Page 61 of I Need You Tonight
Chapter 21
Nicole
Later the next morning, while the band was at the TV station, Callie and I took a cab from the hotel to the lingerie store she’d been dying to visit. She was glowing the entire way—and it had nothing to do with where we were going, and everything to do with what she and Jared had no doubt been doing last night.
Which was more than I could say about Mason and me. We’d stayed in our own separate rooms. The way it was supposed to be.
Only that wasn’t what I now wanted.
I missed him. I missed sleeping with him, and I missed waking up in his arms. I missed the warm feeling I got when I drifted off to sleep, knowing he was there and would still be there in the morning.
On the drive over, Zack sent his daily text, checking up on me. After the first week of touring I had confessed to him about the fire and how I was working with the band until the store was ready to reopen. Once I told him the guys in the band were nothing more than brothers to me, he had been less freaked out about me doing something completely out of the norm for me. It also helped that we still talked on the phone at least once a week.
How’s my crazy sister doing?
He’d been calling me that ever since finding out what I was doing.
Great. And how’s my jealous brother?
And I’d been calling him that ever since I realized how envious he was that I was the one touring with the band instead of him.
Missing real American pizza.
I laughed. Every day he told me what American food or TV show he missed while he was overseas.
Shopping with friend. Will talk to you later.
The cab dropped Callie and me off in front of the store, and we entered. The upscale store was nothing like the one back home where I usually bought my underwear. The lighting was softer than in your typical store, and the air smelled sweet, like the gentle caress of freshly cut roses. Classical music played in the background. If there was one word to describe the store’s goal for its customers, it would be “romance.” Although from the look of some of the lingerie adorning the mannequins, hot sex also came to mind.
The other difference between this store and the one back home was that I wouldn’t be surprised if a thong cost more than a week’s groceries. Everything was of super-high quality.
“Is there anything I can help you find?” a woman in her late forties asked. She was wearing a business suit with a skirt and heels, her hair wrapped in a chic bun. Definitely not the same as the girls who worked in the lingerie store back home.
“I’m not sure,” I said, and with a surprisingly straight face added, “I’m looking for something sexy that will turn my husband on.” I tucked my left hand—the one without an engagement or wedding ring—behind me. “But nothing sleazy. That’s not my style.”
She gave me a long look, implying that nothing in the store could possibly be called sleazy and that she was seriously considering spraying me with sanitizer for even suggesting anything so vile.
I bit back a giggle and smiled sweetly at her before joining Callie next to a rack of short satin slips.
She pulled out a navy one with ivory antique-style lace along the low neckline and the hem. It was sexy without being overly revealing. “What do you think?” she asked.
“It’s gorgeous,” I said in an awed whisper.
“I think I’ll try it on.” She scanned the store. “But first we need to find something for you.” Before I could say anything, she grabbed my wrist and dragged me to a rack of baby doll nighties not far from where we had been standing.
She immediately pulled out an incredibly sexy and utterly revealing raspberry pink outfit. The panties were nothing more than a string bikini, and the bra was covered with intricate lace. The rest of the outfit was created from a fine mesh that would show off everything beneath it.
It was so not me…yet at the same time it was perfect.
“I can guarantee Mason will love it,” Callie said, still inspecting the baby doll.
“Didn’t realize I was buying it for him to wear. But he might need a larger size.”
“Very funny.” She handed it to me. “You should try it on.”
“You do realize nothing’s going on between him and me, right?” We’d already had this discussion last night, but I felt like it needed to be repeated in case her hot husband had distracted her while he’d been onstage and she hadn’t heard me.
“So you’ve mentioned. You can lie to yourself all you want, Nicole, but you’re in love with him and nothing will change that. Besides, wasn’t the point of you joining the guys on tour that you could be adventurous and do something different?”
