“Can’t blame a guy for trying.” He shrugged. “I just don’t think those dresses are you, that’sall.”
Could he possibly be right? Was she so caught up in proving to B.J. and the rest of them that she’d made out fine in life, thank you very much, that she was choosing clothes that reflected success on their terms rather than herown?
She chomped spinach leaves with fury. Damn. She hated admitting, even to herself, that Luke was right. But, of course, hewas.
The diet, the fitness program, the date, thedress.
She groaned and reached over to snag a french fry off Luke’s plate. “That yellow dress was the price of a month’srent.”
He whistled softly and pushed his plate closer so she could helpherself.
In the end, they went to one of her favorite street-front boutiques. Luke walked in, took a look at the mannequin posed near the store entrance, and said, “Thatone.”
It was her signature purple, in some kind of a brushed-silk fabric that was gorgeous to the touch. It had a tight-fitting bodice, spaghetti straps and a skirt that just begged to twirl on the dance floor. She tried it on and her eyes lit up in the changing room mirror. It was her. It showed her figure off to perfection—including the flat stomach it had taken several thousand sit-ups toproduce.
This place didn’t boast armchairs for the gentleman escorts, so Luke was standing outside when she emerged, and it was clear he liked what he saw. He twirled his finger the way a dog trainer would to a poodle, and she obligingly turned around for him. “Yep,” he said. “That’s theone.”
“It’s kind of…not revealing exactly, but…breezy for the weddingceremony.”
“I’ve got just the thing,”said the salesclerk, Jan, as in “Hi, my name is Jan, if there’sanythingyou need, give me a shout.” You’d think she was planning to sell Luke dresses the way she hung by his side, Shari thoughtsourly.
But when the young woman returned with a silky crocheted shawl patterned in the same shade of violet with yellow, red and white accents, Shari knew she’d found heroutfit.
She tried on a few more just because she felt she should, but it was the purple dress with which she’d fallen inlove.
“Thank you,” she said to Luke, grabbing him on the sidewalk and impulsively kissing him, holding her bags tight in herhands.
“I had fun,” he said. “I don’t get outmuch.”
She’d laugh, assuming it was a joke, except she had a pretty good idea that it was true. He worked so many hours in his apartment alone he probably needed to get out among people more often. “You must be looking forward to Tuesday, then. When you speak to myclass.”
“Not half as much as I’m looking forward to getting you home and nakedfor—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Chapter seven.” She was deliberately casual, but she had to admit his constant references to the next chapter in his how-to book were starting to arouse her. Most men she knew would be mortified even to admit to owning a sex manual, but Luke seemed to have decided, once she was in on his little secret, to treat each chapter like a new world waiting to be discovered. He made sex seem fresh andexciting.
“Doyou have more shopping to do?” he asked. “Or do you want to go straighthome?”
Sure, she needed shoes and a new handbag and some sheer hose to go with her new dress. At the moment, though, there was only one item on her agenda: getting to the nextlesson.
“Let’s go home,” shesaid.
They didn’t talk much on the way home. She felt the mounting anticipation of what they were about to do, and she couldn’t wait. She reminded herself that he’d be a bit inept, but that was okay. In fact, it was kind of sweet. Besides, new lovers always needed to learn each other’s bodies. If more men had asked her for help and guidance, she’d have had more winners in her sexlife.
With Luke, she wasn’t afraid to take the initiative and to show him how to please her. He’d asked her for guidance, but in truth she was doing this for herself as well as for him. She enjoyed her role as intimate teacher more than she’d dreamed. Who’d have believed helping a man become a terrific lover would be such a turn-on?
Oh, but it was. She was having trouble sitting still on the black leather upholstery. She wanted to wiggle. She wanted to grope. Frankly, she wanted to go down on him right here in a speeding vehicle in the middle of the highway. Which struck her as the fastest trip to the morgue, so she kept herself in check. But it wasn’t easy, the heat building inside her body was becominguncomfortable.
She glanced at Luke and his jaw was fiercely set. In fact, she felt tension coming off him in waves. Her gaze dropped to his lap and, as she suspected, he was harder than the stick shift. She turned away to hide her grin. He was as turned on as shewas.
Well, maybe she couldn’t physically grope him in the car, but she could have a little fun, couldn’tshe?
“What does it say in chapter seven?” Her voice came out sultry and teasing, and she noticed that he swallowed hard beforereplying.
“It says that a man can give a woman more pleasure with his tongue than any other part of his body.” He sounded a little put out by that and she imagined he was as penis-centered as every other guy in theuniverse.
She hid her smile. “Well, I never thought of it like that, although I suppose it’s true. The tongue is very flexible and comes with its own lubrication. But I like the, um, wholepackage.”
“Well, that’s a relief. Let’s see, what else does it say in chapter seven?” He thought for a moment while traffic hummed outside. Neither of them had put on any music, so it was quiet inside the car but for the purr of theengine.
