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I grab the two-piece still clutched in SJ’s hand and head toward the dressing room. I want to try this bad boy on.
“You really going to go try that on?” he asks incredulously.
“Yeah, you have a problem with that?” I sass back.
He sputters, placing his big hands on his hips as he watches me retreat to the dressing room. “Why would I have a problem with that?” he finally asks.
“I don’t know, you tell me, big guy. You seem to have swallowed your tongue.”
“Yeah bro, what’s wrong with a woman wanting to feel sexy?”
“Did you really just ask me that?” SJ asks, exasperated by both of us.
I pick up another one piece on my way to the dressing room. It caught my eye as soon as we walked back here, but I didn’t want Sam to see that I liked it. This one is even more risqué than the first, but I’m quick to slide it under the other one.
I look back to make sure Sam didn’t see. I sigh in relief when I see she’s busy looking at something else. What I do find is SJ’s eyes following my every move. The intensity in his gaze is enough to cause goosebumps to break out along my skin and my heart to skip a beat.
It’s panty melting intense, and enough to make me instantly wet.
Which is a problem when you’re about to go try on lingerie with your crush on the other side of the door and his kid sister right next to him.
I might have bit off more than I can chew.
“We just booked the flight and rental car. We’re flying into Reno on Tuesday, and we’ll drive the rest of the way. We should be in Sutter Creek by dinnertime,” Mom says.
“I hate that you two have to go through all this. It isn’t fair.” I groan.
My parents and SJ decided that coming straight to Sutter Creek wasn’t the wisest decision if David is watching them, and SJ believes there’s a very strong possibility that he is. So, they came up with a plan for my parents to fly into Reno, and Dunn Security booked a hotel room in Tahoe under my parents’ names.
As far as David Miller will be able to tell on paper, my parents are going for a weeklong vacation to Lake Tahoe. Instead, they’ll be getting in a rental car booked under a name the security firm uses for cases like this and driving two and a half hours west to Sutter Creek.
It’s not that I don’t understand why it needs to be this way. I get it. I don’t want my parents or SJ’s family put into any more danger than they already are. However, I’m still having trouble accepting this is my life right now.
It feels more like a movie. One that I want to shut off and never watch again.
“It’s a minor inconvenience to make sure everyone stays safe, and we get to see our daughter. We miss you, honey,” she answers somberly.
“I miss you, too. I’m excited to see you and dad. I didn’t mean for it to sound like I’m not happy you two are coming. I am. I really am. I’m just frustrated over the entire ordeal of you two having to sneak around like your spies or something equally baffling.”
She laughs at my rant. “Spies? Oh, wouldn’t that be fun! I could see your father now. He would have a mustache and one of those detective hats!” She cackles on the other line, and a wide smile breaks across my face. That would be a funny sight to behold.
We chuckle for a few more seconds, then Mom’s tone turns more serious. “How are you holding up, honey?”
I sigh. That’s a hard question to answer right now. My ankle is better, but my heart isn’t. It’s currently still recovering from this afternoon when SJ freaked out in the lingerie store, calling me his client again.
His words were sharp and direct. Piercing the open wound in my chest from how easy he is to dismiss me. I think that’s what bothers me the most. When he calls me his client, there is zero emotion behind it. I’m purely a job to him. I would hope at this point he could at least acknowledge me as his friend because client feels so much more impersonal.
“I’m fine. Healing more every day and hopefully the doctor clears me to dance again soon.”
“That’s great to hear. When is your next appointment?” Mom asks.
“Next week. We’ll drive back to Sacramento for a specialist to look at it. Hopefully, he takes me out of the boot.”
“I know you’re itching to get back, but I think this time has been good for you. You’re happier than I thought you would be.”
“Why do you say that?” I ask, confused.
“Well, every time we talk, you’ve barely brought up dancing. It’s usually all you talk about. Now it’s SJ this or SJ that. I’m very curious to meet this young man who caught your attention so thoroughly. He’s been good for you.”
