Page 4 of Beautifully Used
I finished gathering up the rest of her underwear and handed them to her. She took them and hugged them to her chest, as though that could hide the fact that they were all very risqué and sexy. I walked away, leaving her there all pink-cheeked and flustered. I almost knocked Lena down in my haste to get away. “Shit. Sorry,” I said.
“It’s okay. Is Gabby in there?” she asked, pointing toward the kitchen. “She said she bought some goodies and wanted to show me.”
“Yeah, she uh… yeah.” I stuck the apple in my mouth to avoid saying anything more about the underwear.
Damn. I wouldn’t have thought Gabrielle Demeres would know what sexy was. Don’t get me wrong, she was definitely sexy; I just didn’t think she realized it. Apparently, I was wrong about that. Now I wondered if those panties were for her or Lena.
Inside my room, I stripped down for a shower. I hadn’t had a chance to clean up this morning before rushing out of that girl’s room. Well, her cousin’s room since she’d told me she was just visiting. Lucky for me, her cousin had been out for the night. From the looks of the room I’d been in, I’d guess the cousin was female, and one who loved the colors purple and pink. I glanced around my own masculine room. I didn’t think I’d be sleeping here tonight either, especially if I had a good time at the bachelor party. I looked at the time on my phone. Doc would be at the bar in thirty minutes to meet me to go over the night’s activities. I hurried into the shower, trying to think about all the stuff I still needed to do for the party tonight. Unfortunately, I only managed to think about silky white thighs, and sexy, lacy pearl-thong underwear.
Chapter 4
Gabrielle
* * *
Lena came into the kitchen and laughed at the way I stood clutching all the underwear to my chest. “Why are your cheeks so red?”
“Are they?” Great. I absentmindedly reached up and palmed my face while juggling the pile of panties tighter in the other arm.
“Yeah. Here, let me help with those,” she said and grabbed the pile of clothes from me, placing them on top of the table.
“As interesting as this all looks, you ladies will have to excuse me. I’ll leave you two to your… whatever it is you’re going to do here, but it looks like fun.” Jackson gave me a smirk and kissed Lena on the lips before strolling out of the kitchen.
“What was he smirking about?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I quipped. Just Brodie, going out of his way to embarrass the hell out of me and make me look like a fool, I thought to myself. Of all the pieces of underwear I had dropped, why did he have to pick up the lacy pearl thong?
“Oooh, Gabby, these are so very pretty. Thank you so much for getting these for me. One thing I do miss about living here is the lack of department stores. Shopping online just isn’t the same as being able to touch things.” She held up the thong with the pearls. “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like these before. Will I be able to feel the pearls when I sit down?”
“How should I know? But the saleslady assured me that you won’t mind the sensation if you do.” We both giggled at that.
“Sounds interesting.”
“Yeah, they might make walking down the aisle a challenge.”
“Not to mention the first dance.”
“Lena, I am so happy for the two of you. How are you anyway? I mean after the ordeal with Troy. Are you okay?”
“As okay as one can be after killing her ex-husband. It’s gotten easier as the year has gone by, but I’m afraid the memory will never completely go away. Tea?” she asked, tea kettle in hand and already filling it with water from the tap.
“Sure,” I said as she placed the kettle on the stove. “I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine.”
“Yeah. I’ve had a few nightmares about it all, but Jackson’s been there to help. And, as they say, time heals. I do need to work at not feeling so guilty about taking the life of another human being. I know Troy was a terrible person, and I didn’t have a choice, but that part is very difficult.”
“He was a scum-of-the-earth human being that was going to kill Jackson and then probably you. You don’t have anything to feel guilty about. Nobody thinks otherwise. Nobody.”
“Thanks for that. Jackson says the same thing.”
I put two cups on the table and plopped a tea bag into each one. “Good. I knew I liked him, but I’m glad you two didn’t rush in to getting married like you did with Troy.”
“I think I’ve learned my lesson on that one.” The teakettle whistled, and Lena poured the water into the cups as steam rose between our faces. “But Jackson is nothing like Troy. In any way.”
“I know. Anybody can see that. There was always something about Troy that bothered me, but I could never put my finger on it. He was always just so …”
“Cocky?”
“No. It was more than that. I can tolerate cocky. It was more that he was just too possessive of you. I remember thinking how mean he’d seemed that night we all went out right after you two tied the knot. He never took his eyes off you and he was always frowning. When you were out there dancing with Weezer, well, the fire brewing behind his eyes was scary. I should have known he was a bastard.”
