Try Me On for Size

by Stephanie Haefner

  “What took you so long?” she asked when he opened the door.

  “Fuck, you’re hot.” He dove in, barely closing the door before his lips were on hers.

  Oh my God! Mia was pretty sure all her lipstick and the makeup within a two-inch border of her lips had been slurped off. How could someone so sexy and so suave be such a bad kisser? And how did all those desperate moms think this was good?

  Mia knew what a good kiss felt like. Oliver. The way his tongue slid effortlessly inside her mouth, playful, soft plump lips that nibbled at hers before pressing hard, urgency behind them. The heat of those lips on her neck, her breasts, singeing her skin in the most pleasurable way.

  She’d been pushing thoughts of his kisses—and thoughts of other things—from her brain all week, ever since Bryn had brought up the conversation she’d had with him. And her encouraging Mia to forgive him. Add in the jealousy he’d shown that afternoon. Mia tried not to care, but obviously it was out of her control.

  Kyle moved to her neck, slobbering on her like a Saint Bernard. The night had officially been ruined. So much for forgetting Oliver and enjoying herself with some fun and flirting. And with this slopfest, Mia had lost all sexual attraction for Kyle. She needed a way to end this little tryst immediately.

  She tapped his shoulder. “Kyle?”

  “Yeah?” he replied between suckles of her ear lobe. It was completely drenched.

  “I’m sorry, but I changed my mind. About . . . this.”

  He popped up to meet her gaze. “Seriously? Did I do something wrong?”

  She couldn’t tell him the truth. Not the part about him being a bad kisser. Or the fact that she’d been thinking about someone else while the horrid kissing was going on. Not with those sad eyes staring at her again. “I’m just tired all of a sudden.”

  “Oh. Okay.” He pulled back and sat up. “I’m so hard though. You’re really fucking sexy. And you smell awesome.”

  “Thanks.” Mia’s cheeks warmed a smidgen. His compliments still felt nice.

  “I can’t go back to work like this.” He smiled and raised an eyebrow at her.

  “Uh. No.” She laughed and reached for her shirt. “You’re gonna have to take care of that the same way you did last time.”

  “Aw, man. Seriously?”

  “Sorry.”

  “You want me to jerk off right here in your car?”

  “Not really.” Mia grabbed her jeans and shimmied into them. “But I guess I kinda owe you. Leaving you with blue balls and all. Again.” She grabbed her shirt and the box of tissues from the front and handed them over. “I’ll wait outside.”

  MIA HUGGED Kyle good-bye and got back into her car, waving as she pulled out of the Applebee’s parking lot. He was a cute kid. He’d made her feel sexy when she’d needed it. But as she drove, nowhere near being tired like she’d told him, the pent-up sexual energy was still there. And all that did was make her think of Oliver.

  Damn him! And next thing she knew, she was in front of the shop. Three minutes later she was back in her car, and there was one less dildo on the shelf.

  Mia went straight to her bedroom before she could give any rational thought to what she was about to do. She stripped down to just her bra and hopped into bed, heart pounding. And yeah, a little excited. Okay, a lot excited.

  Resting her head back, bringing the pseudo-Oliver under the covers, she imagined she was somewhere other than her apartment. A tropical resort with a balcony overlooking the ocean and sunshine filling the room. That sounded nice.

  A warm breeze blew through the sliding screen door. Oliver’s dreamy blue eyes gazed at her as he kissed a trail through her breasts, stopping there for a few nibbles, then moved across her belly and kept on going. His luscious mouth dove between her thighs, peering up at her periodically, complete hunger staring back. Damn, that’s so freaking sexy!

  “You’re driving me crazy,” Mia said to him as a seagull cried outside their door, and pulled at his shoulders. She needed him back in her arms.

  But Oliver took both her hands and pinned them to the bed above her head, continuing his kisses on her neck. “I know.”

