Page 7 of Bound in Lingerie (Bare Naked Designs 3)

Maggie was in her mid-forties. She was young but wise. This was the sort of advice expected from a grandmother or great-aunt, not the friendly woman who came every week to try and make sense of the world again.

“Oh, don’t look so surprised, honey. Why do you think I agreed to be your guinea pig?” Maggie released her grip and got up from the table. “I embraced New Age practices into my life a long time ago. I know you. I was just like you.” Maggie grabbed Amie’s hands and squeezed.

“How do you know what I’m like?”

“Do you not think that energy flows both ways? You just have to know how to look for it.” Maggie hooked her finger under Amie’s chin and lifted her head to meet her gaze. “Now, you better put on a happy face and get to your party.”

Maggie had the uncanny ability to make anyone smile no matter the situation. And Amie did just that. “Give me a call if you need to re-schedule your appointment next week. I’m here for you anytime.”

“I know, dear.” Maggie pulled Amie up off the table and embraced her in a warm hug. Before she walked out the door, Maggie stopped and turned. She had a devious smirk on her face. “You keep searching, because you are going to find it. When you least expect it.”

Now how in the world could she possibly know that Amie was searching?

Chapter 4

Milton walked into the average-sized home, nervous and second-guessing his plan to even make an appearance. He quickly surveyed his surroundings. Young people mingled and mixed in the foyer. He walked in further, gripping the custom baby basket that had been made for him at a trendy store near his hotel. He side-stepped a group of men and women and peered into the family room. More people.

Fear cramped in his stomach. The only social gatherings Milton attended were work related. Going to parties wasn’t a social thing for him anymore. Going to parties and being expected to talk about himself rather than his next big project terrified him. Social gatherings weren’t fun. At least not anymore. Not since he’d placed the weight of the world on his own shoulders.

Milton spotted Aleks right away, larger than life, the center of attention. It seemed that nothing had changed for his old friend. It was just like him to be smack dab in the middle of a group of women.

Flashbacks of his early twenties flooded his brain, their college years. Aleks with a group of females, picking and choosing which girl would go home with his friends. Thanks to Aleks, Milton could always rely on having a woman on his arm as he left the pub. It didn’t matter how dorky he may have been. Aleks always took care of his friends. And considering Aleks was intent on getting him laid while he was in town, it seemed he still maintained that philosophy.

Aleks noticed Milton as soon as he walked through the doorway and waved him over. “Milt! Over here.”

Milton hugged the gift tightly as he made his way to the group. Aleks was dressed down in jeans and a golf sh

irt. He always looked relaxed and casual. Weren’t you supposed to dress up for occasions like this? As he stepped closer, Milton felt very uncomfortable in his black suit.

“Ladies, this is my good friend Milton Campbell.” Aleks gestured toward him. “Milt, meet the ladies.”

A round of hellos filled the air as the women nudged closer to where he stood, making him part of the group.

“Hello,” he said. To these women, he was just a regular guy. A friend of Rob and Aleks. But Milton didn’t know how to be regular anymore.

“Let me take that for you,” one of the woman said. She slid her hands around the basket and lifted it from Milton’s arm. “What a beautiful gift.” She winked then marched over to a table that housed many other gifts, but Milton was quick to notice not one of them looked like his. Did he get the wrong thing?

Despite his discomfort, Milton brought his attention back to the group and joined the conversation. After a few minutes, the rhythm changed and he and Aleks played off each other, like they used to. He didn’t need Aleks to secure a woman for him anymore, but he welcomed his new wing man.

Over the years, money had taken Aleks’s place. Milton used his wealth in classic jerk-off fashion, but there was a method to his madness. Money attracted a certain type of women–the type that usually never planned on sticking around.

The conversation continued and just as he lowered his guard, “Who’s the suit?” wafted from beside him in a sultry rasp.

A woman strode up to the group. Her hips swayed to and fro inside her red sundress, subtly, not overtly bringing attention to her curves. His eyes traveled up and rested, only for a second, on her pert breasts that were hidden underneath the material. Soft blond hair skimmed her shoulders where smooth, pale skin shimmered beneath her spaghetti straps. When his gaze finally reached her face he was struck by the blue of her eyes and her bright smile, but it only took a split second for him to register her face. His jaw almost hit the floor. He would know her anywhere, the woman from the store window.

“Milt, I want you to meet my good friend Amie.”

Although she was fully clothed, there was no mistaking that the woman standing in front of him was the woman in lingerie from a few nights earlier.

“Hello, Milton.” Her voice was soft but firm. She held out her hand. Her skin was just as soft as he imagined. She flicked her hair over one shoulder with a toss of her head, and he caught a whiff of her perfume, patchouli and something, something that reminded him of the old trendy markets his sister used to drag him to in order to find vintage clothing.

“Hello.” He wiggled his tongue around in his mouth, trying to produce some saliva. All of a sudden his mouth was as dry as a bone.

“Milton went to University with Rob and I,” Aleks said. “When we graduated he moved back to Vancouver to take over the family business.”

“I didn’t take over,” he corrected. “I–”

“You don’t live here?” a dark-haired woman that had settled beside him inquired.

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