Chapter 21
Kinsley
An Indecent Dress
“Ican’t believe I agreed to go out with him. What was I thinking, and why the hell does it fill me with so many butterflies? I feel like I’ll take flight any second.”
I spoke aloud to the three bears like an idiot. Their smiling faces were a stark contrast to their thoughts. If the damned things could talk, I knew exactly what they’d say.
“Text him and cancel. Just explain that you’ve thought it through, and it wouldn’t be a good idea. You don’t want to lead him on. It’s okay, there’s still time,”
Summer would say. Somehow, I knew she’d be the practical one.
“Ha, she wants to do more than lead him on. She’s changed her mind. I knew she would; she practically swooned when she described him. Why am I not surprised?”
Autumn would exclaim with her arms crossed.
“Don’t do it. You’ll regret it. I’m telling you now. You give that man an inch, and he’ll take more than a mile. You’ll end up on your backside in his bed in that damned lingerie. Mark my words, he’ll break your heart. And I’ll absolutely tell you, ‘I told you so.’”
Winter would shake her head at me in disapproval.
I had to admit, something about this whole situation with Aleksandr made me realize that maybe it was time I started actually dating. I’d been putting it off for years now, but Owen’s death had taught me that being alone was hard.
If I didn’t want loneliness to be my companion for the rest of my life, I was going to have to put myself out there eventually. It was time I branched out and explored relationships outside of surface-level friendships. My heart lurched inside my chest at the thought.
“Season sisters, what do you think? It’s probably time, right? But what type of man? We’ve ruled out Aleksandr, other than this one date. So, what do you think, maybe a man who is sweet, loyal, and gentle? One who is fun but not intimidating.”
“You basically described a golden retriever. Save yourself the hassle and get a rescue,”
Autumn would remark.
“Alek is golden,”
I sighed loudly.
“Told you, she’s hopeless. Damn, I foresee a hell of a lot of tears coming our way,”
Winter would add.
But my champion, Summer, would come to my rescue.
“Oh, stop, Winter. Autumn has a point. A rescue would be nice. The more I think about it, the more I love this idea. It would not only be a great first step, but it’d also give you the full picture of commitment. You have so much to give.”
I’d officially lost my mind. How did I find myself in this place? Pasha. It all started with him. He’d left this morning. He came by the café to tell me he was leaving. He was heartbroken that I hadn’t danced with him. I’d managed to avoid that disaster by agreeing to teach for Mr. Dulaine one day a week since it coincided with Pasha’s time at the studio.
Mr. Dulaine didn’t ask questions. He was simply happy that I finally caved. I knew I’d regret it, but at least the four-year-old beginners class was filled with excited students, and the moves were so easy it was as if I wasn’t even dancing ballet.
I convinced myself to think of it as a pre-workout routine. The ballet lessons may have dredged up bad memories, but they were still preferred over facing Pasha. I told the season sister bears about Pasha, too. They knew everything about my life. Summer would be the loudest in her response to Pasha if she were here.
“I can’t imagine how much it hurt to say goodbye without truly saying goodbye. Maybe you should just tell him it’s you. Either way, I’m happy you got to see him again.”
She’d even hug me if she were here. God, I could use a hug right about now.
I needed to start preparing for the date tonight. A nice soak was first on the list. I filled the tub with water and some oils and got in. I pulled up my playlist and went to push play when I got a text from Aleksandr.
REAPER:
We’re still on for tonight. Don’t even think of canceling on me.
KINSLEY:
What happened to leaving me alone?
REAPER:
It’s Friday, and I agreed to leave you alone until then. Wear your hair up for me.
KINSLEY:
Let me guess, you insist?
REAPER:
I need to see that beautiful neck of yours.
KINSLEY:
You can look, but no touching.
Why did the thought of him wanting to look at my neck make my stomach swirl with butterflies again?
Because, stupid, you know he’ll want to kiss it. Then if you let him kiss it, he’ll want to kiss your lips, and then… “Ugh,”
I groaned aloud.
REAPER:
Are you sure I can’t get you to change your mind about the lingerie? I can have Marcus there in no time.
KINSLEY:
Sure, send him over. I’m in the bathtub. He can bring it in and lay it out for me. Do you think he’d help me put it on?
I jumped when my phone rang, hitting the answer button immediately.
“You trying to get my man killed or something?”
Aleksandr growled into the phone.
“You’re the one who brought him up, not me. Plus, he has that military persona that makes a girl feel safe and warm,”
I teased, leaning back and relaxing in the water.
“Are you insinuating that I can’t keep you safe and warm?”
He sounded offended, completing the first strike to his ego for tonight. Put a tally in my corner.
“Hmm, you’re not someone I’d associate the word safe with, necessarily. Your persona screams danger.”
“Are you really in the bath?”
His voice dropped an octave, and I closed my eyes, thinking about him.
“I swear, if you pull out the Reaper creeper before you even get here, I’ll go dark on you.”
“The reaper in me always exists, and I’m not afraid of the dark. In fact, I’d like to persuade you to join me. And as far as pulling out—”
“All right, enough of that. I’m serious,” I warned.
And now my mind was in overdrive. Like I needed that visual right now while lying naked in the tub. Hearing his sexy chuckle, I wondered what he was thinking.
“I was going to say, as far as pulling out goes, that’s the plan. I’m pulling out all the stops for you. That’ll be my primary focus. However, now you’ve got me all distracted and thinking about something entirely different.”
