didn’t really offer fashion choices when I was with the bloodsuckers,” Zara whispered.
“It’s a thong,” Sally said.
Zara’s frown deepened. “I was taken as a little kid. I don’t really…”
“See that string at the back?”
Zara nodded.
“That’s like floss between your teeth, only it goes between your cheeks, and I don’t mean the cheeks on your face.”
The she-wolf’s face pinched as she continued to stare at the thong. “That seems incredibly uncomfortable. Wouldn’t you be constantly trying to pull it out?”
Sally shrugged. “Some chicks like the perpetual wedgie feel, and guys supposedly think it’s sexy.”
“Costin?” Zara asked.
“He prefers naked.”
“But Wadim would like these?”
“He’s a dude. He’s going to love it. And to be fair, they probably won’t be on you long enough to be that uncomfortable.”
Zara’s pursed lips turned up in a mischievous grin. Suddenly, she grabbed a handful of the thongs.
“Okay, wow. That’s a lot of—”
“Some are for you.” Zara started walking in another direction.
“I’m sorry, what?” Sally hurried after the girl. “You don’t even know what sizes they are.”
“Peri can fix them if they don’t fit.” Zara took an offered bag with the store logo on it from one of the employees. She dumped the thongs into it and began flipping through the lingerie on a rack next to them. She pulled out a hanger that held a red see-through, knee-length nightie. Her grin spread even wider. “We should get these in every color.”
“Wow.” Peri walked up beside them, Crina beside her. “Z is really getting into this.”
“I’ve got nipples!” Zara practically yelled.
Sally ducked her head. “Holy troll babies. Can you be a little louder? I don’t think they heard you in the food court.”
“Yeah, ya do!” Peri gave her a huge smile. “Thanks to yours truly. Might as well show off my handiwork.”
“See why I like to do online shopping?” Crina met Sally’s eyes.
“Totally.” Sally started grabbing different colors of the nightgown, shoving them into Peri’s hands. “Let’s just get these and get nipple-girl out of here before she starts yelling about her other body parts.”
*****
“Jen, the pups can’t even read yet, let alone hold pencils to trace their alphabet.” Jacque looked at the shopping cart that held a stack of preschool workbooks for Thia and Slate. “Besides, who gets their kids workbooks for Christmas?”
“People who want their kids to be smarter than other kids. But these are for Titus. If he’s doing these, he won’t have time to prowl around the mansion trying to stalk me.”
“Ah, I see.”
Jen headed down another aisle of the bookstore. It was a much quieter atmosphere than the toy store where they’d spent almost two hours. Elle had flashed to their hotel room three times already to drop off bags of purchases. Jacque texted Sally earlier to let her know that Titus was good to go on gifts, and that Santa Jen might have gotten carried away.
Sally had responded with an eyeroll emoji.
“She’s like a machine.” Elle watched Jen pull books off the shelves and toss them into the cart.
“Does she even know what she’s grabbing?” Rachel asked.
“I’ve learned that sometimes it’s better to just get out of the way and not ask questions,” Jacque said. “She’s a bit like the CIA. The less you know, the safer you feel.” They followed behind Jen laughing as she grabbed books, glanced at them quickly, and either tossed them into her cart or back on the shelves.
They turned down another aisle, and Jacque began to browse the shelves. Her eyes widened. “Jen, I don’t think we need any more of these kinds—”
“Too late,” Elle said. They watched Jen grab an armful of books and dump them into the overloaded shopping cart.
“I think it’s time to intervene,” Rachel suggested.
“Yep,” Jacque agreed. They hurried toward Jen, who was trying to grab another armful of books that covered her favorite topic.
“Let’s check out.” Rachel grabbed the cart and began steering it toward the cashier.
“Yes.” Elle nodded. “I’m starving, and I’ve never eaten mall food.”
“But—” Jen started. Jacque grabbed her hand and dragged her from the aisle. “There’s so many of them.” She sounded like a kid who’d just dropped her ice cream cone on the sidewalk.
“There can’t be that many different positions, Jen,” Jacque pointed out.
“Well, now we’ll never know. You made me drop the one that said, ‘all new positions and the pleasure they bring.’”
Elle laughed, and Jacque pulled Jen faster. “Can you help Rachel pay for the books?”
“On it.” Elle followed the healer, and Jacque tugged her BFF toward the entrance of the store and back