  His mouth crashed into hers like the waves outside their door and he let go of her hands. Mia wrapped her arms tight around his neck and devoured him, needing to be as close as possible. “Now . . . please . . . I need you,” she begged between kisses.

  “Uh-uh.” Oliver pulled away from her. “Not until I finish what I started.” He crawled back down and all it took for her to climax was a moment of suckling on her supersensitive bud. Up and over the crest of a smooth yet very steep roller coaster, her body pulsed with ecstasy, gripping his head to avoid bucking him away.

  Mia let her breathing return to some sort of normal before speaking. “That. Was. Amazing.”

  She realized she’d said it out loud, and not just in her little imaginary erotic fantasy. And she was still alone. Without Oliver. She took the rubber replica from under the covers and tossed it onto the floor. Nothing could compare with the real thing.

  Mia lay in bed, trying to sleep, trying to forget Oliver. But it wasn’t all that late. She really wasn’t tired. But she had no desire to do anything else.

  Knock knock. Who the hell was here this late? She threw on her robe and went to the door. Thank God for peepholes. On the other side was Kyle.

  “Why are you here?” she asked when she opened the door to him.

  “Work was dead so I left early. I need to talk to you.”

  He looked pretty upset. “Okay. Come in.”

  “Why did you stop? Really?” He wasted no time in saying what was on his mind.

  “I was tired.” Mia sat on the couch and Kyle sat next to her.

  “That’s a bullshit answer and you know it.”

  Might as well tell him the truth. But which version? One would devastate him by criticizing his kissing technique. The other would make Mia admit something she didn’t want to admit. “Look, I’m really sorry. But I—”

  “Just spit it out. I can handle it.”

  But could she? Oh hell. Just say it. “I couldn’t stop thinking about someone else.”

  “Oh. So it wasn’t me at all?”

  “Not really. When you kissed me, it just didn’t do anything. I think you’re incredibly sexy and have a killer body, but I just want to be your friend.”

  “Not even a friend with benefits?” The sly smile was back.

  Mia slapped his arm. “No!”

  “Okay. Just plain friends then.” He kicked off his sneakers and laid across her couch, his head on her lap. “What’s on the DVR?”

  MIA WOKE Saturday morning, almost noon. Kyle was in bed next to her, on his stomach with his leg on top of her. They were both completely clothed. Well, she was in pajamas and he was in boxer briefs, but their parts were all covered. They’d stayed up late the night before watching trashy TV and pigging out on licorice and tater tots. It was fun hanging out with Kyle. Effortless. Zero drama. And Mia sure needed that in her life.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” he said as he rolled to his back. “Sleep good?”

  “Yes. You?”

  “Fuck yeah. And not having to hear my little sisters blare their Disney Channel music at nine in the morning was heaven.”

  “You have sisters? They must be pretty young if they watch Disney.” Mia thought of Bryn’s kids and the shows they loved the watch.

  “Nine and six.”

  “Wow, quite a long time in between you and them.”

  “Yeah. My mom had me when she was young. Did the single mom thing when my real dad took off. She married Dan when I was eight and two years later, Sasha was born.”

  “So, you were ten when she was born?”

  “Yep.”

  “And she’s nine now?”

  He looked at her weird. “Yeah.”

 
“Sooo, that makes you . . . nineteen?”

  “Yeah . . . uh . . . no. Shit.”

  “You totally lied about your age on your résumé.”

  This was extremely amusing to Mia. She was lying in bed with a half-naked teenager. She’d almost had sex with a teenager. Oh, that sounded bad. At least he was legal.

  And the lie didn’t really bother her. Now that was weird. Why did this lie not bother her, but others had? Oliver’s lies had been a big problem. She shook it off.

  “Yeah. I’m sorry about the age thing. Do you hate me?”

  “No.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek, just because she wanted to and it felt natural. “Want some breakfast?”

  “Sure. And then can you drive me home? I promised I’d baby-sit my sisters so my Mom and Dan can go food shopping this afternoon.”

  “If you don’t have a way home, how’d you get here?”

