Bare Essentials

by Leslie Kelly Jill Shalvis

  “I think so.”

  “Tag’s a nice guy. And a patient one, which is good, since I suspect your cousin could try the patience of a saint.”

  “Good thing that doesn’t run in the family,” she said, giving him a deceptively innocent look. When he raised one skeptical brow, she rolled her eyes. “Okay, okay, I guess I can be a pain in the butt, too.”

  “Nah,” he said with a deliberate shrug. “In spite of a deplorable lack of sweetness, you’re not so bad.”

  Her grin widened. “Do you know how nice it is to be with someone who doesn’t expect me to be sweet?” She straightened, stepped away from the SUV, and put her arms out to her sides. Spinning around, she almost yelled, “God, tonight was fun. Outrageous and naughty, and definitely not sweet!”

  “Yeah, it was,” he admitted, remembering how aroused he’d been by her at the party. He loved watching her again now as she almost danced in the moonlight, her hair swinging wildly around her face. “But I hate to break it to you, babe. I suspect you really are kinda sweet, deep down.”

  She stopped. “Keep that up and you’ll be walking home.”

  He jiggled his pants’ pocket. “I’ve got your keys.”

  She stepped closer, laying her hand flat on his bare chest and giving him a limpid look. “Wanna place a bet on how fast I can get into your pants and get them back?”

  He shook his head. “I think we’ve already proved you hold the world’s record on getting into my pants, Kate.”

  “Ditto,” she admitted, trailing her hand across his bare chest to his stomach. “So does that make us both cheap and easy?”

  “Only with each other.” He swallowed a groan as her hand moved lower, brushing across the front of his pants.

  “Fair enough.”

  Jack liked the humor on her face and the sparkle in her eyes. He liked seeing Kate happy. He’d seen her that way much more often lately. The angry, mistrustful woman who’d come back to Pleasantville for revenge had been erased.

  He hoped he’d had something to do with that. Because there was no question in his mind Kate had changed him. For the better. He doubted she’d believe it, he had trouble believing it himself, but he was falling in love with her. Falling hard and fast.

  He’d started the slide the first time he’d laid eyes on her across Magnolia Avenue. Making love to her that same day had strengthened the feeling. Every day they’d spent together since then had been better than the one before.

  “Come on,” he said, tugging her by the hand. “Let’s go down to the lake.”

  Though she wore an obviously expensive dress, Kate didn’t hesitate. They walked hand in hand down to the edge of the lake, moving across the cool sand until they reached the shore. The warm water, lit by the bright, star-filled sky, lapped at their bare feet in a gentle rhythm. Not caring about his pants, he pulled her in deeper, until they stood almost knee-deep. He tugged her close, sliding his arms around her waist. She came into them easily, curling against his chest, tucking her head beneath his chin.

  “I used to come up here to swim late at night,” he said as he gently slid his fingers into her hair.

  “It’s warm enough,” she replied. “But I don’t really want to swim.”

  “Me neither. I’d rather stay just like this.”

  With Kate wrapped securely in his arms.

  That seemed to be exactly what she wanted, too.

  * * *

  THE NEXT DAY, before Armand left to go back to Chicago, Kate asked him if he’d had a good time at the party after they’d left. He’d simply smiled and said, “It was a night that won’t be forgotten for a long time.”

  Thanking him for the panties, she’d admitted she felt the same way.

  The night before had been magic. Not only the party, not just the frantic sex in the back of her car. But standing there, wrapped in Jack’s arms as they stood in the moonlight, simply enjoying each other’s closeness. They’d exchanged long, languorous kisses, sweet, delicate touches. They hadn’t talked much, nor had they made love again. Somehow, though, the night felt like the most intimate one they’d shared.

  At some point Kate had even been able to admit the truth to herself. Not only did she no longer distrust Jack, she was falling in love with him.

  Not intentionally, probably not wisely, but there it was. She loved the son of the man who’d broken her mother’s heart.

