Discovering Stella (25 page)

“What?” I asked
defensively.
All
right, so
shopping
for
girly shit had never really been
my
thing,
but
this time
it
meant spending time with Stella.

“Thank
you,
but
maybe I could just catch a
lift
with you to Shepparton and then get the bus back or something. That way you
don’t
have to
hang
around and
wait,”
Stella offered sheepishly.

“You’re
not
catching the bus back.
I’m
taking
you
and
that’s
all
there is to it.
Now
hurry up and go get
ready,
unless
you
want to wear
that,”
I said, nodding to
her
PJs
with a premeditated grin.

She
looked down at herself.
“No,
not
really. I guess I’d better go and get dressed then. Seems I’ll be going
shopping
and celebrating
my
birthday after
all.”

*
 
*
 
*

I
drove Stella to
Shepparton
and
dropped
her
off at the plaza, explaining I
would
call
her
when
I returned after picking
up
the part
for
her
car. During the
one
hour
drive
it
had taken
to
get
there, we
hadn’t
mentioned
what
lay
ahead
for
our
relationship,
although I had
no
doubt
that the
question
had
hung
as
heavily
on
her
mind as
it
had mine. I
wanted to
know what
she wanted
— what I could
give
her,
do to
her
and
say to
her.
It
was driving
me
bloody
crazy.
But
I also
hadn’t
wanted
to
ruin the
awesome
mood
she seemed to
be
in,
so I’d
kept
my questions
under
wraps.

As
I was about to pull
my
phone
out
and
call
her
in
order
to find
out
what
shop
she was in, I spotted
some
charms in a jewellery
store
window — a charm of a knight, in particular, catching
my
eye.
It
was fucking perfect.

Stepping
into
the
store,
I headed straight to the counter and asked to see it. The sales assistant happily grabbed the display
tray,
which was when I noticed a toad charm
as
well. I
couldn’t
believe
my
luck.

“Do
you
happen to have a charm of a princess, too?” I asked
dubiously.

She
smiled.
Good sign.
“Yes,
we
do.
We
have different ones, and we
can
order
more
in if
you
like.
Here,”
she said, handing me a small brochure. “There are hundreds, and many
more
online.”

“Sweet! Thank you. I’ll take the knight, toad and princess
for
now,”
I said
eagerly, not
even worried about the price.
 
Honestly,
I
didn’t
care.
Money
wasn’t
something I was short
of.
I
worked
bloody hard and
didn’t
have the need to spend much.

“Does your girlfriend have a bracelet these
can
go on?” the assistant asked.

My girlfriend? Fuck! Is Stella my girlfriend?
I sure
as
hell wanted
her
to be. I just
wasn’t
sure where
her
mind was at.

Realising that I would have to sort this girlfriend-label shit
out
soon,
I
went
along with the sales assistant’s assumption.
“No,
she
hasn’t.
Which
one
do
you
suggest?”

She
smiled
brightly.
“We
have
some lovely
charm bracelets. Come
over here
and I’ll
show
you.”

After
buying a bracelet and happily spending a shitload of money
for
the first time in a
long
time, I rang Stella to find
out
where she was.

“Hi,”
she answered,
her
voice
strained.

“Where are you?”

“I’m
in
...
Chic
...
Ex
...
press.”
Her voice
strangled yet again.

I narrowed
my
eyes
...
not
that she could see them.
“You
all
right?”

“Yeah,
just having
an
issue with this dress. Why there is a need
for
ten different straps is beyond
me.”

I laughed.
“Hold
tight, I’ll be there in a minute. Maybe I
can
help you
with that
problem.”

Silence.

“Maybe
you can,”
she said in a
tone
that made
my
dick
jump.
Then, she hung
up.

Just. Like. That.
Was
that an invitation?

Looking at
my phone,
I
didn’t
question any
longer.
I picked up
my
pace and practically ran
for
the
shop
— its whereabouts, I had no bloody idea.