  “One of the waitresses. I had to give her gas money, but it was cheaper than a cab. Wanna grab breakfast on the way?”

  Mia giggled. “Sure.”

  AFTER DROPPING Kyle off, Mia was in a damn fine mood. She wanted to hang out with a toddler, so she called her sister. Mia was still kind of pissed about how Riley acted at the party, but she was in such a good mood it no longer fazed her.

  “Hey, Riley, how’s it going?”

  “Uh, fine. What do you want?”

  “Nice way to greet your sister.” Mia laughed.

  “What’s got you so cheery?”

  “Nothing. Can I take Gianna for the day? I want to spend some time with her.”

  “No.”

  “What? Why? I though for sure you’d love me to take her and give you a break.”

  “Mia, you just don’t get it. Like I have time to get her bathed and dressed and everything. She’s lucky I threw a Pop Tart on a plate for her for breakfast this morning.”

  “But it’s already two. Hasn’t she had lunch?”

  Silence. “Crap. I didn’t realize it was so late. The day just flies by when you’re all alone with no husband to help you.”

  “So let me come over. I can get her in the tub and get her dressed. Maybe I can even take her overnight.”

  “Um, no. Don’t come over. And she probably won’t go with you anyway.”

  “Why? I’m her aunt.” Tears welled in Mia’s eyes, clouding her vision, and she pulled over for fear of ramming the back of the car in front of her. “She loves me.”

  “You know she does, but she just . . . can’t.”

  There had to be something else happening here. Mia tried to control her shaky voice. “Riley, please, tell me what’s going on.”

  “Listen, I’m not even supposed to be talking to you. I shouldn’t have even picked up. Daddy is livid about your latest stunt.”

  Well, that was one way to dry her tears. “Are you kidding me? You’re letting him dictate who you talk to? He’s forbidding you from talking to your own sister?”

  “Mia, listen, I don’t exactly agree with him or like it, but Daddy pays Nico’s salary.”

  “Is he threatening to fire Nico if you talk to me?”

  “No, of course not. But he promised to cut back Nico’s hours if I stopped talking to you. Can you blame me? I need my husband, and if this is the way to get him home with me more, I’ll do it.”

  “Wow. Dad sure gets what he wants by using blackmail.”

  “It’s not blackmail. He offered me a deal, one I couldn’t pass on. Nico is supposed to be home at five today instead of working till close. That’s really awesome. So there’s no way I was telling Daddy no. And besides, Bryn has kids. Go play with them.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You know what it means. You’d rather have Bryn as a sister, so go be with her. She has kids to be your replacement niece and nephew. You don’t need us.”

  Mia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Are you jealous or something?”

  “Of Bryn? Hell no. I just know you’d rather be with her than me so I don’t even know why you bothered calling.” Baby Nico started to whimper, his cries escalating fast. “I have to go.”

  Riley didn’t give her the chance to say anything more. She left Mia dumbfounded, phone to her ear. She’d never realized how jealous her sister was of her relationship with Bryn. What the hell was she supposed to do about that? Not be close with her best friend since childhood? But to keep her away from the kids, even though their father was pulling the strings on that, was just so wrong.

  That was fine. If her family wanted to be jerks, she didn’t need them.

  CHAPTER Twenty-Three

  Monday morning Mia was in the shop early. She felt good, ready to build on the shop’s recent success. And she had Kyle to thank for her mood. After her phone conversation with her sister, she’d let herself mope around, eating Double Stuf Oreos and watching sappy movies until he’d texted her and asked to come over. Being with Kyle was fun. No one to impress. No one to worry about. A friend like him was exactly what she needed.

  “You seem chipper,” Bryn said, walking up to the front counter where Mia had just finished cashing out a customer.

  “I am. I had a great weekend.”

  “Oh my God. I knew it! You and Oliver! It’s all worked out!” She bounced around and hugged Mia.

