Page 38 of Mated to the Enemy
Slipping her hand free, Jessica stared straight ahead, hoping the thundering roar in her breast wasn’t audible. Nerves and emotions were bubbling to the surface of her mind, thoughts that she hadn’t even known were dwelling within her. What the hell was the matter with her?
It was the mention of a wedding. It had to be. Ever since Zoe had been married, weddings had taken on a new meaning for Jessica, especially when year after year none of them was hers.
“Hey, Speedy, come back here,” Klaue called out from behind her.
Behind her? Jessica turned to see that at some point along the way, Klaue had stopped in front of a door and she’d kept walking.
“Oh,” she croaked out awkwardly, putting on a false smile and returning to stand next to him. Notnext-to-himnext to him, but near him. With space between them. Not much, but enough.
Enough for whom? The only one who is going to notice an extra three inches is you. Stop acting like a clown.
The door opened shortly after Klaue’s knock. “Hey Nat, can we come in?” he said conversationally.
“Sure,” Nat said, noticing Jessica standing there as well. Smiling, the amber-eyed woman extended a hand toward her. “Hi, I’m Natalia.”
“Jessica,” she said, frowning. “Natalia? Like, the same Natalia getting married?”
“Guilty as charged,” Nat said, her face blushing slightly at the reminder. She stepped back, dark chocolate brown hair falling over her shoulder as she twisted with a small flourish to welcome them inside. “Now, what can I do for you?”
Klaue was speaking before Jessica could open her mouth. “Jessica is here at the manor unexpectedly, as you may have heard.”
Nat nodded. Word spread fast, but at least she wasn’t eyeing Jessica the way many had.
“She’s also going to be accompanying me to the wedding, but she doesn’t have any clothes. You two are sort of the same size,” he said. “And I figured you didn’t need any of your normal dresses tomorrow, sooo…”
Natalia’s amber eyes flicked between Klaue and Jessica several times, then a grin lit her face. “Of course!” She reached out and for the second time in five minutes, someone grabbed Jessica’s hand and dragged her along after them.
“Where are we going, Natalia?” she asked, stumbling at first to catch up.
“To the best closet you’ve ever seen. And please, call me Nat. Everyone else does.”
“Uh, okay Nat.”
Her next words were stolen away as they walked through a set of doors into a dressing room of some sort, and then took a left into a—
“Holy shit,” she gasped as the closet yawned open in front of them.
“Right?” Nat giggled slightly.
“This is…wow.”
The closet was a long rectangle. Two rows of hanging racks went down the left, while the right had a single hanger rack for longer items, across the back of the room.
“The shoes,” Jessica continued. “Look at them all.”
From ceiling to floor, the far wall of the closet was dedicated entirely to shelving for shoes, tilted at the proper angle to display the many pairs. It wasn’t filled, not by a long shot, but the space! In the center of the room were two chairs, a bench, and a three-sided, full-length mirror.
“Okay, so dresses,” Nat said, starting to paw through everything on the side. “Nothing tight. You’ve got way bigger boobs, so unless you’re looking to keep more than just Klaue’s eyes on you all night, let’s see if we can’t find something a bit more concealing.”
Jessica looked down at her boobs instinctively, then frowned as the rest of Nat’s words sank in. “Wait, what do you mean?”
Nat paused her search, glancing over her shoulder. “Oh please, don’t tell me you’re oblivious to the way he looks at you?”
“It’s not like that,” she protested. “He’s just my, um, guide, while I’m here at the manor.”
Natalia smirked. “I could tell you a similar story.”
Looking away, Jessica ran a finger along the hangers, admiring the clothing, and also the space. “Nothing’s happened.”