  “Maybe it’s fate,” she told herself. “Maybe we can have the happy ending in this generation.”

  She told herself not to hope too much. After all, she’d gone through most of her adult life not believing she could ever trust someone enough to experience real love. Somehow, though, he’d worked past her defenses and captured her heart. She was simply unable to help it.

  Cassie called Monday morning, and, to Kate’s complete surprise, didn’t even scold her for not picking her up from the airport. She did act very strange, though. Something had obviously happened between her and the sheriff after he’d picked her up, but Kate wasn’t about to pry. After all, Cassie didn’t question her about being caught having sex up at the lake with Jack. Kate had to figure it was because Tag hadn’t told her. Cassie would never have let something that juicy go without comment if she knew. She’d instead been much more interested in hearing all about the Bunko party and the mayor’s reception, seeming surprised to hear about the friendliness of so many of the women Kate had met.

  When her cousin called again at noon, Kate instantly knew Cassie was in one of her wild moods. She sounded ready for something to happen. From experience, she figured that meant Cassie wanted something dangerous to happen.

  Still, she had to admit, Cassie’s idea was a good one. “You’re saying we should have a pre-opening, private party for women only in the store tomorrow night?”

  “Think of it as a very naughty Tupperware party.”

  It sounded ridiculous, outrageous and impossible.

  And Kate loved the idea.

  Their store would open in exactly one week. How better to test the waters than to invite some of the women Kate had met recently for a test run? They’d seemed modern and open about sex and relationships, and also starved for the type of products the store would carry. Deep down, she suspected they’d welcome Bare Essentials. The party would be the perfect time to find out.

  That didn’t mean she wasn’t a nervous wreck. She liked these women, she really did, and she hated to imagine how she’d feel if they couldn’t look past the titillation factor and see the potential for the store.

  She wanted them to like Bare Essentials.

  More importantly, she didn’t want them to dislike her.

  Kate did not pause to wonder when her goals had changed—she only knew they had. She no longer wanted only to cause controversy. Damn it, she wanted to succeed. She wanted the women of Pleasantville to be glad the Tremaine cousins had come back.

  Thirty-six hours later, standing in the middle of a crowd of laughing women, she realized she needn’t have worried.

  “Oh, my God, Kate, no wonder you know so much about seduction!” Viv said as she greedily dug through the racks of erotic movies in the store.

  “I never thought I’d say this, but these might be even better than Dr. Martens.” This from Josie as she stood in front of a mirror, holding a jade-green silk teddy up against her body.

  Diane went for the sex toys. “Anyone know which end is up?”

  Crossing her arms and nodding in satisfaction, Kate met Cassie’s eye from across the room. They exchanged a long, knowing look, each realizing that in spite of the way they’d started out, they were witnessing the birth of a bona fide success.

  Who’d have ever believed it?

  Soon the store was overflowing with chattering women. All the Bunko players came, and they brought friends. Cassie had also invited one woman, Stacie, who was a relative newcomer to town herself and seemed thrilled to meet all the others. Cassie and Kate could barely keep up with the sales, chatter and laughter. They passed around w
ine and hors d’oeuvres, and as the evening wore on, the sales added up.

  “Well, all I know is, I want to buy whatever it was Kate had on under her dress at the party Saturday night,” Diane said, fisting her hands and putting them on her hips. “Come on, show me. No cheesecake in the world is that good.”

  “Sorry,” Kate said with a rueful shrug. “It’s still in the testing phase. Armand is working on it, though, and I’m sure the store will be carrying them before too long.”

  “Armand,” Diane said with a snicker. “He cracked me and Will up the other night. I don’t know what he said to Darren and Angela, but I thought they were going to shit bricks.”

  Not knowing what she was talking about, Kate raised a brow.

  “Oh, gosh, you and Jack had already left, hadn’t you?”