  “Hold on,” Mia pulled away. “I’m done with Oliver. But I did have a great weekend with someone else.”

  “Oh. Really? Who?”

  “Just a guy. Don’t worry about it.”

  Mia felt bad withholding the information. She tried to walk away, but Bryn was too fast.

  “Uh-uh. You’re not leaving until you spill.” She had Mia by the arm. “Who are you screwing?”

  “No one.”

  “Come on. No one’s this content without orgasms being involved.”

  “Actually, I have found it is possible to be with a guy and be completely happy without any kind of sexual activity.”

  “You lost me. Who are you hanging out with?”

  “Kyle.”

  “Kyle? Why does that sound familiar? Where did you meet him?”

  “Applebee’s,” Mia tried to say as nonchalantly as possible.

  “Wait. No. Not the bartender guy you interviewed.” Bryn exploded with laughter. “The cute guy with the smallish dick?”

  “It’s girthy.” She felt the need to defend Kyle. “But it doesn’t matter. We’re just friends.”

  “You’re hanging out with our rejected penis?”

  “He’s fun and relaxing, and I need that right now.”

  “Agreed. But he’s so young. Isn’t he like twenty-something?”

  “Do you want the age on his résumé, or the real age?”

  Bryn’s eyes bugged. “Please tell me he’s legal.”

  “To vote, yes, but not to buy liquor.”

  “Mia, you cougar!” Bryn gave a little snarl. “But seriously. Don’t go doing anything stupid.”

  “I won’t. Trust me. I just need to have fun right now and forget the last month of my life. And Kyle is real good at making me do that.”

  The women went back to work. Mondays were usually slow, so it was a good day to vacuum the floors, dust, do all the menial tasks. Mia decided to yank out the window display for cleaning. Time to get it ready for summer.

  The phone rang and she ran to grab it, since Bryn was busy with a customer. “Thank you for calling Classy ’n’ Sassy. Mia speaking, can I help you?”

  “Yes, this is Marjorie Williams from the City Center Women’s Association. I spoke with you about participating in our women’s expo in June.”

  “Oh, yes! We’re so excited about doing the expo.”

  “Well, I’m sorry, but I called to tell you we no longer wish to work with your shop.”

  “What? But why?”

&nb
sp; “Well, we’ve become aware of the scandal associated with your store and it’s really not an image we want to promote.”

  “Scandal? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “It’s all over the Internet. Haven’t you checked your social networking sites today?”

  “No. We have someone who does that and she isn’t in yet.”

  “Well, I suggest you do. Immediately.”

  The line went dead before Mia could ask anything else. She ran to her computer and quickly pulled up one of the sites and logged in. Splattered all over were photos. Naked photos of Logan. In various sexual positions. With another man.

  “This is not happening.” Her hands shook as they brought up one of the other sites. More photos. The same sites that two days ago showcased glittering praise were now littered with negative comments. “Bryn! Oh my God! Come here. Quick!”

  “Where’s the fire? I’m with a customer.”

  Tears in her eyes, Mia spun her computer monitor toward Bryn.

  She gasped and her hands immediately covered her mouth. “What is this?”

  “I don’t know. How do we get rid of it?”

  Bryn fiddled with the keyboard. “I’m not good with this stuff.”

  The phone rang again, line one. And then line two.

  “You get one in here and I’ll take two in the shop,” Bryn said and dashed out.

  Mia tried to compose herself before picking up the phone. “Thank you for calling Classy ’n’ Sassy. Mia speaking, can I help you?”

  “Yeah, you can help me by giving me a refund.”

  “I’m sorry but all lingerie items are nonreturnable,” Mia stated, praying this was an unrelated call.

  “Hmpft. I got one of your new toys. Logan. I don’t want it now. Not after seeing those pictures.”

  Mia breathed deep before speaking. “I’m sorry, but all adult toys are also nonrefundable.”

  “So I’m out my fifty bucks?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Great. Well, don’t think you’re ever getting another dime of my money.” Click.