For Want of a Memory Page 16

  "He thinks I have a hot ass," said Lou Anne. "That's all."

  "And how do we know this?" asked Jessica.

  "He said so. That's how we know," groused Lou Anne.

  "Let me get this straight," said Jessica. "He said you have a hot ass, and he's still walking around upright? Girl, you got it bad for this guy. Don't even try to lie to me."

  "I do not have it bad for him!" hissed Lou Anne. "He's just a sweet man who had something horrible happen to him and he's trying to do his best to get his life back. So he paid me a compliment. Big deal. I do have a hot ass, you know!"

  "And when was the last time that ass got a workout?" asked Jessica slyly.

  "I believe your saleswoman will be here any minute," said Lou Anne, ignoring her friend's jibe. "If you're so concerned about this going well, shouldn't you be paying more attention to the preparations?"

  "Everything is ready to go," said Jessica, not put off a bit. "I'm much more interested in hearing about Kris and how he thinks your butt is to die for." She giggled.

  "It is to die for," came a bass voice. Both women jumped and whirled to see Kris standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "So is yours, Jessica."

  Jessica's face darkened, but that wasn't what told everyone in the room she was embarrassed. It was her hysterical giggle that explained how unprepared she had been for him to say that.

  Kris folded his arms. "And I'm not the only one who thinks so, by the way. Officer Connel seems to be fascinated with your ass too."

  "What?" Jessica squealed.

  "Oh good grief," moaned Lou Anne. "Please tell me he didn't say something to you."

  "He didn't have to," said Kris. "Every time I see him and Jess in the same room, he spends most of his time staring at her."

  "When have you seen us in the same room?" said Jessica, her voice argumentative.

  "Twice this week at The Early Girl," said Kris.

  "I just stopped in there to tell Lulu something!" squeaked Jessica.

  "And his eyes were glued to your ass both times," said Kris. "Maybe he was just admiring your belt, though. It's hard to tell sometimes."

  "I don't wear a belt," said Jessica, looking confused.

  "Well, there you go," said Kris, grinning.

  "I think your romance novel is bleeding over into real life," said Lou Anne. "Mitch has a girlfriend. Sure, he flirts with us, but that doesn't mean anything."

  "Well, I haven't seen Mitch's girlfriend," said Kris. "But I'll bet Jess has a better ass than she does."

  The doorbell sounded then, breaking up the conversation.

  "Jess, you get the door," said Lou Anne. "And you," she said, turning to Kris. "You're not supposed to be out here. Where's Ambrose?"

  "I just needed to get some water for us, before the festivities begin," he said. "You don't want us to die of thirst in there while you and your friends talk about your deep dark secrets, now do you?"

  Lou Anne got two bottles of water and thrust them at him.

  "It's just one of those home marketing parties," she said. "Now go on. Nobody's supposed to know you're here."

  "All this secrecy over Tupperware?" He smiled. "I could probably use some, too, you know."

  "Go on!" yipped Lou Anne, as she heard two female voices. One of the guests must have arrived early. "Or I won't tell you about the dream I had!"

  "Dream? What dream?" Kris looked interested.

  "Never mind. I just had a stupid dream and you were in it, okay? If you want to know then behave yourself. Go on, before they hear you!"

  "Yes ma'am," he said, throwing up a mock salute. "Give one of these to Jessica for me, okay?"

  He stepped toward her, moving to one side, and his hand flashed to land with a smack on her left buttock. Then, laughing, he ran, as if he expected her to chase him, darting out the doorway and toward Ambrose's room.

  She would have chased him, had the circumstances been different. She would have chased him and made him pay. Talking about her ass was one thing-that made her feel good-but touching it was something else. Never mind that the sting she still felt was making her feel slightly giddy. He wasn't allowed to do anything like that until she let him. She was distracted from thinking about that by Jessica, who stuck her head into the room, looking around, and hissed, "Come on! They're here!"

  Chapter Thirteen

  Lou Anne had no real idea what a passion party would be like. She had an image of Frederick's of Hollywood opening a branch in her living room, and wondered if she'd be able to sit on her couch when it was all over. She expected it to be a little seedy somehow.

  In fact, she was pleasantly surprised by the stimulating nature of Brenda's presentation and the way the women responded to it.

  Brenda, who'd gladly accepted assistance in bringing in three big cases from the back of her SUV, had also brought a folding screen that, when set up, provided a surprisingly large three-walled dressing area. It was up to the women whether or not they let anyone else see what they tried on, but Brenda had also brought wine. No doubt it was a tax deduction, but its main value was that it loosened the inhibitions of the women enough to make them a little bolder than usual.

