Under My Skin (Skin Deep #2)
“You were driving us crazy up there…and all those guys were crowding around staring. I thought Brandon was going to murder one of the dumb bastards because he kept saying how hot you were and that he was gonna try to ‘tap ‘dat ass’ once you came down. God, you’re so fuckin’ sexy, sweetheart…I wanted nothing more than to rip you down and bury my dick in you as deep as I could.” The last words came out on a growl.
My mouth went dry at his words, and desire curled heavily in the pit of my stomach as Brandon chimed in, “We got plans for you tonight, babe. A little bit of punishment that you like so much.”
Chapter 6
“Oh, come on, Allie. Don’t tell me that you have nothing to say. You’re fucking two of the hottest guys in town, at the same time, I might add, so you’re gonna tell us exactly what’s been going down. Besides you!”
Leah delivered the last dig with a flourish, grinning and cackling along with Jenna and Emma. Emma’s mom, Jan, even lost it, bending over in half and crossing her legs like she was about to piss herself.
I glowered at her for a minute but couldn’t contain my laughter anymore. Grinning, I crowed, “It’s fucking awesome!”
“Oh God,” Leah groaned, “I’m so jealous!” She flopped down on the couch and flung her head back with her arm over her face in a pretty good woe-is-me moment.
Jenna’s face turned serious all of a sudden before she asked, “So, how does it work? I mean, do they both like…put it in? At the same time?”
“JENNA!” Jan hollered, her face blood red. “OH MY GOD!”
I stood there in the middle of the bridal store, my jaw on the floor because I seriously could not believe she’d just asked that. We’d only been there for about thirty minutes just looking around, and I know my face was probably even redder than Emma’s mom’s!
I turned my head slightly and noticed that two of the employees and another bridal party were looking pretty interested in the current conversation so I shook my head and sliced my hand across my throat in the universal signal for ‘Enough’ and walked away, heading towards another rack of dresses.
I felt someone come up behind me and looked over my shoulder to see Emma, her face contrite.
“Don’t even apologize for her, Em,” I said before she got a chance to say anything. “Seriously, it’s fine and I’m not mad. In fact, I probably would have answered her if it wasn’t for the audience we were drawing!” I smiled at her and she laughed.
“It’s not anything I haven’t wondered about myself, you know. So are we still on for our girl’s night after this?” Emma asked.
“Hell, yes!” I said, nodding vigorously. “I’ve been missing you!”
“I know, I’ve been missing you, too! But sheesh, Brandon and Jackson must be keeping you busy since they’re always there. The house almost feels lonely without you guys all there all the time,” she said.
“Yeah, right. You forget that I know it’s only you and Luke there most of the time now, and you can’t go ten minutes without jumping each other. You’ve probably christened every room of the house by now, except for Brandon’s!” I laughed.
Her face flushed and I gasped. “Ohmigod, Emma. Please tell me you didn’t!”
She shook her head half-heartedly before dropping her head and mumbling, “It wasn’t really in his room…more like up against the door!”
“You dirty little thing, Emma!” I told her, grinning when she looked back up with a grin of her own.
“Let’s go find you a dress, hooker.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward a rack full of gorgeous wedding gowns along the back wall.
We sorted through dresses for a minute, pointing different ones out to each other, and to Jan, Leah, and Jenna who had made their way back to us. I ran my hand down the skirt of one and pulled it out so I could see it better. When I did, I gasped and hollered at Emma.
“Emma! Look at this one!”
She came over, followed by her mom and sisters and watched as I pulled the dress from the rack, holding it in front of me to let them see it. Every single one of them gasped and Emma grabbed it, heading off at almost a dead run for the fitting rooms. We chased after her, arranging ourselves on the chairs and sofas positioned in the center of the area with mirrors all around and little round platforms to stand on for optimum viewing.
One of the dress consultants came over to Emma’s fitting room door and asked her if she needed help with anything. Emma opened the door slightly and ushered her in to help with the zipper, I’m assuming. I would have helped her, just the same as her family, but I’m guessing she wanted the surprise factor still.
We waited anxiously for her to come out. The bridal consultant stepped out of the room and held the door wide for Emma. She walked out of the room and stepped up on the platform, turning in a slow circle before looking at us and saying, “Well?”
I felt tears well in my eyes. She’d lost a little bit of weight in the past months, but then again, she’d been through hell. But damned if she didn’t look absolutely amazing. I heard sniffling and turned to see that Jan, Leah, and Jenna all had tears in their eyes, as well.
“Emma…” I breathed. “That’s the one. That’s it.”
She nodded and turned in a slow circle again, watching herself in the mirror with an amazed look on her face. The dress was simply gorgeous, and it fit her like a dream. It was white, high-necked in the front, but it was sleeveless and fitted through the bust and waist, covered with a gorgeous lace pattern. The skirt was solid satin, but there were lace cutouts all around the hem. When she turned, the straps of the dress actually criss-crossed and met with a lace placket in the center of her back, leaving her shoulders and most of her back bare to the waist. There were three diamond shaped lace cutouts going up the back of the train and skirt, surrounded with a pattern of smaller lace cutouts around each.
It was simple, elegant, and absolutely breathtaking.
Emma faced us again, her face alight, and she nodded, saying, “This one. This is my dress.”
We all squealed and hugged her carefully before she retreated to the dressing room to take it off and have it packaged up into a protective bag. She decided against a veil, not wanting anything to cover up the back of the dress, and we all went back to browsing the racks for bridesmaid dresses.
I was on one side of the store when I heard Jenna holler for Emma. We all met where she was standing, holding a black chiffon bridesmaid dress. We all dug through the rack and grabbed our respective sizes before we headed to the fitting rooms. I was the first one out, standing up on the platform for Emma to look the dress over. Personally, I loved it. It was solid black except for a thin line of hot pink along the top of the dress, strapless, and knee length, very light and flowing. The under-layer of the skirt was hot pink, too, offering a flash of color when we moved.
When the other girls came out and stood beside me, Emma clapped her hands and shrieked. “Yay! Those are perfect and they’re gonna match the shoes perfectly!”
An hour later, we had even found Hayden’s flower girl dress (Jenna had left her at home rather than having to chase her around the store) and were all piled into Brandon’s SUV, which he had let me borrow for the day so we didn’t all have to drive separately. We headed to Beck’s for some lunch and were sitting there chatting when Jenna’s phone rang.