Chapter 19 – Phoenix
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Panties and propositions
Phoenix
After saying goodbye to Tanner, I learn I’ve got a very tipsy Jordie on my hands.
Somehow, she seems to walk better in her heels in her current state than she did before she had a single drink.
Nevertheless, I offer her my arm for balance.
Yep, strictly for balance and not because I like feeling her hand looped in the crook of my elbow.
“Did you have a good time tonight?”
“So much fun,” she gushes. “I love those girls.”
When I guide her toward the elevator, she resists, tugging at my arm. “What’s wrong?”
She leans forward and whispers right in my face, “I need to go to the store.”
Shit, I’d forgotten about that. “If you want, I can take you up to the room and then go to the store for you.”
Jordie shakes her head, turning her hair into a blonde tornado around her face. “Nope. Gotta get them myself.”
Hmm, probably tampons or something, though that wouldn’t bother me. When my sister got her period for the first time, Dad and Rebecca were out of town, and I took her to the store to get the products she needed. But I don’t want to embarrass Jordie, so I lead her outside and to the mall next door.
“Is this okay?” I ask when we enter. “I think there’s a Walgreen’s at the other end.”
“There,” she says, pointing to a familiar pink-and-black storefront. “That’s where I need to go.”
I gulp down the golf ball in my throat. “You need to go to… Victoria’s Secret?”
“Uh-huh. I forgot to pack my panties.” She gets in my space again, and I can smell cherries on her breath as her big aqua eyes meet mine. “I didn’t even have any clean ones to wear tonight, so I had to go without.”
Holy fucking shit. This can’t be happening. She wants to shop for panties? And she’s going commando right now? My eyes shoot down to her crotch, as if I have X-ray vision and can personally check the veracity of her statement. If I survive this night, I’m going to need therapy.
“Okay, let’s go,” I tell her, resigned to getting this over with as quickly as possible.
We’re greeted by a clerk named Morgan who leads us to the panty section, and god help me, I’m in literal hell. Morgan, who I’ve decided is Lucifer herself, holds up a scrap of baby-pink lace masquerading as underwear.
“What about something like this?”
“Oh,” Jordie says, tilting her head to the side. “They’re pretty, but that’s not what I usually wear. I’m an athlete, so I normally buy for comfort. I just had a packing mishap and forgot to bring any.”
“Are you in town for a game?” the devil woman asks.
“No,” Jordie admits. “I’m just here for some meetings.”
“Hmm, we have some lovely cotton ones you might like, but no one said you have to wear those when you’re not playing, right?
” Lucifer smiles wickedly and, for some reason, holds out the panties to me.
My hands are firmly ensconced in my pants pockets, but like it’s compelled to do so, one of them escapes and takes the lacy thong. “Feel how soft they are?” she asks.
The lace is like butter between my fingers, and I’m picturing how these would look on Jordie’s tight little body. How the pale pink would be set off by her tanned skin. How the lace would feel against my tongue when I was on my knees for her.
I become uncomfortably aware that I’ve been fondling these panties for way longer than necessary, so I practically throw them back. “They’re very nice, but it’s whatever Jordie wants.” I’m surprised my tongue even works since all my blood flow has migrated quite a bit south.
Jordie dips her head but glances up at me from beneath the fringe of her eyelashes before focusing on Lucifer again. “Okay, I’ll take those, but I would also like to get another couple pairs as backup.”
“Certainly. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
And we have a buy two, get one free sale right now.
” She flourishes a hand like a demonic game show hostess.
“We have a beautiful variety of colors. What’s your boyfriend’s favorite?
” Morgan flashes me a grin forged from pure evil in the depths of Hades.
What the… I open my mouth to speak, but Jordie beats me to it, her words coming out in a rush. “He’s not my boyfriend. We’re just friends.”
“Oh, I apologize,” Morgan the Malevolent says, her face falling. “I just assumed because you seemed… never mind. Do you see any you like, Jordie?”
Jordie walks around the round table, and I follow like a panty-starved puppy. My eyes scan the selection, and I have to bite my tongue to keep from yelling out, “Get the fucking red ones, you beautiful siren.”
Jordie hums for a few seconds before saying, “I think I’ll take the purple ones and… the red ones.”
I cram my hand into my pocket again to keep from fist pumping as Lucifer asks, “And would you like a matching bra for each pair?”
