Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66861 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66861 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
“It’s beautiful,” Charlotte said as I held up the robe. Then she picked up the next item in the box. It was made of the same soft material. One side of the fabric was lined with lace and—oh crap. Crap. Had Sierra sent me lingerie?
As Charlotte lifted it, a pair of panties fell onto the bed. The fabric—what little there was of it—matched the robe and the other item that I now realized was a teddy. “Oh my god,” I began, and then recovered. “It’s, um, really pretty, isn’t it? But I think I’d better put it away so that it doesn’t get any praline crumbs on it.”
But Charlotte was still fascinated. “Feel how soft it is. It’s slippery.”
Good god, an eight-year-old girl was holding the sexy lingerie I’d just been sent. My cheeks flushed as I gathered it all back and put it in the box.
Then Charlotte asked the question I’d hoped she wouldn’t. “But what is it?”
“It’s a nightgown. Do you wear a nightgown to bed, or do you wear pajamas?”
“A gown,” she said. “But it’s not as nice as that.”
“I bet yours is pretty, too.”
I shoved the fancy box under the covers. I’d been planning on asking Charlotte if she wanted the box to keep, but not now that I realized it probably had the name of a lingerie shop on it. “I know you’ve had pralines, but if you’re still hungry, I bet your Uncle Rafe will make something else for you.”
She nodded and got up to leave, with one last look at the lump under the covers where my present was.
I wasn’t a parent or an aunt or even friends with any children besides the twins, so I didn’t know if I’d handled that the right way. Then I broke into a small grin. I’d known enough to use distraction there at the end, though. That was a tried-and-true parenting technique, right?
14
Spencer
I only had a few minutes to talk to Alyssa before it was time for dinner. Raphael was cooking, and the kids were doing the worksheets the third-grade teachers mistakenly thought were educational. I knocked on the door frame, giving Lyss the chance to turn me away if she was too tired, but she told me to come on in.
“Can we talk?” I asked.
Alyssa looked like a puppy who’d dug up the geraniums. “I feel like I’ve been called into the principal’s office.”
I bit back a smile. “Well, you’re still recovering, so the principal had to come to you.” I sat in my usual spot at the end of the bed. She had on a scoop-neck t-shirt and one of the pairs of sweatpants we’d cut up to accommodate her cast. Her straight hair grazed the tops of her shoulders and shone in the fading light from the window. She looked fresh-faced and pretty—but not as pretty as she’d looked in my button-down shirt the other day. That was a sight I wouldn’t soon forget.
But that wasn’t why I was here. “Charlotte told me that you got a grown-up nightgown.”
Her cheeks, her throat, and even the skin of her chest flushed. “I’m so sorry,” she said immediately. “I had no idea Sierra was going to send me lingerie, or I never would’ve opened it in front of Charlotte.”
“Sierra. Is she your girlfriend?” I said that in a casual tone—or at least I hoped I did.
“No, just a friend.”
That struck me as odd. “Do your friends usually send you lingerie?”
“No, but Sierra is kind of a girlie girl. She likes pretty things. I think she thought it would cheer me up.”
“And did it?” My eyebrows raised, and I saw her legs move under the blanket.
“I don’t know. Once I saw what it was, I shoved it back in the box. I’m sorry I wasn’t faster.”
That part made me grin, and I patted her foot. “No one here expects you to be speedy in your condition. May I see it?”
Her jaw dropped, and I realized how my words had sounded. “I mean, I’d like to know what Charlotte saw. ‘Grown-up nightgown’ can mean so many things.” This time, I was pretty sure my face was the red one.
Alyssa didn’t meet my eyes as she lifted up the covers and pulled out some wadded-up material. The first item was clearly a teddy, a short, flirty, slip-like garment held up by spaghetti straps. She held it up in front of her. The color was a satiny peach, with lace lining the bra cups and the lower hem. It wasn’t very long to begin with, but there was a slit up the front over her left thigh.
I couldn’t stop staring. She was holding it up in the air, but it was right in front of her torso. It didn’t take much imagination to visualize what it would look like on her. The color would suit her pale skin, and though she was slender, I had no doubt her curves would fill the teddy quite nicely.