Page 56 of Texas Kissing
“Schoolmarms are the ones who wind up married,” she said distantly, holding a long black skirt up in front of her. “Saloon girls are the ones who wind upmurdered in some outlaw’s hotel room.”
“You looking to get married?” It was out before I realized I’d said it.
Her cheeks flared red. “No! No, of course not. God, are you kidding? People like us don’t get married.”
I kissed her neck, then drew back enough that I could see her face in the mirror. “People like usmeaning you and me, or people like us meaningyou and me,together?”
We just stared at each other in the mirror for a few seconds, the air growing heavier and heavier around us.
Then she took the scarlet dress and raced off into the tiny changing area before I could stop her.
“You realize I’ve already seen everything you’ve got?” I called.
From behind the curtain, rustling fabric. “Even saloon girls have to preserve some mystery.”
I looked for something for myself. I settled on fancy pants and a dark shirt, with a silver belt buckle and a badge. A sheriff’s outfit. After much debate, I picked out a suitable hat.
Lily emerged from behind the curtain and I forgot how to breathe.
The scarlet dress clung to her like a second skin, outlining the full curves of her breasts and the swell of her hips and ass. The bodice, still partially unlaced, displayed her pale breasts nearly down to the pink of the areolae.
“What?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I said honestly. “I’m just wondering if I can sneak you out of here and off to my place in that dress.”
She gave me a look and then turned around. Thesight of her partially-naked back, from her lower spine up to her shoulders, was more erotic than seeing Kirsten and her friends stark naked.How is that possible? Goddamnit, this woman works some magic on me.
“I need you to fasten me up,” she said.
I stepped forward. My hands were shaking like a teenager at the high school dance, about to fumble for his first bra strap. It didn’t matter that we’d already done the deed twice. This girl had me harder than a tree branch every damn time I looked at her.
I hauled on the laces of the bodice, which cinched her in at the waist and did fascinating things to her breasts. Her already hourglass figure became the stuff of wild fantasy.
I stopped cinching while she could still breathe and tied the bow, then gently turned her around. Her pale breasts had been pushed up and together and the effect was…
“Seriously,” I growled, licking my lips. “What are the chances of us sneaking you out of here in that thing?”
She tossed her hair. “Sir,” she drawled. “Unless you got five dollars or a good bottle o’ suppin’ whiskey, I’m afraid you’ll be lonesome tonight.” She looked at my outfit and blinked. “That’sit?”she asked in her normal voice. “I get my ribcage crushed and you just have to put on a shirt and pants? I was expecting chaps, at least.”
“It needs the hat,” I said, and made a show of putting on my chosen hat.
She just stared at me, unimpressed.
“It’swhite,”I explained. “Because I’m the sheriff.” She still looked blank. “My normal one’sblack.Thismakes me a good guy.” I knitted my fingers with hers. “Come to save the fallen woman from her life of ill repute.”
She stared at me strangely for a long time. “It suits you,” she said at last.
We strolled outside and had to wait our turn while another couple had their photo taken.
“So you’re the sheriff,” she mused. “And you’ve married me.”
“Arrested you,” I corrected. I ran a finger under her chin. “You’ve been abadgirl.”
“Arrested methenmarried me,” she countered.
I thought about it and nodded. Meanwhile, Lily seemed to be slipping off into her own little world. “And now we live in a little house just outside town, by a river…”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve really thought about this.”