“I just need to grab something.” I hopped off his lap. “Meet me upstairs in ten minutes.”
“O-okay. I’ll just wait here for now.” He wiped his palms on his jeans and watched me leave like I’d dropped him off at puppy day care.
I ran upstairs and straight to the suitcase I’d packed. I dumped out the contents to begin Operation Seduce Leo. Candles, a bottle of massage oil, and condoms sprawled everywhere. I would clean those up after as I got myself ready. Any lingering sadness I’d felt about my family being gone for another holiday had been erased by Leo’s invitation to stay with him. With Janice gone, there was no more time to waste. The Christmas Market practically marked the end of the year, so from here on out, time would fly even fasterthan it already had. I wouldn’t lose another precious moment with Leo while I had him.
The black lace and stringy negligee looked even more scandalous in his bedroom and outside the fancy lingerie store. I chewed my lip and debated how to go about the process of putting it on. The sales associate had instilled me with false confidence, insisting that my long limbs and slim waist (and modest bust) would be perfectly emphasized in this getup. She’d patiently instructed me on how to put it on, detailing what piece went where. But now, as I stared down at what was laughably described as clothing and priced higher than my water and electric bill combined, I couldn’t figure out where to even start.
“In for a penny,” I mumbled to myself.
It was important that I made this night special for Leo. Maybe it was corny, and perhaps it shouldn’t be something I thought about so much. Leo deserved romance and tenderness. He gave so much to Cath and his mom and now even to Vander. But especially to me. Not a day had gone by since our lives intertwined that he hadn’t made some sweet, thoughtful gesture, whether it was a home-cooked meal, a stupid joke texted on a stressful day just to make me smile, or helping out in big ways that pushed him way outside his comfort zone. I could also get outside my comfort zone for him.
If only I could getinto this.
Things went downhill quickly. After I’d pulled the negligee up my legs, the action of trying to get my head and arms through created some sort of Gordian knot. The harder I pulled, the more tangled I became. I cursed as my hips slammed into a dresser, causing me to almost fall over, and getting my long hair snagged around, oh yes,a new knot, at my neck.
“Ow, ow, ow.”
The few bits of strategically placed lace were so far from their intended areas I couldn’t even fathom what scrappy triangle went where. Panic soon set in. And then the rage.
“If you would just cooperate,” I yelled at the fabric, and it retaliated by pinning my arm up next to my head.
My anger made my actions more violent and abrupt, which only encouraged the little Horny Lady Trap.
Ten minutes must have passed as I felt Leo enter the room behind me.
“Everything okay? I heard some bangs and?—”
I penguin stepped to turn and reveal myself in all my glory.
I slumped onto the bed and looked up from where I’d given up. I could only imagine, in my wildest nightmares, what he saw right now.
Mostly naked, crisscrossed by black straps like I’d fallen through a hammock, and just as visually appealing, sweating and red-faced. One arm stuck lifted above my head and my other arm pinched tight to my body, at least coveringsomeof my more delicate areas.
Wow. Who could resist me now?
Leo laughed and tried to cover it with a sympathetic, “Oh no.”
I looked up, my mouth turned down in an exaggerated frown, my chin trembling slightly. “Help.”
He laughed again and covered it with his hand. He stepped to me, humor and pity written all over his features. “What happened up here?”
The rest of the room was forgotten in the madness of trying to get unstuck. My suitcase and its contents littered the room still. I didn’t have any time to light candles or get out the massage oil.
“My attempt at seduction,” I said with all the enthusiasm that I felt.
“Mari,” he said gently, coming to help me escape.
He stood me up, and to his credit, his gaze stayed mostly focused on my moping face as he began detangling me from my medieval torture device.
“You really didn’t need to do all this for me. It’s incredibly thoughtful, but it’s just me,” he said.
“All I did was make a mess and massive fool out of myself.” I sniffed and rubbed my tingling nose with the arm currently trapped above my head.
My cheeks burned red, and I’m sure my flush matched the rest of my body. Who would want to stay with this lonely, gangly wreck who literally could not even get dressed?
“You don’t have to do all this,” he whispered as his arms wrapped around behind me.
I let out a long breath, dropping my head to his shoulder as he worked.