  Women like Brenda count on the complicated dynamics that occur when women who know each other are gathered together. It goes without saying that most "sexy" lingerie is not intended for most women. Most women don't have the body for it. But friends wouldn't dream of saying something like, "Oh, please ... you can't be serious," when a woman has the courage to step out from behind a screen wearing something slinky. Brenda counted on the opposite, in fact. She counted on a woman's friends talking her into buying something she really didn't need anyway.

  At the same time, lingerie has changed in the past decade or two. Savvy designers and new materials have created unmentionables that can actually help a woman overcome her natural deficits. We're not just talking about padded bras here, either. A good body stocking, which is a politically correct euphemism for what used to be called a girdle, can help a girl look slimmer than she is, and control some jiggles that she doesn't want jiggling. As such, a woman like Brenda, who knows her products well, can provide a real service to the average woman. At a profit, of course.

  Over the next hour and a half, the well lubricated women in the room, most of whom were nurses or worked in some other capacity at the hospital, gazed longingly at what seemed like an unending supply of lingerie that, before this party, they would never have thought about actually wearing for the men in their lives. They also got an education on how to wear that kind of thing, which made all the difference.

  Melinda Flannery, for example, was pear shaped. Brenda got her to put on a long baby doll outfit that accentuated her bosom and hid her hips with a handkerchief hem. She then turned to Alice Zucker, who was basically round like an apple.

  "You, my dear," said Brenda smoothly, " want something daringly short, filmy where you don't want things to show, and which displays your legs, which are one of your best qualities." She smiled. "Add to that some really daring panties and your man will be slack-jawed when he sees you."

  If a woman wanted something more opaque, Brenda brought out a satin chemise that dipped low, but still cupped the breasts, and fell loosely from there, to cover a bit of belly fat. Using critical eyes, Brenda might suggest a satin basque for a woman who was busty but had love handles. The corset built into the beautiful garment took inches off and pushed the breasts up. If a woman was challenged from the waist up, but her legs were good, garter belts and hosiery were used to enhance those assets. If her breasts were good, but her hips and thighs a bit fleshy, Brenda recommended a combination of a short chemise and what she called magic knickers, which was actually a girdle that looked like fancy panties.

  And, if a woman had all the right curves, but they were a little out of control, she'd be given a body stocking to try on, which covered breasts, belly and loins, compacting all of them and giving a slimming look.

  One of the things Brenda did not allow was a mirror. She wante
d the women to feel good, without looking at the result. There would be time enough for that after the sale was made and the garment was taken home. A lot of women might quail, when they first looked in a mirror, but if her friends said she looked good, and she believed them, and felt good at the party, that would go a long way to giving her the courage to actually wear something for her husband ... even after seeing herself in the mirror at home.

  Brenda started, quite subtly, with the older women, who had more to cover and less interest in showing it. She knew that if the younger, more fit women tried things on first, the older ones would balk completely, not wanting to be compared to their more curvaceous younger comrades. Then, when the more mature women were taken care of, Brenda brought out the hot stuff.

  The first things she showed the younger women were also corsets and basques. That was intentional too, because it reinforced in the older women's minds that all women could wear a corset or body stocking. Of course those Brenda showed the younger, more fit women were much more daring, showing a lot more skin. She also described them as something to actually wear out on the town, under a woman's clothing, and not just in the bedroom.

  "Get dressed where he can't see you," she said. "Flirt with him while you're out. Then go for the kill, undressing for him and showing him what he's been out with all night and didn't even know it. It drives them wild," she cooed.

  She showed them both g-strings and thongs, and the newest fashion rage, called boy briefs, which were basically the kind of thing a man might wear, sans the opening in the front. They were shorter on the legs too, and came lower on the hips.

  "You can wear all of this around the house, just to lounge in," said Brenda. "It's not just underwear. But I have some other things you might like for doing that, too."

  She showed them camisole tops that were, for all intents and purposes, glorified slips and body stockings that slimmed, kept a woman warm, and provided freedom of movement all at the same time. Then there was an array of baby dolls and teddies, some of which looked almost like swimwear, while others drifted around the body, concealing and giving glimpses all at the same time. The teddy had the same look as the body stocking, sometimes, but didn't have the controlling pressure. Instead, it might just cling to what was already under control.

  There was a teddy that had holes where there should have been cups for breasts, that caused a chorus of squeals. There was a shelf bra that Lou Anne actually tried on, but wouldn't let anyone see. It supported her breasts, pushing them up, while leaving the areolas and nipples completely uncovered. It had matching panties, that consisted of embroidered flowers, that barely covered her mons, kept on by thin strings that went up over her hips and around her waist to meet in the middle of her back, before plunging between her butt cheeks. Or they would have, if Lou Anne hadn't been wearing her own panties. The rule was that bras could be fitted to bare breasts, but panties had to be tried on over other cloth.

  "This is not lounge wear," said Lou Anne firmly.

  The other women had seen the items while Brenda was displaying them and could imagine what they looked like.

  "I bet it looks delicious," said Brenda, from the other side of the screen.

