Page 30 of Kissing Kayley
“Sure.”
Holding my hand, Vic led the way from the cafe and headed to the store on the far end of the lobby, near the check-in desk.
“It sure offers a lot of… variety,” I said as I tried to process. There was everything from western wear, to toys, to adult-sized Littles’ outfits, to adult toys and implements, and everything in between.
I don’t even know how they managed to fit so much into the space and yet it still felt tidy and organized.
“Like I said, it’s a full-service resort,” Vic noted.
“Obviously.” I drifted over to the western-wear section and their selection of jeans, boots, hats, and other garments. I hadn’t brought anything that might be appropriate horse-riding attire other than jeans. Although I did have a couple of T-shirts.
Vic plucked a tan cowboy hat off a rack and plopped it onto my head. “Ooh, I like that, baby.”
I glanced into the mirror next to the rack and while I’d never worn one before, I had to admit it looked neat. The leather hatband with turquoise beads intricately woven into it gave it a feminine touch.
Except when I removed it and looked at the price tag and nearly choked.
Vic immediately took it from me and put it back on my head. “Do you like it?”
“Yeah, but?—”
“Do. You. Like. It?” He said it softly, and with an arched eyebrow, and I swallowed hard as my pancake-coma pussy decided she wasn’t as tired as the rest of me and splooshed a little.
“Yes.”
He smiled. “Then we’ll get it. My treat. I think it looks great on you. And if we’re going riding, you want a hat because of the sun.”
I sighed, knowing I wouldn’t win this argument. “All right. Thank you.”
He leaned in and nuzzled his nose against mine. “Was that so hard, baby?” he whispered.
My traitorous cooter clenched again and might have actually whimpered. “No, but you know how I feel about paying my own way.”
“Yes, but this is your birthday. If it was out of my range, I wouldn’t have offered.” He brushed his lips over mine. “And I’d like the chance to spoil you rotten.” A brief scowl furrowed hisbrow. “I’d planned to take you bathing suit shopping at the other resort, so this’ll have to make up for it.”
“But I brought a bathing suit,” I said, reaching up to adjust the hat slightly.
“Yeah, but it isn’t oneIpicked out for you.” He smiled. “I’d love to see you in a bikini.”
“You’d be the only one,” I muttered as I turned toward a rack of western-style shirts.
I wasn’t prepared for his hand to shoot out and grab me by the wrist and gently tug me back to him. “Hey,” he whispered. “None of that. Okay? That wasn’t a joke and you and I both know it.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Itwasa joke, but it’s the kind of joke you don’t like hearing me make about myself.” And that he usually wasn’t around to hear me make, but I wasn’t going to drop that into the conversation.
The eyebrow arched again. “And you know damned well why I don’t like hearing you say shit like that. Head-shrink thyself. That’s a slippery slope.”
I randomly said shit like that to myself all the time. Not because I felt any better or worse about my body than the average person, but because it was just… me.
Leo and I share a snarky gene, although we express it in different ways. It always confused my parents, because neither of them are like that, but Leo and I are total twins in that respect.
It was easy to forget Vic wasn’t around all the time to appreciate my self-deprecating humor as exactly that and not some serious body-image issue.
“You realize the conversation we need to have about stuff includes you lightening up about my self-snarkyness, right?” I asked.
He kissed my hand before releasing it. “And this is exactly why we need this time together.”
He talked me into several shirts, a couple of pairs of boot-cut jeans, new boots and socks to wear with them, and a waterproof duster jacket that could keep me dry on a trail ride. He’d purchased a few things for himself, too, so I didn’t feel so bad.