Standing to the side, I’m further tortured as the women finger lacy bras and discuss cup sizes. My palms are sweaty, and my mouth is like the Sahara.
Morgan the panty pimp leads us to the cash register. “Will that be cash or card?”
Before I know what’s happening, I’ve smacked my debit card down on the counter. “Card.” I don’t even remember getting my wallet out.
Jordie’s head whips around, but I fix her with a glare that says not to fucking argue with me.
I’m right on the edge of sanity. As we leave the store, I can’t help but feel like I won some small victory when Jordie picked the red panties.
I don’t even know why I care because I will never see them on her anyway.
No matter how much I wish otherwise.
This little pink striped bag I’m carrying can’t weigh more than a pound, but it feels like it’s holding a bomb. A lacy, sexy panty bomb. Jordie’s arm is tucked in my elbow again when we enter the hotel and walk to the elevators.
“You didn’t have to buy those,” she says, and I can sense her gaze on the side of my face.
I don’t look her way, instead concentrating very hard on pushing the button to our floor. “It’s fine,” I say gruffly.
She’s silent for a moment before blurting, “I haven’t had sex.”
Now my head turns to fully face her. My lips learn how to function again and I reply, “It’s been a long time for me too.”
Is she saying what I think she’s saying? Does she want me as much as I want her?
“No, I mean ever. I’m a virgin.”
Okay, forget what I said about the panty bomb.
This is the real bombshell of the night, but before I can respond, the elevator doors open, and a group of men enter.
They’ve obviously been drinking, their voices loud and their ties loosened.
One of them eyes Jordie with a slow up-and-down perusal that pisses me right the fuck off.
I step slightly in front of her and give the asshole the eye of death.
He has to look up at me since I’ve got a good four inches on him, and he quickly swivels around to look at the elevator numbers. The group gets off on the tenth floor, leaving us alone in the car, and I feel my defensive posture relax.
Neither of us says a word as we exit on our floor. Jordie’s hands twist at her waist, and I take one of them and place it firmly on my upper arm as we walk down the carpeted corridor. When we get to our doors, I don’t even hesitate. I use my key card and open mine, pulling her inside with me.
Whirling, I ask, “Why did you tell me that?”
Her teeth sink into her bottom lip, which is painted a soft red color that’s held my attention all night and had me thinking thoughts I should be avoiding.
“Because I’m tired of holding onto my damn V-card,” she says, frustration glazing each word. “It’s time for someone to punch it.” She smacks a fist against her other palm, and I try not to smile at how damn cute she is.
“And why did you tell me specifically?” I think I know, but I want to hear it from those plump lips.
Her chin dips, and I place two fingers beneath it, lifting until our faces are level. I don’t say anything aloud but compel her with my eyes to tell me the truth.
“Because I want you to be the card puncher, Phoenix.”
This time I can’t help my grin, though that’s the last thing I should be doing. I should be ferrying her to her room and telling her to never speak of this again. But I don’t.
“And that would make you the punchee?”
Jordie giggle-snorts and nods. “I guess. And I don’t want you to think I want anything else from you. Just, you know…”
“My dick,” I fill in, and the apples of her cheeks go crimson.
“I mean, I’m not looking for love, and I don’t expect a date or any romance stuff.
I just want it over with so I’m no longer a virgin.
Like a simple in-and-out procedure. But I don’t want to sleep with some rando.
I’d rather it be someone I…” She hesitates, and I wait to see what she’s going to say.
When she speaks, her single word almost knocks me off my feet. “Trust.”
“And you trust me?” I feel like I’m twenty feet tall. Like I could chase down a freight train and thump it off the tracks with my bare hands.
“Yes. I think you probably have enough experience to know what to do and not make me feel uncomfortable.”
“I’m pretty sure you just called me a man-whore, McNamara.”
She huffs out a puh sound from her pretty lips. “That’s not what I meant. You have a kid and you were engaged, so you’re obviously more experienced than me.”
I nod, conceding the point until something comes to me. “Wait, don’t you have a boyfriend? That football dude? I may not be a saint, but I don’t mess with another man’s woman.” And why the hell hasn’t that idiot taken this gorgeous creature to bed?
She looks affronted. “We broke up.” Her hands find her hips as her eyes narrow. “And I would never cheat on someone.”
I hold up my hands in surrender. “Sorry, didn’t mean to imply that. Last I heard, you were with someone. So what did you have in mind?”