Chapter 2

After our morning together, Kate wanted to take a shower. I joined her, but we kept things quick and playful. While she dried her hair, I picked up the remains of our breakfast and made her bed for her. When I came back to the bathroom, I borrowed her antiperspirant (strange as it may seem, over the years, I've come to enjoy the scent of Secret).

"What should I wear?" Kate asked as I was getting dressed.

"Something comfortable."

She nodded and went to her dresser. She pulled out a matching cream-colored bra and panty set, a pair of jeans, and a turtle- neck sweater. I grinned at her as she put on the thong panties, and she smiled archly in return, clearly enjoying teasing me. She pulled her hair back in a ponytail with a scrunchie. Then she went back to the bathroom and applied her make-up.

I'd noticed that Kate--much to my pleasure--was one of those lucky women who looked even better in the morning, before the make-up. Cosmetics enhanced her natural beauty, and when she emerged from the bathroom, I was momentarily speechless. She actually blushed when she saw my expression.

She finished dressing while I retrieved my discarded jacket from the floor and draped it over my right arm. I extended my left arm to her, and she looped hers through it.

"Listen," I said, turning to her at the top of the stairs, "I really don't want to seem presumptuous, but have you got an overnight bag you can pack?"

She arched an eyebrow at me. "So you expect to get lucky tonight?"

I blushed and shook my head. "I'm just hoping." I held my breath anxiously. Although we'd already had sex once today, I didn't want to seem like I was taking her for granted. With any woman, that's never a good idea. With Kate, I suspected it would be a disaster.

"Good answer," she said.

I tried to unobtrusively expel my held breath.

"I keep one in the car."

I looked at her inquisitively.

"I use it when I'm at the hospital for more than ten or twelve hours."

"Ah. That makes sense."

"Or, if I meet the right guy," she said coquettishly.

I grinned and followed her down the stairs. Once on the main floor, I slipped into my jacket and helped Kate don hers. She headed for the garage, and when I didn't immediately follow her, she looked at me expectantly.

"I'll drive," I said.

"Okay," she said, drawing the word out.

She retrieved a Louis Vuitton bag from the trunk of her car and walked back toward me.

"Whose Jeep is that?" I asked, nodding toward the Cherokee parked next to her Lexus. "You don't have a roommate, do you?"

She shook her head and smiled. "It's my other car," she said. "For when I want to tow something, or feel like heading into the mountains."

"Ah. I understand."

She closed the door to the garage and put her car keys back in her purse. I stepped aside, gesturing for her to precede me. In a moment, we were in my Rover, headed for the front gate.

Once on Northshore, I drove toward the interstate, and from there, to West Hills Centre. It was near enough to a major mall that traffic was thick with holiday shoppers.

"Oh!" I blurted, suddenly remembering. "I was going to call you this morning, but..."

"You only have my office number," Kate said, finishing my thought.

"Yeah. You ready to swap digits?"

"Where are you going to put your digits?" she asked mischievously.

"Hmmm," I mused, waggling my fingers. "Where would you like them?" I leaned toward her, with only half my attention on the stop-and-go traffic.

"In my phone," she said with a smile.

I gave her my three main phone numbers and she stored them in her phone. I took out my own cell phone and programmed her home and cell phone numbers, memorizing them as I did.

Finally, traffic started moving again, and I turned toward the dress shop. Surprisingly, there weren't many people in the shopping center. I suspected that the Mall may have drawn off most of the early shoppers.

We parked, and Kate looked at me eagerly as we walked toward the boutique. I smiled placidly as she tried to speed up our pace. When she figured out which shop was our goal, I let her get a little ahead of me, so I could admire her long legs and tight ass as she walked.

Finally, she slowed, turned around, and gave me a "will you please hurry up" look. I grinned at her impatience and caught up with her.

"Do you think I need to update my wardrobe?" Kate asked, teasing me.

"No," I said. "I just thought you'd like a special dress for tonight."

"For tonight?"

"Uh-huh. For the restaurant."

"And for after the restaurant?"

I pulled her close and she blinked with feigned innocence. "I don't think you're going to need the dress after the restaurant," I said.

She looked at me, batted her eyelashes, and did her best Scarlett O'Hara imitation. "Then whatever will I wear?" she drawled.

"A smile," I said.

She laughed, tucked her arm through mine, and turned us toward Couture du Monde. As we neared the shop, I could see why Marcie had said it was easy to miss. The strip mall had two major rows of stores, and where they came together, in an "L" shape, there was a breezeway that led to a rear parking lot for the employees. The dress boutique was tucked into the breezeway itself and was difficult to see. So it was no surprise that when we entered, there were no other patrons in the store.

