“Of these,” Stephanie said with a laugh, and held a pair of panties in front of Drina’s groin. They were red silk with black lace trimming. “Do you think men would find her attractive in these? There’s a matching bra too.” She held that up in front of Drina’s breasts next and peered at the effect with a tilted head. “I think they’re gorgeous, but Drina says the material of the bra is too flimsy and her nipples would show through when it’s cold. Do men mind nipple bumps?”
“I-” Harper stared, his mind suddenly on hiatus as he imagined Drina in the outfit, her nipples erect and pressing the material outward. “Don’t-”
“See, he said ‘I don’t.’ I told you men don’t mind nipple bumps,” Stephanie said with a laugh, and tossed the bra and panties into the cart.
Harper stared helplessly at the scraps of material and shook his head. He hadn’t meant he didn’t mind nipple bumps. Hell, he wasn’t sure what he’d meant. Please don’t do this to me, maybe. The girl was. . well, he didn’t know what to think of Stephanie. She had been quiet and sad-looking when she’d first arrived in Port Henry, but had blossomed a bit under Elvi’s and Mabel’s attention before they’d left. However, she appeared to have really come out of her shell with Drina’s arrival and was being rather precocious. He didn’t think she had a clue how her suggestions and words were affecting him, though. No doubt she was young enough that she really thought a man could just look at this stuff without it affecting him, but-
His gaze shot to Drina, and he wondered what she was making of all this. He’d been too busy looking at the material in front of her and imagining it on her body, to even take in her expression this time. Though he had a vague sense that she’d seemed embarrassed by the girl’s behavior. She appeared unconcerned now, though, completely oblivious of his presence, her expression serene as Stephanie held up a black and red bustier in front of her. A bustier, for Christ’s sake!
“You’re so lucky to have the body to wear this stuff.” Stephanie was sighing as he tuned in to what she was saying. “You have lovely breasts. I noticed when you were changing your clothes last night. I hope I have breasts like yours when I finish growing. They’re full and round, just like those girls in the screamer movies.”
“Dear God,” Harper muttered, forcing his eyes and ears away from the pair as his mind again filled with the image of Drina’s full, round breasts in the white lace.
Was this how females talked when alone together? Commenting on breasts and stuff as they stripped in front of each other? And if it was. . well, that was one thing. But he wasn’t a girl, and yet neither seemed troubled about having the discussion in front of him. What the hell did that say?
He supposed it said neither of them were thinking of him as a sexual male, and he guessed that was as it should be. Stephanie was too young to think of any male that way. . he hoped. And it wasn’t like Drina was his life mate. The woman was old enough she probably didn’t bother much with sex despite Stephanie’s efforts to gussy her up like a tart and send her out on the prowl for “hunky guys.”
Harper was more than relieved when the women finished in the lingerie department and moved on to actual clothing. At least he was until Stephanie insisted Drina try on a slinky little black dress and model it for them in case she got the chance to go out and “kick up her heels” a bit.
The dress was nothing special. . until Drina put it on. It looked to him as if Stephanie had given her the wrong size. Drina seemed to be busting out all over the place, her breasts overflowing the cups to the point of almost spilling out, and the slit up the front so high that Harper feared more than thigh would show were she to step up onto anything or sit in it.
“Perfect,” Stephanie pronounced, jolting him out of his stupor.
He peered from Drina to Stephanie with disbelief. “Surely it’s the wrong size?”
“Actually, it’s just my size,” Drina said, peering at herself in the mirror.
“But it’s-” He paused, mouth open when she turned her back to him. Drina’s behind was as generous as her bosom, and he couldn’t help noting the way the material clung to her curves. . or how short the skirt was. Were she to bend over, he was sure the skirt would climb halfway up her hips.
He’d barely had the thought when Stephanie said, “Maybe you should bend over, Drina. We need to be sure it’s safe to do that in this dress.”
Drina shrugged and bent at the waist as if to pick up something. The skirt didn’t rise halfway up her hips as he’d feared, but high enough that he caught a glimpse of her white lace panties.
“It’s okay,” Stephanie decided. “It only shows a little panty when you do that.”
“Then I won’t bend over,” Drina said dryly as she straightened.
Harper closed his eyes and just managed not to whimper. This was an experience he felt sure he would never forget. . and definitely never repeat, he thought grimly. Women were crazy.
“I think we should probably get you some FM shoes to go with it when we go looking for winter boots,” Stephanie announced, and Drina nodded as she slipped back into the dressing room to return to her jeans and blouse.
“FM shoes?” Harper asked blankly.
“It’s what my sister calls high heels,” Stephanie explained.
“Oh.” He frowned and asked, “Is it a brand or-”
“No. It stands for something, but she’ll never tell me what,” Stephanie said with a grimace, and then shrugged. “Maybe Drina can tell us. She seemed to know what I was talking about. Oh look! Wouldn’t these look darling on her?”
Harper stared at the package of thigh-high stockings Stephanie was now holding up and shook his head with bewilderment. It was like the girl was dressing a hooker Barbie. She seemed eager to get Drina in the slinkiest, sexiest items available. Not that Drina seemed to be fighting the effort. Although, to be fair, the black dress was the only outer clothing that fit that description. The rest of the clothes she’d chosen had been mostly sensible and comfortable jeans, T-shirts, and so on. But every bit of underclothing was downright rated X.
“Girls like to wear pretty things,” Stephanie announced with a smile. “My sister, Dani, says it’s kind of like a secret. Men don’t know what we have on under our clothes. We may look like a librarian or tomboy on the outside, but underneath we can be as secretly sexy and pretty as we please.” She turned back to the hose and smiled. “You should have seen the cute little pink panties and bra Drina was wearing last night. I suffered some serious envy when I saw them. I can’t wait to wear stuff like that. They looked incredible against her olive skin.”
Harper blinked, his mind filling with an image of Drina in pale pink panties and bra, and it did look incredible against her darker skin. Damn, he thought on a sigh as Drina stepped out of the changing room.
“I guess I’ll get it. You never know when you’ll need to dress up,” Drina said lightly, setting the short, black cocktail dress in the cart. “What’s left? Coats, boots, a hat, and gloves?”
“Yeah.” Stephanie glanced down at the bomber jacket she wore and winced. “Tiny picked this up for me yesterday, which was really sweet, because if not I wouldn’t have had a coat at all. But it’s kind of big and really, just not my style.”
“Hmm.” Drina eyed the overlarge coat and nodded. “We can get you another one.”
“Thank you!” Stephanie beamed and whirled to lead the way.
Harper began to push the cart after her. When Drina fell into step beside him, he cleared his throat, and commented, “Judging by all you’ve chosen, you don’t appear to have brought much with you on this trip.”
“Oh, well, I was only expecting to be at the wedding, spend a couple of days in New York, and then head back to Spain. I didn’t count on this added bit,” she explained wryly.