell you later," I whisper, watching the waitress as she makes her way to our table.
Janet is already buried in a menu, and we ask for a few minutes to confer, but end up ordering the same things we'd ordered on our first date there.
"So, Andrew," Janet says, giving him her most stern motherly look, resolutely ignoring me as I snort with laughter. Drew looks over at me, his eyes twinkling with laughter, but he arranges his face to look appropriately sheepish, before he turns back to Janet.
"Yes, ma'am?" he asks, leaning back and folding his hands tamely in his lap.
"I don't know how to do this whole thing," Janet says, blushing. "My husband would have given you the third degree, if he were here. Cass is rather important to our family."
"She has grown rather important to mine already, also," he says, and Janet smiles.
"But, let me help you," he continues. "I'm an officer for the city; I've been on the job since I was about twenty. This is my first job, though I've moved up a bit, and I love it as much as I ever did, war stories and all. I come from a big family with five children, three boys and two girls, and I'm right in the middle."
"Wow, that is a big family, now isn't it? What are their names?" Janet asks, folding her hands under chin and leaning forward to pay attention. Smiling to myself, I sit back quietly and watch.
"Well, the oldest is my sister Cameron, followed closely by my brother Michael. Then there's me, my sister Harmony, and the youngest brother, Evan. My parents have known each other since they were children themselves, so it's a pretty close bunch."
"And how do they all feel about my girl, here?" Janet asks. I fill with silent embarrassment, because Drew knows the question behind the question. Any other man might think she was only asking if his family likes me, but as we met through therapy, Drew is well aware that what she's really asking is if his family will mistreat me or reject me because of my less-than-perfect past.
"They love her," Drew answers, his face and tone perfectly calm. His intent is to answer both the spoken question and the unspoken one, and I can tell by the way Janet relaxes, that he has succeeded. "My parents adore her, and my sisters both ask about her often. My brothers both tell me to be careful or they'll steal her," he says, breaking into a laugh.
"Well, I can't say I've ever met a woman who didn't like to be adored," Janet says, winking at me. "And how do you feel about her?" I feel my eyes grow large, begging silently for Janet to stop asking questions like that. And as my face heats with embarrassment, Drew settles his arm heavily around my shoulders.
"I adore her too," he says, and Janet smiles.
The rest of dinner passes peacefully, and we laugh together, sharing our meal companionably. By the end of the evening, Janet and Drew are like old pals, making jokes and small talk as if they've known each other all their lives.
And me? I'm just thrilled. Finally, it looks like my life is going where I've always wanted it to go.
Chapter Forty-Six
"What is her problem?" Drew asks, dropping my keys on the chair by the door. We've just come home from a light jog; as we walked together, sweating and panting through the doors of the stairwell, we passed my grouchy neighbor, Estelle.
"Well, I never!" she'd exclaimed, her hand to her heaving bosom. She'd looked us over, her face turning ever more crimson, and then slammed the door to her apartment with a resounding thud.
"I don't know, maybe she thinks we're living in sin or something," I laugh. "You know, I bet she's utterly scandalized by our wanton behavior."
"Oh no!" Drew exclaims, throwing himself dramatically against the wall. "Whatever will we do? How will we stop the tongues from wagging?"
"Oh, my God, Drew, I bet I know what she was thinking," I mutter, dropping into a dining room chair. "Oh that poor woman."
"What?"
"Well, here come two people, a girl and a guy, sweating and heaving and laughing, out of a stairwell? Somehow, I doubt her first guess would be that we've gone running."
Drew watches me for a moment, realization slowly dawning on his face, slowly breaking into laughter. His lip trembles slightly, and then he's grinning; soon he's roaring outright, bending at the waist with one forearm braced against the wall, the other clutching his middle because sometimes it still hurts him to laugh.
"What a perverted old lady," he gasps, trying to get his laughter under control. "She really thinks that?"
"Probably. Didn't you see her face?"
"Well, now we've done it then," he says, straightening and walking over to my bookcase. He looks over his shoulder at me, pulling several books out. "We have no choice."
"What?" I ask.
"There's no other option now," he says, shaking his head, stacking the books neatly on the top of the bookcase.
"Um, okay," I say, raising an eyebrow and waiting.
"We have scandalized the neighbors, just like I knew we would. It's sinful; this simply cannot go on. I can't live like this. I mean, I'm a man of the law, Cass, I have to live up to an image."
Now I'm getting nervous. What's he getting at?
"So we just have to make it right, that's all. We just have to make it right. And since I love you to pieces anyway, I don't see any other way."
Love me to pieces? He loves me??
"You what?" I ask, my heart leaping into my throat and getting stuck there.
"You heard." He walks over to me, a suspiciously tiny package held in one hand. Dropping to his knees in front of me, he takes my hand and looks up, as I fight the urge to say something stupid that would ruin what I now know is coming.
"I love you, Cassaundra. I love eve
rything about you, from your delicious body to your sense of humor, to the way you look at me and see right into my soul. I love the silly things you say, the little ways that you take care of me, and the way you charmed my entire family with no effort at all. And I don't want to go back to living in my house now that I'm healed, not unless you'll come with me. As my wife."
Fat Chance Page 23