An attractive sales clerk looked up as the door chimed, then came out from behind the counter. She was perhaps 5'6", and her auburn hair set off stunning green eyes. I made sure to keep my libido in check as she walked toward us.

"Hello. Bonjour. Welcome to Couture du Monde," she said.

Her French accent was actually quite good--the French "R" is very difficult for most Americans to pronounce, but she managed it well. I also liked the touch she added, greeting us with "bonjour."

"Can I help you with anything today?" she asked.

"Yes," Kate and I said at the same time.

We looked at each other and both smiled, then I continued. "We need a nice cocktail dress. Something less than black tie, but more than dinner party."

"Certainly, sir."

She was about to turn to Kate when she did a double-take and looked back at me. Kate looked at me as well, clearly curious about what had drawn the other woman's attention.

"Ethan?" the redhead asked.

She knew me? I frantically searched my memory for where I might have met her, but drew a blank. I'd never dated her and I wasn't much for one-night stands, so I was pretty sure I hadn't slept with her (wouldn't that be embarrassing!). But I was still at a loss for how she knew my name.

"You don't remember me, do you?" she asked.

Kate arched an eyebrow at me and tried--unsuccessfully--to suppress a wry smile.

"No, I'm sorry, I don't. Where did we meet?" I asked, inwardly cringing at the possible answers.

She laughed musically, but I remained on tenterhooks.

"We've never actually met," she said, easing my conscience a little.

I smiled tightly at Kate.

"Actually," the redhead said, picking at some invisible lint on her blazer, "I'm not surprised you don't recognize me. I've changed a lot since the last time you might have seen me."

"Oh? When was that?"

She chuckled and smiled at Kate. I began to get nervous again.

"You were a year ahead of me in the MBA program at the University."

"Oh," I said, finally breathing a silent sigh of relief.

"And I look very... different," the redhead said. "I'm sorry, I should introduce myself. I'm Renee Beaumont."

She held out her hand and I shook it. As I released it, she immediately turned to Kate and extended her hand again. Kate shook it and smiled at me.

"Renee, this is Kate. She's my... date... for the evening," I said, choosing the most politic word I could think of.

"Excellent," Renee said, then turned to Kate. She looked Kate over and then nodded. "Size 4?"

"It depends," Kate said smoothly, still grinning at me. "A size 4 is usually too tight in the bust and too loose at the waist."

"Well," Renee said brightly. "Let's see what we can find that works with both."

Renee and Kate headed toward the back of the store and I ambled after them, simply looking around. The changing rooms were set into the side wall, around a little dogleg in the store. Where they were situated, they were out of sight of the store's front windows, so customers would have a little privacy even when they weren't in the rooms themselves. There were also several comfortable-looking chairs at the periphery of the open area in front of the rooms, with large mirrors adorning the walls.

Kate grinned at me as she and Renee began talking about designers. I stood out of the way and idly listened while they chatted. They talked about Calvin Kline, Vera Wang, Dolce & Gabbana, and a number of names I didn't recognize. While they were talking, Renee was busily looking through racks of cocktail dresses. Kate picked out a few as well, and they soon had more than a dozen for her to try on.

Kate took about half the dresses they'd picked out, stepped into one of the changing rooms, and shut the door behind her. When she emerged, she was wearing a tight white beaded dress. It was so tight I could easily see the outline of her nipples. It was also so short I knew that if she so much as raised her arms, I'd catch a glimpse of more than just her upper thighs. The white fabric showed off her tanned skin and dark hair, but we all agreed the dress was scandalously short.

The next dress was a low-slung red cocktail dress that was completely backless. Unfortunately, it was too big on her. We discovered this when she bent over to smooth the hem and not one but both her breasts slipped free. Kate seemed unfazed, and grinned brazenly at me when she saw the bulge forming at my crotch.

The third dress was deep cobalt blue, with a sheer top and a low waist. Kate looked stunning, and it picked out the color of her eyes perfectly. I could easily see right through the bodice of the dress, and while I certainly enjoyed the view, we decided something a bit more modest was in order. Kate returned to the changing room, but not before taking an opportunity to graze her hand against my burgeoning erection.

When she emerged from the little room, she was wearing a classic Little Black Dress. This one made her look stunning. It was so tight I could actually see she was no longer wearing her thong panties. The thought of her wearing nothing but the thin fabric of the dress thrilled me. The sultry look she gave me made my penis quickly reach full erection. But Kate wasn't comfortable in the dress and retreated to the changing room.

