Authors: Elaine Levine
A nightlight cast a soft, yellow glow over the kitchen. At the fridge, he faced Eden, pinning her against the counter. Her hands were on his chest, not to block him, just softly resting. He touched her short, silky hair, then his thumb stroked gently around her bruise.
“I don’t like seeing you hurt.”
“I’m clumsy. I’ll be more careful.”
Ty lifted a hand to her undamaged cheek. “Promise?”
Eden nodded. He bent to kiss the soft skin between the corner of her eye and her hairline, just above the bruise. Then he whispered in her ear, “I hope it heals fast.”
“It will, now.” Eden smiled. “I missed you, these past couple of days.”
“I missed you, too.” He looked down into her smoky eyes, wondering what she would think of him when she knew the dark secrets of his childhood.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Val parked the SUV outside one of the anchor stores at the mall the next morning. He looked at Eden and smiled wolfishly. “Let me just check my messages.” He hit a few buttons, then pocketed his phone. “We’re set. No one knows how to shop like I do. I’ll treat you to lunch, too.”
“Great. I’m starving. Let’s get the shopping done so that we can eat.”
Val shook his head. “Let’s take our time shopping and eat when we’re ready.”
Eden sighed. “What kind of house-warming gift did you have in mind for Ty?”
He made a face as his eyes took on a faraway look. “I’ll know it when I see it. What I’m thinking of is complex and nuanced.”
“So you want to get him wine. Why didn’t we just go to a liquor store?”
“It isn’t wine that I’m after. It’s something that will captivate him. Something he won’t want to share, won’t want to be away from, something addictive, something that anchors him.”
“Oh. Well. That’ll be easy to find,” Eden grumbled as they walked through the parking lot to the mall entrance. She’d left Tank at home and felt oddly out of sorts not having her shadow with her.
It was mid-morning and on a weekday at that, so the mall had few customers. The few women who were there drank in the sight of Val. He smiled at them all. Several started toward him, but a quick glare from Eden caused them to rethink their approach.
She and Val were wandering aimlessly through the mall, looking for his fru-fru gift, when he suddenly stopped and drew a sharp breath, gasping, “This is it! My favorite store!”
Eden looked where he was looking. “Victoria’s Secret? Forget it, Val.” She held up a hand. “No. No way am I going there. With you. It’s wrong.”
“Have you ever been in there?”
“No. I told you I don’t like shopping. I buy my clothes online.”
“What bra size are you? 32B?”
“Valentino Parker!” she snapped, using his full name. “That is none of your business.”
“Well of course it is if we’re going to be buying you some sweet nothings. Smile, darlin’, we’re going in.”
Ty was in the locker room in the gym building. He, Rocco, and Kit had finished a workout, then they’d sparred for a couple of hours. He’d been keeping busy, fighting the urge to watch the clock as he wondered when Val would get Eden back home.
He looked at his phone. Val was calling. Ty said hello a couple of times, but Val didn’t respond. Thinking he’d been pocket-called, he was about to hang up when he heard Val and Eden talking about Victoria’s Secret.
“Goddamn it, Val,” Ty growled into his phone. “You are not taking her underwear shopping. Get the fuck out of there.”
“We’ll just check out the latest fashions.”
“Do you hear me?” Ty snapped.
“Loud and clear,”
Val answered.
“What?”
Eden asked.
“I said we’ll avoid anything that’s loud but perhaps not sheer.”
“Val! You rat bastard! Pick up the phone!” Ty shouted.
“May I help you?”
came a faint woman’s voice across Val’s phone.
“Yes. We’re looking to spice up our intimate apparel wardrobe. I was a bit disappointed with last year’s summer selection. I hope your offerings this year are more pleasing.”
The same faint voice answered,
“I have to say that I found it rather flat myself. But I think you’ll be very happy with our newest designs. We have some lovely animal prints, fresh florals, and ultra-feminine lace designs. Some exciting volumizing push-ups that add two cup sizes. While you make your selections, I’ll just go ready a dressing room.”
