Kiss an Angel(31)

She went into the bathroom and removed her clothes down to her panties, but as she dressed in the scanty costume, she realized that the leg was cut so high they showed. She stripped them off and started all over.

With the costume finally in place, she looked at herself in the mirror and felt like a trollop. Two blue spangled scallops covered her breasts while a larger scallop covered her below. The body of the costume was made up of nothing more than a thin veil of tacky silver net. Sheba hadn’t even included a pair of tights.

“I don’t think I can wear this,” she called out through the door.

“Let’s see.”

She stepped out. “It’s a bit too—” Her words broke off as she saw Alex standing by the sink in his Cossack costume. She wanted to run back into the bathroom, and if Sheba hadn’t been standing there she would have. Why did he have to show up now when she looked like this?

“Step out so we can see you,” he said.

Daisy moved forward unwillingly. Sheba walked over to stand next to him, wordlessly uniting the two of them and making Daisy the outsider.

Alex said nothing, but the way he studied her made Daisy feel as exposed as if she were entirely naked.

“Turn around.” Sheba ordered.

Daisy felt like a prostitute being put on display by the madam for a favorite customer. Although the mirror in the bathroom was too small for her to observe what she looked like from the back, she had a good idea what they were seeing: two round, bare cheeks with a small scallop camouflaging the place where they met. Her skin was flushed as she once again faced them.

“We’re a family show,” Alex said. “I don’t like it.”

Sheba walked toward her and began fussing with the bodice. “I suppose you’re right. She’s really not big enough to fill it out properly. It’s gaping.” Daisy felt the woman’s hands on her neck. “Let’s see if the other one works better.”

Without warning, Sheba opened the costume and pushed it down, leaving Daisy naked from the waist up. With a startled exclamation, Daisy grabbed at the puddle of spangles and net that had tangled low on her belly, but her fingers were clumsy, and it was like trying to unravel vapor. Her gaze flew to Alex.

He stood with his hips resting against the sink, ankles crossed, heels of his hands braced on the counter behind him. Daisy wordlessly pleaded with him to look away, but he didn’t drop his gaze.

“God, Daisy, you’re blushing like a virgin.” Sheba’s lips formed a thin smile. “I’m surprised anyone can spend time in bed with Alex and still remember how to blush.”

The jewels flashed on his sash as he stepped forward. “That’s enough, Sheba. Stop baiting her.”

Sheba turned away to pick up the other costume. Alex put himself between the two women, almost as if he wanted to shield Daisy’s nakedness from Sheba, which was ridiculous since he was the one she wanted to hide from.

“Let me have it.” The full sleeves of his white shirt rippled as he took the red-sequined costume from Sheba, glanced at it, then handed it to Daisy. “This one looks better. See if it fits.”

She snatched the costume from him and dashed into the bathroom. When she’d closed the door, she leaned against it and tried to steady her breathing, but her heart was beating and her skin burning. She’d been raised by a mother who sunbathed in the nude, and she told herself not to make such a big deal out of what had happened. But it still bothered her.

She finally managed to get into the costume, and to her relief, it had a little more to it than the other. A flame-shaped pattern of fire red sequins climbed from the crotch to the bodice, where it clung to her breasts in irregular, jagged points. The leg openings were cut nearly to the waist, giving her a giant wedgie as she eased open the door and reluctantly walked forward. At least her middle was covered.

Alex stood alone, resting his hip on the edge of the table. Daisy swallowed hard. “Where’s Sheba?”

“She needed to talk to Jack. Turn around.”

She bit her bottom lip and remained where she was. “The two of you were lovers, weren’t you?”

“We’re not now, so it doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“She still appears to care about you.”

“She hates my guts.”

For all Alex’s talk about pride, he didn’t seem to have much honor, or he would never have let her father buy him, and there was something she needed to know.

“Was she married to Owen Quest when the two of you had your affair?”

“No. Now stop prying and let me see the back.”

“I don’t think it’s prying to want to know more about you. For example, I was looking through the clipping file, and I noticed you weren’t with Quest Brothers last year. Where were you?”

“What difference does it make?”

“I’d just like a little information.”

“Your curiosity isn’t my problem.”

He was the most private person she ever met, and she would get no more out of him. “I don’t like this costume. I don’t like either of them. They make me look cheap.”

“You’ll look like a showgirl.” Since she hadn’t turned around as he’d asked, he walked behind her. She hated being put on display like this, and she began to move away only to feel him touch her shoulder. “Stand still.” His other hand brushed her waist. “This one fits you better and won’t get us closed down in the Bible Belt.”