Page 23 of Playing with Desire
After goodbyes, the group parted ways, with Summer meeting up with Paige at her shop, Couture Corsets, to open for the day. Even though Summer had a busy morning helping Paige to sew prototypes of a new corset design, she was already counting down the minutes until noon, when Declan would arrive to pick her up for lunch.
The address Declanhad typed into the GPS on his phone directed him to Couture Corsets in downtown San Diego, where Summer had told him she worked. After spending the morning impatiently waiting for the clock to strike twelve so he could finally see Summer again, he parked his truck—the one he left in the garage while he was on duty and used when he was on leave—in the lot next to the shop, then strolled toward the boutique. When he opened the door, a bell tinkled above his head, alerting anyone inside that someone had walked in.
At first glance around, the shop was empty, except for the multitude of racks of lingerie filling the showroom floor and mannequins wearing seductive corsets and intimate apparel. The feminine undergarments ranged from sweet and innocent separates to more provocative and alluring designs meant to tease and tantalizing a man’s senses.
Declan wasn’t immune to all the sexy visual stimulation, and he couldn’t stop his mind from conjuring visions of what Summer’s curves would look like cinched into one of those satin and lace bustiers. He touched the soft, silky material and delicate lace, imagining the way the drawstrings, when tightened, would accentuate her lush hips and the provocative swell of her breasts. He nearly groaned at the tantalizing image that popped into his head.
“Well, hello there,” a feminine voice greeted him.
Declan turned toward the sound, finding a pretty woman with long, dark hair, bright eyes, and a body as curvaceous as Summer’s walking toward him. She blatantly looked him up and down, as if sizing him up and trying to decide if she liked him or not.
“Hi,” he replied amicably, gracing her with a friendly smile.
She wrinkled her nose at him, seemingly not swayed by his attempt at being affable when she wasn’t done judging him, though he had no clue why. “You must be Declan.”
“I am,” he said with a nod.
“I remember seeing you in the VIP lounge at The Players Club on Saturday, not that I knew who you were at the time.” She cracked a small smile. “I’m Paige, by the way.”
“Sawyer’s wife,” he said, remembering the other man pointing her out at the club when introductions had been made that evening.
She suddenly beamed at him, as if he’d just earned himself some brownie points for remembering the connection. “Yes, I am.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Same,” she said, her tone sincere and her body language relaxing. “Summer will be out in a few minutes. She’s right in the middle of sewing a new design together and wants to finish it up before she leaves for lunch. Feel free to look around.”
“I will.” He continued perusing the different racks of lingerie, while Paige straightened a thin, sheer looking negligee on a mannequin.
“I take it you don’t get a lot of men wandering in here?” he asked.
“Surprisingly, we do.” She smiled at him from over her shoulder. “At least the more confident ones who aren’t afraid to be seen in a shop filled with women’s intimate apparel while they pick out something for their significant other. There’s nothing hotter or sexier than a man who knows what he wants to see his woman wearing for him. And for the record, we womenlovewhen our men surprise us with sexy lingerie.” She winked saucily at him.
“I’ll have to remember that,” he said, enjoying this sassier side to Paige, which reminded him of Summer’s feistier moments, too.
“Let me go check on Summer for you,” Paige said.
She headed to the back of the shop and walked through a curtained area that separated the boutique from what appeared to be a workspace. Declan glanced through the fabric draping across the doorway, seeing a huge table dominating the room, which was strewn with sewing items, patterns, and scraps of different textiles. A few sewing machines lined the far wall, and Summer sat at one of them as Paige approached her. Her head was down, and she was biting her lower lip as she concentrated on the panel of lace she was attaching to a wide piece of rich red material.
“Your lunch date is here,” Paige announced, doing nothing to hide the fact that Declan could hear her, even when he moved away from the covered doorway so he was no longer blatantly spying on them.
“I’m almost done,” he heard Summer say, along with more whirring noises from the sewing machine. “Just a few more stiches.”
“I would not keep a man like him waiting for long,” her boss replied in a teasing voice.
“A man like him?” Summer questioned, as a fewclick-clicksof the sewing machine disengaged the material.
“Big. Strapping. Gorgeous. Confident. Sex on two legs. A panty dropper.” Paige lowered her voice on those last two adjectives, but not enough, and Declan bit back a grin.
Summer giggled. “Stop lusting after my guy. You have your own.”
“So true,” Paige replied humorously. “I have to admit I was a bit standoffish when I first met Declan just now, but he seems like a nice guy and I like him. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
“Heisa nice guy, so you should,” Summer replied, defending him in a lighthearted tone. “And I’ll be back in about an hour.”
Summer pushed the curtain aside to walk through, wearing a cute dress that swirled around her legs just below the knee, and as soon as she saw him in the shop, her entire face lit up with unmistakable happiness. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had been so elated to see him, and her exuberance made him feel far more than he should.
“Hey.” She walked up to him with a bounce in her step, and since she was wearing a pair of flats, she stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, while he had to resist the urge to lay a hot, deep, passionate one on her.