  “I know where they went,” Annie the dispatcher said with a grin. “We got a call about a silver SUV at the lake.”

  Cassie jerked her head around to listen, giving Kate a curious stare. Feeling a blush stain her cheeks, she ignored the question in her cousin’s eyes. “Get back to Darren and Angela.”

  “I don’t really know what happened, just that Angela was dancing with Armand, getting all grabby and touchy-feely. Darren came up, Armand said something to them both, and they took off like bats outta hell in two different directions.”

  Kate winced. She had a feeling she knew what Armand had said. Probably something along the lines of, Sorry, Angela babe, Darren’s much prettier than you and he’s the one I want. Kiss me, big boy. Armand specialized in cutting down homophobics.

  Suddenly very glad they’d left the party early, she made a mental note to strangle Armand when she got back to Chicago.

  Well, maybe she’d kiss him first. Then, for sure, she’d strangle him.

  13

  “SO THE PARTY WAS A BIG success and the rumors are already spreading throughout town about how fabulous your store is. Tomorrow’s grand opening will be a hit, I guarantee it. What’d I tell you? You’re going to fail to fail.” Jack couldn’t keep the smug tone out of his voice as he and Kate brushed another coat of varnish remover on the old concession counter at the Rialto on Sunday afternoon.

  She stuck her tongue out at him. “Anyone ever told you it’s not nice to say I told you so?”

  “Anyone ever told you it’s not nice to stick your tongue out at people? Unless, of course, you’re issuing an invitation.” He caught her mouth in a quick, hot kiss that left them both breathless.

  When they reluctantly parted, she looked down at the plastic drop cloth beneath their feet, which was splattered with liquid. “Paint washes off. I think varnish remover would sting, though.”

  “There’s no work going on down on the stage,” he whispered. “And our table’s still there.”

  “Miss Rose will be back from the hardware store any minute now.” She sounded disappointed. Just like he felt.

  They couldn’t seem to get enough of each other. No matter how many times he made love to Kate, it was always exciting, always amazing. Like that first time had been, right here in the theater all those weeks ago.

  Jack had a hard time believing how much things had changed since then. In the past several days he and Kate had spent hours and hours in each other’s company. He’d told her about his plans to open his own firm, she’d talked about her desire to expand her store. They’d gone through the past relationship comparisons, each trying to one-up the other with stories about some really bad first dates.

  They’d even talked about their families a little. She’d told him what it was like growing up without a father. He’d told her of his regrets at leaving Angela alone in a house with his very unhappily married parents.

  She’d grown uncomfortable when he mentioned his parents. “I think we ought to change the subject.”

  Though he knew she was right, he wished he could tell her what he’d discovered Friday. He could hardly believe it himself and had no one with whom to discuss it.

  Dealing with his father’s bank records had been nearly impossible from the beginning. But suddenly, the other day, he began to make sense of things. For the first time in weeks, Jack started to realize that his father had, in his own way, tried to do right by Edie.

  For each and every month when there had been an uncashed paycheck made out to Edith Jones, Jack had found a subsequent payment to a mysterious account at a state bank. Some digging had revealed the truth. His father had made several sizable payments against Edie’s mortgage. He doubted she’d even realized it was happening.

  No, his father hadn’t wiped the slate clean by any means, but it was nice to know he had not completely taken advantage of Kate’s mother. He’d obviously cared about her, enough to help her even when she refused to take his help.

  It didn’t make things right. But at least it made them better. It also made Jack wonder if he would ever really understand the truth about their relationship. It seemed now it had been more about emotion than just sex. Sex wouldn’t have taken the older couple through nearly two decades. There had to have been love.

  Somehow that made it a little easier to deal with.

  “So, what are you going to do now that your store’s on the road to success? You can’t just shut it down,” he asked.

  She shook her head. “I’ve been thinking a lot about that. Cassie and I have worked there a lot lately and we’ve been discussing some options. At least she’ll be here until the end of the summer. And who knows what she’ll want to do then.”

