“Noted. Now more about Knight, please.”
“That’s all I know. Hard worker, good guy, obviously an animal lover since he’s gonna be a vet. Big horse guy I think. Owns a bunch of ’em.”
“So if I were to encourage my best friend to go for it, there would be no ramifications in doing so as far as you know?”
“No ramifications that I’m aware of. All our members go through background checks, and he’s one of the truly clean ones. Not even a speeding ticket.”
“Hmm,” I mused.
“Am I done? Can I eat now?”
I grinned. “Yeah. Maybe later, you can have dessert.”
He kissed me again. “Lookin’ forward to it.”
I managed to finish my food, but could barely keep my eyes open, so I went to bed without Austin, but woke in the night and found him curled around me. There was nothing better in the world than having him close to me. It was something I was quickly getting used to, and I loved every minute of it.
* * *
The next evening, Kimpicked me up at five as promised and we headed into Portland to shop. We decided to hit the stores at Jantzen Beach since it was just over the bridge from Vancouver and we could take advantage of no sales tax.
“How long’s your muscle going to be around?” she asked.
I glanced behind her and smiled at Train who was far enough behind us to not hear our conversation, but kept me within his sights at all time.
“Until Austin feels this stupid threat is no longer a threat,” I said.
“It’s weird, but I kind of like that he’s protective.”
“Yeah, he’s both protectiveandweird.” I smiled. “He has officially approved Knight.”
“What?”
“Austin says Knight’s a really good guy and doesn’t even have a speeding ticket. He said if you want him, go for it.”
“Inever said I wanted him,” Kim countered.
I raised an eyebrow. “He’s the first guy in...ever you’ve even looked at twice. Of course you want him.”
“Dani.”
“Okay, I’m hearing your ‘Dani lay off it’ tone, and I will. Just know that I love you and support you whatever you decide to do.”
“Thanks.”
We strolled through my favorite discount megastore, not really looking for anything in particular, but coming across something that jogged my memory a bit. I grabbed a package of white thigh highs and then headed to the accessories department.
“I’m not going to ask,” Kim said with a giggle. “But I’m so glad you’re finding your sex kitten side.”
I blushed, but managed to keep my head up. “What else should I get?”
“Seriously?” Kim asked, her expression one of excitement.
“Load me up, baby.”
Kim clapped her hands and took control of the shopping cart. By the time we waded through the check-out line, I had another pair of thigh-highs, black fishnet this time, three bra and matching panty sets, two strands of faux pearls, and some personal products that apparently made your body feel amazing when applied... they were also edible. I’m pretty sure the cashier blushed almost as red as I did, but she didn’t comment and I was grateful. Train was already out front smoking a cigarette, though, so he was far enough away that he couldn’t see my purchases.
We decided to head over the bridge for dinner and made our way to Wild Fin, a kickass restaurant and bar on the Columbia River that was a personal favorite of ours.