“Please, kill me now,”
Eden’s harsh whisper came across the phone.
“I’m sorry, what was that, dear?”
the sales lady asked in a solicitous voice.
“She’s excessively shy about all of this,”
Val answered for her.
“Any problems if I help her try these on?”
“No, you don’t,” Ty snapped. “You are not going in the dressing room with her.
“Oh, of course! Many of our customers prefer making these decisions together. It’s not a problem.”
Ty put his phone on speaker and grabbed his shirt from his locker. He barely had it over his head before he pulled out his boots.
“What’s going on?” Kit asked, watching him shove his feet into his boots.
Ty’s glare swung his way. “Val’s shopping with Eden. For underwear. I’m going to down to Cheyenne to kill the motherfucker.”
There was some rattling of hangers and mumbled conversation. Then a door closed and the background noise grew quieter. Ty could hear music playing.
“Let’s begin,”
Val said.
“I’m not getting undressed in front of you.”
“Why not?”
“Because. I’m not buying these things. You can’t make me do this.”
“Aw, honey. I’m not making you do anything. I’m buying them. It’s my house-warming gift to Ty.”
There was a pause, then Ty heard Eden say,
“You had this planned all along.”
“Of course. We can sit here for hours, if you like. Or, you can take advantage of my time and expertise. We’ll put together a few ensembles that will drive your man crazy.”
“I don’t have a man.”
“Yes, you do. And he’s wild about you.”
“That’s insane.”
“Not all men are as forthcoming with their likes and desires as I am. Blade’s eyes tell their own story. You should listen some time.”
There was some rustling of clothes. Ty felt himself tighten, waiting.
“You’ll never get there in time,” Kit warned him. “It’s an hour and a half to Cheyenne.”
“I’ll do it in one.”
“You’ll lose the connection,” Kit said.
“What connection?” Rocco asked he joined them from his shower and went to his locker.
“Val’s shopping with Eden. They, ah, left the phone connection open.” Kit grinned at Rocco, clearly enjoying Ty’s torment.
“This isn’t funny,” Ty snapped. He heard Eden sigh. It sounded close to Val’s phone. Was she sitting next to him?
“I can’t do this, Val.”
“Do what?”
“Become a woman. I’ve lived so long in tees and jeans and boots. I don’t know how to be a female. I don’t know anything about makeup. I don’t know how to walk like a girl. I’m not a flirt. I don’t know how to flirt. I don’t want to flirt.”
Val laughed, a hoarse little chuckle that Ty decided he’d be eating later.
“There is no one and nothing that can wield more power over a man than a woman. Do you want to try these things on?”
No. Please. Say no
, Ty silently begged her. Eden gave no answer that he could hear.
“Yesterday, when I grabbed Fee to come play pool with me, she went from plain girl in pajamas to princess in mere minutes. She was beautiful. I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know that I would do it even if I knew how.”
“The real truth, Eden, is that you’re already beautiful. What we’re doing today is just enhancing that. We’re highlighting your assets. Let’s give it a try, shall we?”
Val continued.
“I am seriously the best bra fitter you’ll ever find. Take your clothes off. Let me see what we have to work with.”
“Jesus,” Rocco looked at the phone, then at Ty. “Guess we’ll be looking for a new sniper in a few hours,” he said to Kit.
Again, there was a rattling of clothes. Ty adjusted himself, spreading his legs to ease the tension in his groin.
“Sweet Mother of God, why have you been hiding that body? You’re no B cup,”
Val rasped.
“I’m not my body. This isn’t what I’m about. I don’t want sex with just anyone, and I don’t want guys thinking about sex with me. I have a job to do. I want to be taken seriously.”
