45. Stella
CHAPTER 45
STELLA
T he men stay in touch throughout the week with text messages, chats over the back fence, and one night, they join me when I take Goldfish for a walk.
“Can you go out this weekend?” Cam asks as we slowly circle the block after dark.
I’m eager for another date with them, especially for time alone with them at their house, but I don’t want to shirk my mom responsibilities or take Marissa’s time for granted by asking her to watch Jessie too often.
However, when Wyatt slides his arm around my waist, and Cam stops me on the corner to kiss me, I’m persuaded to ask Marissa if she’s available to babysit.
“Go out all you want,” she says, when I bring it up later that night. “You’ve been so much happier since you started dating the hot neighbors. I mean …I can only imagine why.” Her eyes make lewd suggestions.
“It’s not that,” I protest. “Well, it’s not just that. But yeah, I really like them.”
I tell the men I’m available on the weekend and ask what they have in mind for our date, but they say it’s a surprise.
I’m fluttering with anticipation and curiosity when I drive over to their house to meet them Saturday evening. I asked them not to pick me up, because if Jessie catches a glimpse of them, she’ll want to go along, no matter what type of boring errand I claimed we were doing.
Cam opens their door looking like I’ve caught him in the middle of getting dressed. He’s wearing black dress pants and a gray sleeveless undershirt that molds to his broad chest like it was painted on. He pulls me into a welcoming kiss, and I take the opportunity to squeeze one of his biceps, because I can’t resist.
“We know you’re not ready to tell Jessie we’re dating yet,” he says, “so we didn’t want to ask you to get dressed up tonight, or we figured she’d ask a lot of questions.”
“Okay …”
Wyatt appears from the hallway with a garment bag in his hand. “So we got this for you, so you could change here.” He unzips the bag, revealing silky black fabric.
“You bought a dress for me?” I couldn’t be more surprised if there were a giraffe in their house.
Cam says, “Yeah, we’d like to take you somewhere nice tonight.”
I look down at my comfortable flats, then at the basic brown purse on my shoulder. “I don’t have the right accessories to go with that dress.”
“We have those, too. C’mon.” Wyatt takes my hand and leads me to their hall bathroom, where the rest of my makeover is waiting.
There’s a box with elegant black heels, a clutch bag from a brand that makes me raise my eyebrows, a pair of sparkly earrings, and a beautiful necklace.
I gape at the men, stunned. These aren’t things you wear to an escape room or even a walk on the beach. “Why did you do all this?”
“Try them on,” is the only response I get, and then they leave me alone to get changed.
When I take off the blouse I’m wearing, I realize my bra is probably going to be an issue, too, because the dress they bought appears to have a deep V neckline, and I’m wearing a white lace bra with full coverage cups.
I’m wondering if I dare go without a bra, when I find a lingerie bag on the hanger behind the dress. Inside are silky lace scraps of fabric that make my skin flame. What do they have planned for tonight?
The dress feels great on my body and seems to fit well, but the only mirror in the bathroom is above the sink, so I don’t have a good view. When I open the door, the men are waiting for me in the hall, and there’s an instant ache low in my belly when I see them.
How could these possibly be the same men who loaded a cart up with marshmallows and chased a skunk from my yard?
Cam’s put on a black dress shirt that looks like it was specifically cut for his body. Wyatt’s wearing dark gray pants and a white dress shirt that makes his skin glow.
Both of them look equally stunning and stunned.
“Stella …” is all Wyatt says, in a way that makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.
“You look gorgeous,” Cam says, as his eyes eat me up.
“Do you have a bigger mirror?” I ask.
Wyatt leads me into his bedroom, a dark, masculine space neatly filled with books, sports equipment, and what appears to be a deconstructed Nerf gun on the corner of his dresser.
The sight of it grounds me, when I otherwise feel like I’ve stepped into a fantasy.
Both men come to stand behind me as I check myself in the mirror. The dress is simple and elegant, all black, floor-length and sleeveless, with a low neckline and a high slit on the thigh. It’s tasteful but also incredibly sexy. It seems to add a foot to my height, not counting the heels that go with it.
“How did you know my size?”
Cam cups my hips and slides his hands up along my sides to my chest. “Measured you by hand. Don’t you remember?”
“Even the shoes fit,” I say, amazed.
“Good,” Wyatt says. “What about the jewelry?”
I lift my hand to my bare neck. “Oh! I forgot.”
He disappears and quickly returns, handing the earring box to Cam before draping the necklace onto my chest and fastening it at the back of my neck, pressing a kiss to a spot nearby.
When Cam makes moves to put an earring on me, I offer to do it, but he insists, and it feels incredibly intimate to have them adorning my body this way.
Head to toe, I’m dressed in clothing they selected with me in mind, and the thought of that makes me feel like I’m shimmering.
“Maybe we should change our plans and just stay in tonight,” Cam says, as his eyes devour my reflection.
“Patience,” Wyatt says, before brushing his lips to the side of my neck.