  He laid his brush down and stared. “No way would Cassie stay here long-term.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know if she actually would, but I don’t think it’s a bad idea. I kind of suggested it to her.”

  He raised a brow. “I can only imagine how she reacted.”

  “After she stops laughing, maybe she’ll really think about it. She’s got a great house. And she seems to have found some things she likes about Pleasantville.” She snickered, obviously thinking about Tag.

  “So you really think she’d stay?”

  “I honestly can’t say. But it’s a possibility. We’ll see how tomorrow’s grand opening goes.”

  “Then in a week or two you’ll go back to Chicago.”

  “Right. And you will, too.”

  He nodded.

  “I’m going to miss having you right next door,” she admitted. “Who’ll nearly kill me when he bursts in to tackle me in the middle of the night?”

  “I only hurt you the first time I tackled you in the middle of the night. Admit it, every other tackle since then has been painless.” He gave her a suggestive look, telling her he meant their more amorous tackles. “Don’t forget, I did kiss it better that first time.”

  “Oh, yeah, you definitely did.”

  Though he hadn’t planned to bring it up, figuring Kate might not have realized yet that she was falling in love with him, he couldn’t help himself. “Besides, we don’t have to give up on having each other around once we get home. I have a big apartment. And if it’s not big enough, I can design us something better. Closer to your store.”

  Her eyes widened. “What are you saying? You mean, you want us to…”

  “Move in together,” he said. “I know it’s kinda fast, but we’re practically living together now. Why don’t we just make it official when we get home?”

  She lowered her eyes, looking away. Jack called himself ten kinds of fool for bringing it up. It’s too soon. Hell, he knew they hadn’t been together long enough to start talking about cohabitation. But he was already picturing little dark-haired Jacks and blond-haired Kates! Marriage, happily-ever-after, all the stuff he’d once sworn wasn’t for him.

  Now he understood. He simply hadn’t found the right woman yet. Until Kate. His future. The woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

  The one who’d gone silent and white as a sheet at just the mention of them moving in together. If he told her he wanted to marry her someday, she’d probably faint face-first into th
e bucket of varnish remover.

  Kate was an unusual woman and she wouldn’t approach things—including her love life—in the usual way. A complicated mix of modern vixen and smart businesswoman, she’d wanted the sex first, then the relationship. He couldn’t forget that, because she might never have even thought about the future or long-term plans. Talk of those things might scare her off.

  It killed him to wonder if she’d figured their involvement would end once they left Pleasantville behind. Because it wouldn’t. It couldn’t. He was never letting her go. Though she might not be ready to admit it, he knew damn well she felt the same way.

  She couldn’t hide the way she looked at him, particularly when he held her in his arms. There was love in her eyes.

  “Let’s talk about it later, okay?” he said, quickly backtracking. “We still have some time here, and I know you need to focus on the grand opening tomorrow morning.”

  She looked troubled; her eyes were bright, as if she had tears in them. He silently cursed himself again for putting her on the spot, pressuring her too soon.

  Before he could say anything, or even think of what to say, a woman’s voice intruded. “Speaking of the grand opening, Kate, I need you to set something aside for me tomorrow morning.”

  They both looked up as Rose joined them, her arms loaded with bags of supplies from the hardware store.

  “I want one of them Kama Sutra sheet sets, so I can honestly say my bed has had every sexual position known to man performed on it.”

  Kate’s worried expression faded as she ruefully grinned. “You got it, Rose.”

  * * *

  KATE FIGURED the grand opening of Bare Essentials in Pleasantville would be discussed by its residents for years to come. Old-timers would reminisce about it the way they did the big snowstorm of ’73, the high school girls’ state championship team of the early eighties. Even Flo Tremaine’s striptease and skinny-dipping session in the town square fountain thirty years back would take a back seat to this day.

  The newest generation of Tremaine women were definitely giving them something to talk about.