“But you did pick me up off the street, remember?” I walked closer, much too close for a boss/assistant relationship. “Although that first night you weren’t thinking about work.”
Her palm cupped my cheek and she practically purred, then looked at the salesgirl. “I think we can find a few things on our own. I’ll let you know if we need any help.”
The girl nodded, her brown hair falling into her eyes before she walked away and approached another customer.
To my happiness, we didn’t look around, but instead walked out of the store. Grace was barely able to contain her laughter.
“You sure are good at that. Pretending to be someone else.”
She shrugged. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”
Whether she’d catered to role-playing fantasies or not, even straight sex involved a certain level of acting, especially when you were doing it for a living. Even I knew that.
We walked side by side through the mall, making it halfway around the figure-eight layout when she pulled me into another trendy store.
“No way.” She lost her grip on my arm when I stopped short.
“Come on.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “The game’s not over.” When I still didn’t move, she grabbed my hand and pulled it to her chest. “Please? Just try it out.”
I entered under protest, although my dissent didn’t really make a difference. We perused the racks, and once again a salesgirl approached us.
“Hello,” Grace acknowledged the blond teen. “We’re looking for some new clothes for my brother.” The teen’s smile lit up at the mention of “brother.” She eyed me like a two-dollar buffet, her gaze starting at my black boots and moving up my body until she looked into my eyes. I was seriously uncomfortable, considering she was definitely under eighteen.
I cleared my throat and walked closer to Grace, as if somehow she’d protect me from the big, bad teen girl with flowers on her manicure.
“What are you looking for? Business? Casual?” she asked.
“Business.” Grace leaned in to me, much too close to be considered brother and sister. “What do you think, Benji? Something to make the girls in your class hot.”
The girl did a laugh-choke, then cleared her throat. “Let me pick out a few items and bring them to the change room.”
“Really?” I glared at Grace. “You’re going to give that poor girl a heart attack. She thinks she’s watching incest in progress.” I was all for a little game playing, but I drew the line at incest.
“Come on, don’t be such a prude.” She walked away, picking a few things off the racks on her way to the back of the store.
I’d never been called a prude before. The fact that I rejected Grace at every turn didn’t help my case for non-prude status. Was not having sex on a regular basis turning me into one?
When I joined her in the change room area, she pushed me behind a curtain and slapped the garments against my chest. I had to grab them before they hit the floor.
With disgruntled noises, I pulled my shirt over my head and buttoned the white shirt with blue pinstripes then put on the navy slacks she’d picked out.
“Let’s see what we’re working with here, Benji.”
I stepped out, shaking my head at my new nickname, but not hating the way I looked.
“That’s great.” The teen had shown up with a pile of clothes, some of which I could already tell were not getting anywhere near my body. “That shirt fits you perfectly.”
“Doesn’t it?” Grace walked behind me, her hands slid up my back and around my shoulders, until they rested, one on each pec. She squeezed. “And these pants.” She stepped back, and despite the wrongness of our role-play, I missed the feel of her body against mine. What I didn’t know was whether she was doing this to turn me on, to sate her own craving, or simply to mess with the salesgirl.
She slapped my ass and I cringed.
The young girl’s eyes went wide. “You two are pretty close for brother and sister.”
Grace froze, rising on her toes to rest her chin on my shoulder. “Did I forget to mention he’s my stepbrother?”
As if she’d been holding her breath, the teen’s shoulders slumped forward. “I brought you these.” She held out her arms and Grace looked through her pile.
“No.” She tapped her chin, pretending to be thinking, but I knew she wasn’t. “I’m not sure about these. Actually, I’m not sure about any of it.” She turned, her finger pressed against her lips. To hold in a laugh, maybe? “Let’s think on it and come back.”