Chapter Twelve
Frank rubbed the back of his neck. He’d spent all morning at the town’s small police house going over exit strategies, talking with the sheriff about the situation with Amie, and updating ALFA headquarters.
He thought about calling Detective Freeman in Vegas, but he was hungry and wanted to chill in a comfy chair with peace and quiet. Mom’s place was always perfect. As he got closer to the house, he noted more and more cars lining the street. After parking behind the cars in the driveway, he wondered what in the hell was going on.
Since there were no ambulance or police in the area, it seemed that nobody was injured. As he got out of the car, his shifter hearing picked up female laughter and voices inside the house. Lots of females. He wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not.
He hurried up the front steps to the door and laid his ear against it. Suddenly, the door opened and he stumbled inside, tripping over a stack of books but catching himself on the windowpane. In awe, he looked around the room. Women were everywhere.
One spot in the room had several ladies putting makeup on other ladies. Another place had nail polish galore. In the back, he saw fancy, colorful clothes strewn on the stairs, chairs, table, even a lamp. His fourth grade teacher displayed a sexy evening outfit. He slapped a hand over his eyes. He couldn’t think of one of his teachers as being sexy. Just not right. No Mrs. Robinson here.
A squeal came from somewhere in the room, then his beautiful mate had her arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his cheek. “Isn’t this great!” she said.
“Uh . . .” He wasn’t sure what to say. “Define great.”
She slapped at him playfully. “Oh, stop that. This is fabulous.” She turned and leaned against him as she eyed the room.
“So,” he started, “I take it this is your doing?”
“Well, sorta. Mom invited everyone over. I just help if there’re questions.”
He pulled away and spun his mate around to face him. “My mother invited everyone?”
“Well, technically, she told me to call her ‘Mom,’ too, but yes, the woman who spit you out of her womb is playing hostess. Quite well, I would say.”
If he wasn’t there in person to witness it, he would’ve never believed it. Then he saw his mom making her way to them.
“Isn’t this great!” she said.
Amie clasped her hands. “That’s what I said.” They laughed. At what, Frank didn’t know. Didn’t want to.
His mom sighed and surveyed the room. “It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen a lot of friends even though they live in the same town. Sometimes it’s a shame how caught up we get in our own worlds that we forget there is another outside the door.” Mom turned to him. “Are you home for the rest of the day?”
“No” came from his mouth faster than he thought possible. “I mean, we’ll see. And why are you wearing a handkerchief on your head?”
She nervously adjusted it on her head. “We’ll talk about it later. But Mae didn’t call it a handkerchief; she called it a do-mop.”
Mae’s voice carried over the den. “Do-rag, Jean. Not a do-mop.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Mom said. She stepped away and filtered through the crowd, smiling, waving, even giving a thumbs-up to a group walking around with books on their heads.
“What are they doing?” He couldn’t fathom a reason for balancing a book on the noggin.
“Really?” Amie rolled her eyes at him then lifted her foot in a spiked-heel shoe. “Do you think it’s easy to walk in these correctly?”
He raised a brow. “Hadn’t ever thought about it. I only know one way to walk.” He smiled at her irritation. She was always adorable when flustered.
“And that’s why all you men sound like a herd of cattle on a stampede when you walk.” She turned and hollered across the room, “Evelyn, toss me a pair of your heels.” Seconds later, two hot pink shoes flew through the air, Amie catching both.
She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. “Take your shoes and socks off.”
Fear burst through him. “What?”
“I said take your shoes and socks off. I’m teaching you something to expand your horizons.”
He stepped back. “Yeah, I don’t think so.” He wasn’t sure what she had in mind, but he didn’t think he’d like it.
By the scent in the air, his mate didn’t like that answer. Several of the nearby ladies took deep breaths and turned to look at him, eyes narrowed. Oh, fuck. Maybe he should reconsider. Shit. Fine. He shed his footwear quickly.