  "Like I have a use for something like this," said Lou Anne.

  "Any man would salivate for you if he saw you in that," said the saleswoman.

  "You have to have a man first," said Lou Anne. "And I have a little boy. I couldn't wear this around the house. Besides, butt floss isn't my thing. It feels like I'm getting a permanent wedgie."

  Brenda solved that problem by having her take off those items and giving her a satin night dress to try on instead. It had a neckline that plunged below her breasts and was a deep rich red color Brenda called black cherry. The hem came to just below a pair of satin boy briefs that Lou Anne liked much better than the g-string.

  "This is more like it," sighed Lou Anne. She came from behind the screen and showed it to the rest of the women, turning in a circle. She realized she'd be able to slide a hand into the neckline and play with her nipples easily, something she liked to do frequently. "I could get interested in this."

  The women loved it too. It was loose and airy, and rubbed the skin sensuously when one moved. Brenda sold four of those that night, in varying patterns and colors. She also sold six caftans, which all the women loved, because they were so colorful and comfortable.

  "Now, there's something I want to show all of you," said Brenda. She pulled out a filmy, lacy bra and passed it around.

  "This is a nursing bra!" exclaimed Donna Whipple.

  "It is," said Brenda.

  "It's gorgeous," said Hilda Rogers.

  "Nursing bras aren't just for nursing mothers anymore," said Brenda calmly.

  "You're joking!" said Donna.

  "No I'm not," said Brenda. "Just imagine getting undressed for your man, and popping the flaps down."

  "Butch would go crazy," sighed Melinda. There were murmurs from the other married women.

  "Think outside the box," said Brenda. "You can be feminine and exciting at the same time. I have several customers who buy these and just remove the flaps. They wear them on special occasions, and their husbands know it. They're more comfortable for some women than a specialized bra that does the same thing."

  Brenda was about to move on to the other portion of her presentation, which involved adult toys, lotions and oils. For that she needed a more liberal atmosphere. They'd been dancing around the edges of sex ... getting ready for it, so to speak. Now she wanted to ratchet things up a notch.

  She went behind the screen with Jessica, and the rest heard giggles for a few minutes. Jessica came out wearing what Brenda called the "Naughty Nurse Teddy." It was a translucent bra, with red crosses covering each nipple. The panty looked like a very short skirt that had a red cross on the front. There was a nurse's hat to go with it and a white garter belt that held up thigh high white stockings. White high heels completed the outfit.

  The uproar was so loud that it brought Kris from Ambrose's room, staring around wild eyed, looking for whatever had obviously scared the roomful of women so much.

  It fell silent in an instant, as nine sets of female eyes turned to see the man who had suddenly appeared ... and who seven of the women had not known was in the house. Kris stared at Jessica, whose bulging breasts were barely contained in the naughty nurse bra.

  Then there was bedlam, until Lou Anne shouted herself hoarse explaining that Kris was not an intruder and was, in fact, her babysitter for the evening. Kris had already retreated by then and was holed up with Ambrose, who was very curious about all the commotion.

  * * *

  When order was finally restored, there was a "break" in the presentation while the women, most of whom had heard of Kris, demanded that Lou Anne retell his story. She finished up by making what she thought was an innocuous comment that she was helping him write a romance novel.

  That gave Brenda an opportunity to get things back on track and she seized it.

  "Mmmmm," she purred. "We all love to read them. Just imagine getting to help write one. That's what we all do with our men, in a way. We imagine a setting, and set the stage, and then try to make the plot come to life."

  Then she began demonstrating how, once dressed for the event, certain oils and lotions, combined with aromatic candles, could help create a setting in which a man's interest might be pulled away from his normal routine. The women put dabs of various things on their wrists, or arms, or neck and soon the room was full of a delicious kind of electric anticipation.

  Then she brought the sex toys out.

  "I thought we were interested in the real thing," sighed one woman.

  "We are," said Brenda, not missing a beat. "But we also all know that sometimes things don't work out like we planned. And, it's possible to use all of these toys with your man, to enhance the experience ... break out of the routine."

  "Like how?" asked one woman cautiously. She was staring at a pink, lifelike, soft rubber penis
that dwarfed her husband's real one.

  "Imagine that you're dressed to kill, smelling good, and in the mood. You're on the bed, maybe, when your man comes home. Or maybe he's been home for a while and you're ready to get him to turn off the TV. Imagine laying this next to your hip."

  She held up the dildo and it wobbled in her hand. Two women licked their lips, staring at the moving object as if they were being hypnotized.

  "Your fingertips are barely touching it," said Brenda softly. "You call to him, telling him you need him. He comes and sees you there. You tell him how you're feeling and suggest you'd much rather have him than the thing you're touching. What would he do?"

  "My husband would have a coronary and drop dead on the spot," sighed Melinda.