Halfway through her text, she stopped. Wait a second.
She didn’t need to ask herself or Julie any of those questions. Great-Grandma Josephine had not only sketched out various seductions, but had also provided all the outfits. Allie gave a slow, wicked grin, envisioning some very specific erotic pleasures.
Tonight, Jonas would be subjected to a full treatment of page twenty-four.
7
Allie: Just finished dinner. Champagne on ice. Getting ready.
Julie: I get Diet Coke, you get champagne. No fair. Is it hot there?
Allie: Not as hot as it’s about to get, heh heh.
Julie: Sweltering here. Subway smells like the pee of ten thousand frat boys. Don’t come back!
Allie: You’re not exactly tempting me.
* * *
ALLIE TOOK HER TIME getting ready, immersing herself in the mood she wanted to create, moving languidly, not allowing her breathing to accelerate, aiming for a dreamy, sensual state she could bring with her to the cottage, and to Jonas. She was also bringing champagne, which she’d pilfered from the generous stash in the bar refrigerator, making a note to replace the bottle next time she was in town, though it would probably never be missed. Not sure how well outfitted the cottage was, she’d also grabbed glasses and an ice bucket.
Allie showered, shaved, applied lotion, plucked and trimmed, then put on the thin flowered robe that had been hanging in her room’s closet, and floated down the hall back to her room. Inside, she crossed to the open window and let the robe fall and the breeze off the lake caress her body, gently finger-combing her hair from bottom to top, wet strands sliding through her fingers.
Erik and Sandra’s laughter drifted up from the kitchen. After a delicious and relaxed meal on the screened-in porch, talk had grown increasingly sparse until it became obvious they were all trying to figure out how to split into couples with the least amount of awkwardness. Finally, Jonas had stepped in with a really funny and tactful job of saying they’d undoubtedly not see each other for the rest of the night.
What was Jonas doing right now? Lying in bed? Looking out at the water? Sitting on the beach?
How would he react to Josephine’s plan?
She couldn’t wait to find out.
The pink tap pants and camisole from page twenty-four of the diary had been hanging on the door opposite the window to freshen them, though contrary to what she’d expected, there was little to no musty smell.
The camisole—very plainly designed, and probably considered a bra in the twenties—was trimmed with cream-colored lace and ended mid-stomach, leaving some room for the imagination. The style was tight, designed to flatten a woman’s bosom in order to produce the era’s ideal boyish figure. The tops of Allie’s breasts were visible above the lace and her nipples felt exquisite against the smooth, slippery silk. The tap pants skimmed the outline of her buttocks. A tiny silk rosebud wreath had been stitched in the center of the camisole, and another nestled in a patch of lace on the hem of the panties’ right leg. The outfit made her look lean, feminine, and ultrasophisticated. Tonight no one would mistake her for a girl from a rough part of Brooklyn’s Kensington neighborhood.
Over the lingerie, she pulled one of the simplest dresses from Josephine’s wardrobe: a cream-colored linen sheath lined with peach silk that peeked through a lacy network of floral cutouts from shoulder to waist.
On her feet—she didn’t bother with stockings—she wore a pair of cream-colored shoes with low heels and cutouts by the button fastener for the strap.
One last look in the mirror as she perched a cream cloche-style hat on her head.
There.
Allie smiled at her reflection. The outfit not only felt entirely comfortable, but also entirely her—not as if she was dressing up in a costume from another era—but as if she was putting on an outfit bought for herself. Maybe it was her longtime obsession with vintage clothes, but clearly she was at ease indulging a spectacular Great Gatsby moment. And why not?
She liked her own century very much, thanks, with progress on women’s issues and advances in health care, but she’d love to have experienced the exuberance of the 1920s. Especially as someone with Josephine’s money, class and confidence. This woman could meet the queen of England and not have a thing to hide.
Turning away from the mirror, Allie scooped up the ice bucket and glasses and headed for the door, her steps firm, her mind clear and directed, channeling Josephine’s quest to seduce Walter. Except Allie wasn’t after marriage. Someday she’d find a man who had worked as hard as she had to build a successful life, who understood where she’d been and why it was so important to her to get out. Together, they’d build a true partnership. On this quest, however, she was quite happy to settle for Jonas’s superb body.