“Well, as much as I’d love to continue this conversation, if you want me ready in an hour, I must say goodbye.”
I sat up in the tub.
“Very well, goodbye for now. Remember, hair up.”
I rolled my eyes and hung up on him. The man was mental. Which more than likely made me mental too. After all, I agreed to go out with him despite all my instincts telling me to run in the opposite direction.
Tossing my phone to the side, I dunked down into the water. What the hell was I doing?
I reached for the body wash and wash cloth, realizing I needed to get a move on if I was going to do this. The last thing I wanted to be was late and to have him hanging around waiting on me.
Dr. Marcel’s message came to mind once more, and I hoped that his prediction would come true—that this would be a one-and-done situation. While I believed I could manage a single date with Aleksandr, anything beyond that seemed impossible.
I meant what I said about him earlier. He was dangerous, in more ways than one. He reminded me of how a magnet had both a north and south pole. I was both pulled to him and equally felt the need to repel him.
The words safe and warm popped into my head. And even though I was confident I could keep myself safe, it was the warm part that longed to let him pull me in.
I pulled the plug, and the water gurgled as it drained. I rinsed off with the handheld wand and then stepped out onto the bath mat. After drying off, I reached for my honeysuckle-scented lotion and smoothed it over my body, relishing the sweet aroma.
Since Aleksandr had mentioned it, my own senses were heightened to it, and I had to admit it had a delicate and sweet, floral aroma that reminded me of summer.
As I smoothed the lotion on my skin, the fragrance lingered in the air, and I shook my head at my own behavior. I may have made sure I applied the body spray to my neck just for Reaper, but I would never admit it…even to myself.
“Now look who is certifiable?”
I muttered to my reflection in the bathroom mirror.
I took my time with my hair, carefully drying and curling it before using a decorative pin to secure it up as he requested. It created beautiful waves and with a final pull of a few strands that hung loose around my face, I called it a night.
Moving on to my makeup, I opened my bag and began with the winged black eyeliner. Thank god for makeup tutorials, or I would have looked like an idiot.
While I was growing up, it never occurred to me that I was missing out on a woman’s touch in my life. Or well, in this case, education in how to apply makeup so I didn’t resemble a clown.
With a steady hand, I drew the line from the inner crease of my eye and extended it outward, creating the perfect cat eye. I added a few more drawn lines, and then I applied a glittery pale-pink shadow on the lower part of my lid.
I followed that up with a pale apricot shadow and topped it off with a shimmery silver at the top of the lid, completing the first part. Now all I needed was to fill in the inner eye crease with the same silver. My mind drifted to the past.
What would Owen think of me going on a date for the first time? Would I even be if he were alive? We’d probably still be living up at the cabin. No one to date up there.
Owen hadn’t known much about raising a girl, but we managed for the most part, and what he couldn’t figure out, the internet helped with. I thought back to the first time I got my period.
I already knew what to expect, and my reassurance that he didn’t have to explain it to me was priceless. The amount of relief that flooded his face still brought a smile to my lips. I was thirteen, and he must have been preparing for it because he quietly led me over to a cabinet where he’d stocked up on enough supplies for a household of women.
Various products were stacked from top to bottom in the supply closet. The configuration resembled the store shelves. We didn’t need to replenish for years. I shook my head to clear the memories. I needed to focus on finishing up. Alek was due to arrive shortly.
I took a step back and smiled at my reflection, feeling confident and beautiful. Somewhere along the way, I managed to create a look that was both dramatic and playful. After adding a touch of highlighter to my cheeks, I opted to keep the lips neutral and added some gloss to them.
I took a deep breath and walked into my bedroom. There was no sense in avoiding it any longer. The dress lay on my bed, looking as inappropriate off the hanger as it had on.
Grumbling under my breath about the lingerie, I had to admit, it might not have been all bad. I would have probably felt much more confident if I wore that black ensemble under it, rather than the pink cotton thong I was wearing.
Too late for that now.
However, it was when I donned the dress that I was overcome with the urge to call and cancel the entire thing. I could kill him, literally. Turning to the side, I shook my head. Talk about scandalous.
The material clung to my body, emphasizing my breasts and hips. The dress itself was low cut, like the one I wore to the club, but the real issue was on either side of my ribs, where everyone would see a very generous amount of my breasts.
No way was this going down. He had to know this was a possibility; he picked out the damned thing. My regret for agreeing to go out with him tonight reared its ugly head once more.
I stomped over to my dresser and grabbed my phone, dialing him. He wasn’t about to get an eyeful, but an earful…I fumed as I waited for him to pick up.
“Hey, kitten, I’m five minutes out. Everything okay?”
“This dress is indecent. Like, full-on side boob. I can’t wear this,”
I exclaimed.
I lifted my arm and could immediately tell if I moved in any significant way, my boobs were going to fall out completely. A deep, rich chuckle reached my ears. All it did was infuriate me. I took a deep breath, and once he quieted down, I spoke.
“I’m not getting arrested for indecent exposure. And if you even mention your connections with the police chief, I’ll scream.”
“I think you’re overexaggerating. It can’t be that bad. I’ll bet you look fantastic.”
“I’m serious. I’m staring at my left boob, and it’s gonna fall out.”
This only made him laugh harder.
“God, you’re killing me. I’ll be there in a few. Don’t you dare take it off,”
he growled before the line went dead.