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Cassie put three pancakes on her plate, slathered them with butter, and drowned them in enough syrup to cover twenty pancakes. She cut herself a bite, stabbed it with her fork, and brought it to her mouth. Her eyes closed and she released a contented sigh. “I’d forgotten how good these are.”
Daniel laughed.
“You’re so lucky,” Cassie said to Ali. “You get to eat Dad’s pancakes every day if you want.”
They all chuckled.
“Thank you for the breakfast, Mr. Ross,” Jesse said.
“You’re welcome.”
They spent the rest of the morning sitting around the table talking. Daniel watched the interactions between his daughter and Jesse to see if he noticed any red flags. Granted, it had only been a few hours, but so far, he’d seen nothing. Cassie seemed perfectly at ease. She even made a few jokes at her fiancé’s expense, and Jesse took it in good fun.
“What do you say to some shopping?” Cassie asked Ali after they’d finished lunch.
“Sure. Did you have somewhere in mind?”
His daughter got a mischievous look in her eyes. “I need to do some shopping for the honeymoon, and I could use a female perspective.”
It didn’t take a genius to know what type of shopping she was talking about. “Um, wouldn’t you feel more comfortable doing that with your friends?”
Cassie sighed. “No. They tend to have a one-track mind.”
Daniel stood. He might be open-minded when it came to sex, but even he had his limits. “Jesse, maybe you could help me with some things out back while our girls are gone.”
“Sounds good.”
As the women were getting ready to leave, Daniel pulled Ali aside. “Have fun and call me if you need anything.”
“Try not to give Jesse too much grief. He seems like a good guy.”
Daniel grinned but didn’t answer. He gave her a brief kiss, then backed away.
“Ready?” Cassie asked.
Ali gave him one last look, then turned to his daughter. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
* * *
Ali turned toward the highway. “What exactly are you looking for?” When Cassie said she wanted to shop for the honeymoon, she wasn’t sure if she meant lingerie or toys. Or both. “There are a few different places we could go.”
“I want something special to wear on our wedding night. It would be nice if it can fit under the dress, but it doesn’t have to.” Cassie twisted in her seat, so she was angled toward Ali. “My best friend, Brie, thinks less is more. She showed me a picture of a model in nothing but strings. I just don’t think that’s what I want to wear on my first night as Jesse’s wife, you know?”
“Did you tell her that?” Ali felt like she needed to tread carefully. She’d only known Cassie for a few hours.
Cassie leaned back against the headrest. “Brie’s a lot more open about that kind of stuff than I am. She has no problem putting herself on display.” She paused. “It’s not like I don’t want Jesse to see me naked or anything. Of course, he does, but it doesn’t feel right to wear something like that on our wedding night. I want something...classy.”
That made sense. “I’ll take you to one of my favorite lingerie stores. They have a variety of options.”
Smiling, Cassie refocused on the road as they headed into town. She was quiet for a while and Ali didn’t try and force conversation.
When they arrived at the store, Cassie went straight to a rack of baby doll nighties. She removed one and held it against her front. “What do you think? Too much? Not enough?”
The lingerie had solid panels over the breasts and a solid pair of panties but was shear pretty much everywhere else. It was pink, and while pretty, maybe not the right color for a wedding night. “Do they have it in white?”
They searched the rack and the ones surrounding it, but there was no white. Cassie was bummed.
Ali placed a hand on her arm. “It’s okay. We’ll find something else you like even better.”
