Ignite On Contact (Brotherhood by Fire #2) -Jaci Burton Page 0,27
middle of the afternoon. The mall was crowded, but no one was paying any attention to them.
“Rafe.”
Her voice had gone low. Cracked a little.
“Carmen.”
She inhaled, let it out. “Maybe I should do this alone.”
“Up to you.”
She nodded. “I think I’ll do this alone.”
He had to admit he was disappointed, but he understood. “Sure. I’ll be on the bench here. Take your time.”
She turned to face him and smiled. “Thanks for . . . understanding.”
“Hey, no problem.”
She walked inside . . . slowly . . . as if she were facing execution.
Rafe shook his head and went to find a seat on the bench.
ADMITTEDLY, CARMEN HAD PANICKED. THE THOUGHT OF rifling through underwear and bras with Rafe looking over her shoulder had made her break out into a sweat.
She could barely tolerate the idea of doing it by herself. With Rafe by her side? No way.
But now that she was inside the store and staring at all the options, she had no idea what to do.
Correction. Of course she knew what to do. It wasn’t like she had no idea how to buy underwear. She was a grown-ass woman. But the reason she was in here buying new underwear was the expectation that someone—that someone being Rafe, of course—would be seeing said underwear.
You’re way overthinking this, Carmen. That expectation is only in your head.
She wasn’t required to do anything she wasn’t ready for. Rafe hadn’t even said anything to her today about sex.
He did mention her having a nice ass, though, which had made her blush to about a thousand degrees. But it also made her feel sexy, something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
When was the last time she had thought of herself as a desirable woman?
Way too damn long ago. It was high time she womaned up and reminded herself that she was smart, beautiful and desirable. And the first place to do that was here, in the lingerie store.
With that confidence-building thought in her head, she plunged into the lacy underwear section, realizing she was doing this for her and no one else. It was time to push the past aside and start feeling good about herself.
She’d chosen the right day to shop, because the store was having a buy one, get one sale. The prices were way more reasonable than she’d thought. She ended up with six new bras and twelve new pairs of panties, in all different colors and fabrics, from satin to lace to the softest cotton. Some were more practical, and a couple downright sexy as hell.
She couldn’t wait to wear them all. She also couldn’t wait to throw out all her old underwear.
Fling the past aside. The new Carmen was about to be revealed. At least the new lingerie-clad Carmen.
Baby steps, right?
When she left the store, she looked over at the benches but didn’t see Rafe.
Huh. Maybe he’d had to go do some shopping of his own. She decided to wait for him on the bench, so she took a seat and composed a text message to Tess.
At the mall. Bought tons of new underwear.
Tess had the day off today as well, so it didn’t take her long to reply. Awesome! Did you buy any pink ones? I know it’s your fave color.
Carmen grinned and replied. Of course. And black, purple, red, white . . . all the colors!
Tess sent back a text that said: About damn time, along with a congratulatory emoji.
Carmen laughed and sent her another text. Spending the day with Rafe. Will fill you in at work tomorrow.
Tess replied: Want ALL the deets!
She would, too.
“Finished already?”
Rafe stood in front of her holding two cups. He handed one to her.
“Yes, finished.” She took the cup from him. “And thanks, shopping makes me thirsty.”
“I don’t know why, when it’s so entertaining.”
“Entertaining, how?”
He took a seat next to her. “Watching everyone go by. You know, people watching.”
She leaned back against the bench. “Oh, really? This is your favorite pastime.”
“I wouldn’t say favorite, but it’s entertaining.”
She took a sip of soda, letting the cold liquid slide down her parched throat. “Do tell.”
He motioned with his head to the group of teen girls walking. “They’re all on their phones while they walk.”
Carmen nodded. “Probably texting each other, too.” He laughed. “Probably.”
“I think it’s how they communicate now.”
“I guess. But keep watching them. They’re waiting for boys.”
“How do you know?”
He shrugged. “I can tell.”
She looked over at him. “Really, how?”
“Hey, it wasn’t that long ago that I was a teenage boy, scoping out the girls