Seduction. But how the hell was she supposed to do that? She’d never taken on the role of aggressor before, not in this sort of situation. Her lack of self-confidence hadn’t been a problem with either Reese or Dante. She’d only had to say ‘yes’. Cain obviously wasn’t going to ask and she had a feeling if she tried to ask him, he’d give her one of his withering looks and she’d—wither.
The only woman she’d actually seen ‘in action’ was her mother, but it took a lot of hard thinking to remember anything at all useful. Even when she did remember, she wasn’t certain how useful it would be.
Perfume, clothes, special smiles and come hither glances.
She had perfume.
She didn’t think she could master the come hither glance in this century.
He’d been ignoring her smiles.
She walked around the next thing to naked now, and there wasn’t a huge variation in the clothing. Except for the colors, one outfit pretty much looked like the next.
She felt like weeping when she left the tub and went to examine herself in the mirror. Her belly looked HUGE! She stared at it in dismay, realizing she was really going to have to take the time to actually look at herself once in a while to avoid future shocks.
No wonder he wasn’t interested.
The amazing thing was that neither Dante nor Reese had commented on it.
Maybe they had a stronger sense of self-preservation than she’d thought?
Maybehidingherself a little better would help, she thought glumly?
A thorough search of the wardrobe she’d been provided with revealed that she had nothing even close to what she’d been thinking about. Even her uniform would’ve been better than simply walking around bare bellied when her belly was so—round.
She moved back to the mirror and examined the side view. After some deliberation, she finally decided that it didn’t look quite as big as she’d first thought. There was a very definite roundness that hadn’t been there before, but if she could find something a little more concealing….
The skirts that she generally tied at her waist were virtually transparent, but she discovered when she tried tying it at her shoulders instead, that it seemed to have the effect she was looking for. It was open at the sides, however, and she had no belt to tie it with. After trying several variations, she finally chose two colors that seemed to go well together and used one as a top and the other as it was intended at her waist. The ties at the waist held the two sides of the skirt she was using as a top together, but allowed a peek of bare flesh on her sides.
Concealing, but not enticing. Her lips twisted wryly as she studied the effect.
She sighed, staring at herself critically. Finally, she stripped and pulled the skirts on again minus the top and briefs she usually wore.
The sheer fabric had a muting effect that was far more flattering to her mind than outright nudity, but she could still clearly see her breasts and the curly thatch of hair that covered her mound.
Her eyes narrowed.
If Cain didn’t notice her in this, she would know he just plain wasn’t interested and it had to be something else.
She’d heard both Dante and Reese return while she’d been experimenting with her clothing, listened as they’d mounted the stairs and gone to their rooms. After a time, they’d left again and gone back downstairs. Most likely, the three of them were gathered in the living room, talking or deciding on entertainment for the evening—which was usually some board or card game, although they occasionally watched digi-enactments on the hologram pad in the center of the living room.
Girding herself, she left her room and headed downstairs. Stopping by the kitchen, she collected her egg dishes first, deciding to arrange the food on a tray so that she wouldn’t have to try to balance four different containers on her trip to the living room. She was nervous enough she was bound to drop something.
Without allowing herself time for second thoughts, she strode down the hall to the living room, pushed the door open and headed for the nearest table to set the tray down. “I made food,” she said brightly as she settled the tray and turned to look at the men.
She discovered when she turned that she had their attention. Unfortunately, she couldn’t read much into their stunned expressions. Her smile fell. “You don’t like it?”
Reese blinked, slowly, as if surfacing from a deep trance. Dante swallowed audibly. Cain simply continued to stare at the curly thatch between her thighs, his eyes glazed, his complexion slowly darkening.
A blush rose in her own cheeks in response. Maybe, she thought, unnerved, this was a mistake. Maybe she looked as ridiculous as she suddenly felt and they were just too surprised by her silly ‘fashion statement’ to think of anything to say.
“What?” Cain finally said, his voice sounding hoarse with disuse.
She curled her lips in a forced smile. She wasn’t about to mention the outfit and force them to comment on it. “The food. Cain helped me. It’s actually quite good.”
She moved to the couch and flopped down on it because her knees felt weak and she had to do something before she turned tail and fled.
Their gazes followed her, zeroing in on her breasts as the abrupt movement caused them to jiggle and sway beneath the sheer fabric.
