What I Did for Love (Wynette, Texas #5)(57)

Bram picked up the merkin to examine it, then returned it to the clerk. “I think we’ll pass. Some things don’t need extra decoration.”

“I understand,” the woman said, “although this one does have matching jeweled nipple covers.”

“They’d just get in my way.”

Georgie’s flush told her she was in big trouble.

“We have amazing lingerie,” the clerk said to him. “Our three-petal bras are very popular. Your wife can wear them with all of the petals up, or just the side ones fastened. Or she can peel them all down.”

Georgie’s breasts tingled.

“Very efficient.” Bram slipped his hand under her hair and touched the back of her neck. Her skin pebbled.

“Have you heard about our VIP dressing room?”

It all came back to her from a conversation with April. She tried to look thoughtful. “I, uh, think a friend might have mentioned something.”

“It has a peephole in the back wall,” the clerk said. “You can open it if you like. There’s a smaller dressing room behind for your husband.”

Bram laughed, one of his few genuine laughs since the balcony photos had appeared. “If more men knew about this place, they’d stop saying they hate to shop.”

The salesclerk gave Georgie a knowing smile. “We have an exotic collection of men’s briefs, and the peephole works two ways.” She couldn’t hold back any longer. “I just have to say that I loved you both in Skip and Scooter. Everybody’s so excited about you getting married, and don’t let all those stupid stories bother you.” She had to break off as more customers entered the store. “I’ll be right back if you need anything.”

Georgie gazed after her. “A list of whatever we buy is going to be all over the Internet by dinnertime. Massage oil would be safe.”

“Oh, I think we can be a little more exciting than that.”

“No whips and paddles. I’m so over S and M. At first it was fun, but making all those grown men cry got boring after a while.”

He smiled. “No dildos, either, even though I know how much you want one. Which is no surprise, since—”

“Will you get over it?”

“Over it…Under it…” He touched the bow of her top lip. “Inside it…”

A bolt of heat zipped through her body. She was going to melt.

He nudged her toward the lingerie collection, where softly lit shadow boxes displayed kinky bra-and-panty sets, garter belts, and skimpy teddies with front ties and see-through panels. All the lingerie was beautifully made and ultraexpensive. Bram held up a bra with a silky drawstring across the top of each cup. “You’re what? About a—?”

“Thirty-four double D,” she said.

He lifted a dark eyebrow and snagged a 34 B, which was exactly right, not surprising considering his knowledge of female anatomy. Several more customers entered the store, but for now, everybody was giving them space.

“Just so you know,” she whispered, as much to herself as him. “This isn’t a date, and the peephole door is staying shut.”

“This is definitely a date.” He examined a one-piece bondage body wrap made of black mesh. “Great workmanship.” He fingered the satin ties. “A lot softer than leather.”

“I love leather.” She snatched up a pair of low-cut leather briefs constructed with a man-pouch in front.

“Not in a million years,” he retorted.

She stole the bondage wrap from him. “Too bad.”

They had a stare-down. He broke first. “Okay, you win. I’ll trade you.”

“Deal.”

They exchanged garments, as if this were for real instead of two actors playing a skillful game of pretend. Bram added several cupless bras to her pile and some panties missing their crotches. She picked up a few more items for him in leather, but when she found an interesting pair of chaps, he looked so pained she put them back. He returned the favor by abandoning a torturous-looking corset. Finally, they exchanged garments, and the clerk led them to the back corner of the shop and the VIP dressing room. She unlocked a paneled wooden door with an old-fashioned skeleton key and hung Georgie’s garments on a curly brass hook before taking Bram away to his dressing room.

Georgie stood surrounded by antique rose walls; a full-length, gilded mirror; a tufted footstool; and wall sconces with fringed, rose-colored shades that gave the space a soft, flattering glow. The room’s most intriguing feature sat at eye level in the back wall, a door about one foot by one foot with a tiny knob shaped, not so subtly, like a partially opened clamshell with a pearl at its tip.

Enough was enough. Game over. Definitely over. Except…

No. Absolutely not.

A tap sounded on the wall. “Open up.”

She tugged on the “clamshell” and opened the door. Bram’s face peered back at her through the black iron grillwork. Hardly a peephole. The antique rose walls framing his face should have feminized his face but only made him appear more masculine. He rubbed his jaw. “I’m embarrassed to admit it, but this place has seriously turned me on.”

He wasn’t one bit embarrassed, and the store’s over-the-top atmosphere had seriously turned her on, too. She twisted her fake wedding ring. Melrose Avenue might be only a few blocks away, but this erotic emporium made her feel as though they’d stepped into another world. An oddly safe world where an untrustworthy man could look but not touch. A world where everything was about sex and where heartache wasn’t a possibility.