After
asking a
couple
of teenage girls where Chic Express was and having to endure their
moment
of silly giggles, they pointed me in the right direction, soon finding myself standing
outside
the
store’s
change rooms.

“Your
royal highness,
how
may I be of assistance?” I announced rather
loudly.

Three
curtains
moved
in succession, together with three female faces peeking curiously through the material.
One
of them was
Stella’s,
and she was laughing hysterically.

“Get in
here,
you
idiot,”
she said playfully, reaching
out
and grabbing me by the scruff of the neck, pulling me
into
her
cubicle.
Her
bold
move
shocked
me,
so
at
first
I
stood
there,
a
little
dumb-
founded,
not
knowing
what
I was
supposed
to
be
doing.
I
figured
I
should
comment
on
the
dress
she
was
wearing.
It
was
black,
showed
her
shoulder
and
was
covered
in
small
flowers.
She
looked
great.
“I
like it!” I said, eyeing
her
up and down.

She
turned and looked in the mirror. “Liar.
It’s
hideous.”

Really? How the fuck should I know?
It
looks perfectly fine.
“I
don’t
think anything
you
wear could look
hideous.”

Her
cheeks flushed pink
as
she looked away from our reflection. “Can
you
do me a favour?”

“Sure,”
I answered, shuffling
on
the spot and hoping the favour was to
remove
the ‘hideous’ dress.

Stella handed
me
an article
of
clothing.
“I
need a smaller size in this
one.
Can
you
please ask the sales assistant to grab
it
for
me?”

Nodding, I took
it
from
her
and left the change
room,
quickly finding the sales chick so that I could get back to Stella. The assistant — who was excessively covered with make-up — referred to me
as
‘hon’
and explained that what I was holding was a dress.
She
took
it
from me, soon returning with the correct size. I thanked
her
and headed back to the change area,
not
sure whether to
enter
Stella’s
cubicle again.

Opting
for
the safe approach, I stuck
my
hand through the
curtain
and dangled the dress off
my
fingertip.
“Here you
go.”

Stella’s
soft hand gently grazed mine and
removed
the dress,
but it
then turned aggressive when she grabbed
hold
of
my
arm and yanked me
into
the cubicle. I stopped when I came face to face with
her
—
her
lips were
mere
centimetres from mine,
her
eyes alight with lust.

“I’m
going to need your
help
...
getting undressed,” she whispered,
her
warm breath flitting across
my
cheek and finding
my
ear. Fuck, did
it
arouse
my
cock.

I cleared
my
throat.
“I
can
definitely
help
you
with that. In fact,
I’m
very good at
it.”

Stella smiled, slowly turned
her
back to me and
moved
her
hair to the side, baring
her
neck and shoulders. I looked from
her
enticing bronze skin to
her
reflection in the mirror then back again, bringing
my
hands to the tie that held the dress together behind
her
back.

Gradually, I pulled
on
the bow and let
it
unravel, pushing the dress from
her
and revealing
her
fucking sensational
body,
which was showcasing a pair of black lace panties and a strapless bra.

My
breathing hitched —
as
did hers — while we stared at each
other’s
reflections in the mirror.
Stella’s
chest was heaving, elevating
her
tits
enticingly,
yet she seemed to remain in
control.
I,
on
the other hand, was very quickly losing
my
shit.

Turning
to face me, she lifted
her
arms in the air.
“Are
you
very good at putting clothes
on
as
well?”

No. No,
I’m fucking not!

I shook
my
head.

She
pouted.

“I
guess I
don’t
need your
help
any
more,
then,”
she said, with a slight shrug.

I stepped closer and placed
my
hands
on
her
hips.
“I
call
bullshit.
You
need me
for
many things.”

“Lawson,”
she whispered,
exhaling
slowly,
her
control now
evidently diminishing like mine.
“I
need to
try
on
that dress,
or
I’ll have nothing to wear
on
Saturday night. Surely
you
don’t
want me showing up in this.”