“That’s some skewed thinking. Guys can’t not think about sex. With any female. Shit, we’d nail a pink fence post if it had a hole in it. The hell with anyone who can’t be a professional around you when you happen to look sexy. Any one of us would kill any man who doesn’t respect you, so you don’t have to worry about that issue, either. Put the white lace on.”
Some noise came across the phone.
“Good. Turn around,”
Val directed her. Ty heard the bastard’s appreciative hiss.
“We’re taking that one. Try the pink satin push-up bra and panties. Maybe we should go for a thong with that one or the boy-cut bottoms.”
There was silence for a minute.
“You know what we’re doing after this?”
“I’m afraid to ask,”
Eden answered.
“Mani-pedis. Facials. We’ll get haircuts. Maybe some highlights for you. And body waxes.”
“No waxing.”
“Why not? I do it all the time.”
“You have no body hair.”
“Because I maintain myself with frequent waxing.”
“Even down there?”
“Especially down there.”
“No way.”
“C’mon. At least get a modified Brazilian.”
Kit looked Ty and grinned as Val extolled the various reasons for body waxing.
“I’m gonna kill the cocksucker,” Ty snapped.
“Hey, guys,”
Max spoke over their radios.
“Does Val realize I record all incoming or outgoing calls you make from your phones? This phone sex with Val and Eden is better than what I pay for.”
Ty rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Jesus hates me. He. Just. Fucking. Hates. Me.”
By the time Eden and Val got home that evening, everyone one else was already seated at the dinner table. Eden washed up quickly, then sat next to Ty. Val, sitting across from them, looked as pretty and polished as a peacock.
“Did you have fun today, Eden?” Mandy asked as she passed the salad bowl down.
Eden looked at Val, tamping down a secret smile. “Not at first. I’m really not much of a shopper. But Val was amazing. You girls should definitely go shopping with him.” She glanced at Fee and Mandy. “He’s a like a fashionista. He scolded the sales lady at Victoria’s Secret for their lackluster selection in last summer’s catalog. She went scrambling to show him the new lines that were just coming in. Stuff that wasn’t even on the racks yet.”
Fuck
. Ty had had to live the experience; he didn’t want to hear about it all over again. The guys were sitting around the table, quickly shoving food in their faces to keep from smiling. Ty’s appetite was rapidly vanishing.
Kit brought in a platter of steaks still sizzling from the grill. Ty speared one, then sliced into it, cutting it into tiny, tiny pieces.
“Ty, are you all right?” Eden asked him.
Ty shoved a bite into his mouth and quickly discovered it was too small to block him from speaking. He forked two more bites and added them to his now dry mouth. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Eden looked at his plate and his pre-masticated steak. The table was too fucking quiet, he noticed.
“I’m sorry we were gone all day. Val wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Ty swallowed the bulk in mouth as his gaze shifted to Val. “Wouldn’t he?”
“We were having too much fun,” Val averred. He looked at Eden and smiled. “She was learning what an exquisite creature she is.”
“And it was your place to teach her?” Ty asked, his voice low and quiet and rather deadly.
“It was my greatest pleasure.” He grinned at Ty.
Mandy reached over to squeeze Eden’s wrist. “After supper, you’ll have to show Fee and me what you got.”
Eden was glowing and cheerful, pleased with herself, looking very, very feminine in her new outfit, Ty thought. Her top was a sleeveless cotton shirt that buttoned down the front. It was fitted beneath her breasts and flared out at her hips. The top couple of buttons were undone, showing a lacy tank top beneath it. Her hair had been trimmed so that small wisps feathered about her neck. She was wearing a hint of makeup. Her cheeks had a faint, dusky blush. Her smoky eyes looked huge with dark, long lashes. Her lips shimmered with muted pink sheen.
Christ. He was ruining her moment. “Did you enjoy yourself?” he asked, trying to make it not sound like an accusation. She studied him, worried about her answer. Her eyes grew luminous with tears as she gave him a slow nod. “Then your joy gives me joy.”