The next dress was a silvery sheath with thin metal-like straps holding it up. As soon as Kate stepped out of the changing room, one of the straps broke. The entire bodice flopped forward, baring her breasts. Renee blushed, but I noticed that she didn't avert her eyes. Kate noticed as well, and boldly moved toward the other woman to have the strap re-fastened.

I tried to unobtrusively shift my erection, but Kate noticed the maneuver and smiled at my predicament. Renee saw Kate's gaze and followed it, blushing as her eyes fell on my crotch and obvious hard-on.

By now, Kate had exhausted the supply of dresses she had taken into the changing room. Renee moved into the room, gathered up the dresses, and neatly laid them atop one of the racks. She appeared ready to wait for Kate to enter the dressing room to remove the silvery dress, but Kate had other ideas.

"Do you mind if I just... ?" Kate asked, reaching up to slip the straps off her shoulders.

"No, go right ahead," Renee said. "It won't bother me a bit."

Kate smiled, and a surreal scene began to unfold. As Kate slipped the dress down her torso and then over her hips--revealing that she was nude underneath--Renee watched Kate. I watched Renee watching Kate. As my eyes slid back to Kate, I realized she had been watching me. I grinned at her and she winked. Renee just blushed at our antics, but she didn't look away from either Kate's nudity or my painfully obvious erection.

After she hung up the dress Kate had just removed, Renee said, "Excuse me a moment."

Kate and I shared a curious look as Renee walked around the corner and headed toward the front of the store. When she returned, she smiled shyly.

"I locked the doors and put up the 'Closed' sign," she said, by way of explanation.

After that, Kate didn't even bother to use the changing room. She simply stood in front of the full-length mirror and tried on the remaining dresses. Both Renee and I admired her body as she did.

Kate is one of the few women I've ever dated who looked as good out of clothes as she did in them. Most women--most people, for that matter--have little imperfections that clothing hides. I certainly had more than my fair share. Kate had them as well, but on her, they enhanced the total effect. She looked stunning, whether she was standing au naturel or in a slinky cocktail dress.

Judging by Renee's body language, she agreed with me. I grinned to myself as I noticed that her breathing had become a little more ragged and she was flushed with desire. Kate noticed as well, and she shamelessly encouraged the attention. At every opportunity, she would bend over to retrieve something she'd "accidentally" dropped. Or she would cup her breasts, presumably to make sure they looked good in whatever dress she had on. She lingered longer and longer between taking off one dress and putting on another.

Kate was also teasing me with smoldering looks, not-so-innocent caresses, and a number of other subtle tactics. By the time she tried on the last dress she'd picked out, I was ready to burst. Renee couldn't keep her eyes off of either Kate's body or my erection. The sexual tension was nearly palpable.

Finally, Kate and Renee whittled the choices down to three: a skintight backless beaded dress from Calvin Kline; a smoky grey, translucent silk dress by Vera Wang, which included a sheer grey wrap; and a shimmering gold Moschino dress that hugged Kate's hips and had a plunging neckline.

"They're all so beautiful," Kate said. "How should I decide?"

She made a show of pondering the question, but I knew her well enough by now to realize she was up to something. She got an ingenious look on her face and practically beamed at me.

"I know," she said, snapping her fingers. "We'll let Ethan decide."

She grinned mischievously, and I began to worry. She walked toward me, still completely nude, while Renee watched raptly. Kate pressed her body against me and I felt her hand reaching for my fly. I half-heartedly tried to stop her, but she inexorably lowered my zipper and then carefully extracted my erection.

When she wrapped her cool fingers around my length, I locked eyes with her. My look was full of questions, but Kate merely smirked. Out of my peripheral vision, I could see Renee shifting nervously.

"Would you mind helping me, Renee?" Kate asked, looking over her shoulder at the other woman.

Renee gulped, but nodded.

Kate reached back and with a gesture, drew Renee forward. When she was close enough for Kate to take her hand, she did so, pulling her closer. Renee saw my erection and licked her lips. Then she looked me in the eye. I could tell she was very aroused, but I also wondered how far she was willing to go. Kate pulled Renee forward and placed her hand on my rigid shaft. We both started at the touch, but Renee gripped me firmly.

"Now," Kate said. "I'll try on the dresses, and we'll buy the one Ethan likes best, the one that makes him the hardest. Okay?"

I shook my head in wonder and smiled at Kate. She gave me a lustful look and we both turned to regard Renee. Her hand fluttered on my erection, but she slowly nodded in agreement.

Kate proceeded to try on the black Calvin Kline. She looked fantastic, and teased me mercilessly. She showed off her body, and I paid close attention while she ensured that the dress fit securely.