“Good,” she said. “Now put these on.” She dropped the hot pink heels by his feet.
“Come on, Amie. What did I do to deserve this?”
One of the ladies said, “You’re a male and were born. That’s what you did.” She then laughed with one of the other ladies.
“Mrs. Holcomb,” he replied, “I can solidly blame my mother for that.” He looked down at the shoes. “How can they possibly make ladies’ shoes so big?”
“Ladies aren’t the only ones who wear them, Franky,” Mrs. Holcomb said.
He groaned and shoved his feet in the stupid things. He put a hand on the wall to keep his balance. “All right. Let’s get this show on the road.”
Several of the ladies had stopped what they were doing to watch. “And a show it will be, won’t it, ladies?” one of them called out.
He had a choice to make. He could either be a pussy and fight this all the way, or he could man up and give them something to watch. The twinkle in his mate’s eyes made his decision. God, he still loved her.
“Okay, then.” Amie turned her backside to him. This was getting better already. “This is the proper way to walk in heels.” She took a step forward, lifting her knee and setting her foot flat on the floor—toes and heel hitting at same time. “The biggest thing with walking is make it look like you’re gliding. You don’t want your body parts flopping all over the place. Which means you don’t slam your heel into the ground when you step. You place it flat on the outside of the foot then roll to the inside to push off your big toe.
“Then while you’re coming forward and rolling, you bring your other knee forward and place that foot on the outer edge to roll when you move forward. Watch.” Amie slid across the floor effortlessly. And damn she looked good doing it. Some of ladies whistled at her sexy strut. On the other side of the door, she completed a perfect one-step turn, resting a hand on her hip. Damn, he wanted to see those curvy hips do that again.
“See how I lead with the knee, step down with heel and ball touching at the same time, quietly. Then swivel to the inside of my foot while I lead again with the other knee.” She glided toward him and he thoroughly loved the exhibition. He couldn’t help but lick his lips. She caught his movement and gave back a smoldering look. A chill took him, but he couldn’t let his dick get hard. That would not be good at the moment.
She came to a stop beside him. “Your turn, stud muffin.”
He loosened his tie and unbuttoned his sport coat. The ladies cheered like he was going to take it all off. He mentally snorted. He had this.
His knee came forward and he placed his hairy foot flat on the floor. Thank god the room was carpeted so he wouldn’t make noise even if he did it wrong. Which he did. But that wasn’t the point anymore. Catcalls followed his balanced trod to the other side of the door where Amie did some kind of turn.
He placed the ball of his foot on the floor and spun. Being his first time in ladies’ shoes, he forgot he had to raise his heel even higher. The shoe’s spike caught on the carpet, sending him flailing into an upholstered chair, causing the women sitting in it to scream, and all three tipped over, crashing into a side table and lamp.
Amie rushed over to pick them up. Others helped while laughing hilariously at his antics. Yeah, he knew he was a ladies’ man. Gladly slipping the shoes off, he stood on flat feet and breathed a sigh of relief. The ladies cheered again.
“Thank you,” he said. “Next show is in thirty minutes.”
Amie hugged him like old times. She felt so good against him. Her hair had the same apple scent, her skin soft and supple. He nuzzled her neck and, without thinking, placed a kiss on her neck beneath her ear. She melted against him, then must’ve realized her actions and pulled away.
Not so fast. He grabbed her hand and led her around the outer part of the room, through the kitchen, and out the back door, which he closed securely behind him. He pressed Amie’s back against the wood exterior and took her lips with his.
She tasted so good. Like sweet tea and cake. Her lips were lush and soft on his and for once he gave in to the craving. The desire. Amie was his and he didn’t need to worry that this was a dream. This time, she was really there. This was really happening and he wouldn’t wake up to her gone. To them being apart and his missing the one woman he knew owned his heart. He’d loved her from the moment he’d laid eyes on her and that love had only grown with time.