Page 44 of Bourbon Truths
“I was hoping they would,” she said, running her hand up my stomach, making my nerve endings jump in anticipation of what was to come.
“I think that might just work.”
“Yay!” She stood on her toes and kissed my jaw. Warmth spread over me from her touch, something I was starting to grow fond of. “You’re going to love it.”
From the bag, she pulled a folded black shirt and shook it out. On it were two animated nipple tassels perfectly placed for a man of my size.
“You’re kidding, right?” I asked, tickled.
“Nope, this is just for you, big guy. Now put it on.”
She yanked on the hem of my shirt and started pulling it over my head.
“Whoa, hold up,” I said while I tried to slow her down, but she had the thing almost over my head, ready to come off.
Not being able to fight her off, I removed my shirt, and I was standing in the middle of the French Quarter bare-chested. Weirdly, it wasn’t a strange occurrence at all.
Standing there, I watched Lyla take in the contours and caves of my chest with heat in her eyes, heat that immediately started to turn me on. She was taking her sweet-ass time perusing my body and honestly, I didn’t give two fucks that she did.Stare all you want, I thought.
Clearing my throat to gather her attention, I held out my hand. “Are you going to give me that?”
“Uh, yeah.” She handed it over. She held my other shirt as I put on the nipple-tasseled garb. The sleeves were a little tight and the bottom was slightly loose because of my narrow waist, but that was a given with regular shirts like these. They always fit me in a weird way.
After staring down at the tassels, I looked up to see Lyla covering her mouth and laughing. The sound of it was intoxicating. It melted my cold, dark heart on the spot.
“This funny to you?” I asked, holding out my arms.
She nodded and pulled a bonus item from the bag.
“Buy a shirt, get a free hat,” she said. She popped the back of the hat out so she could place it on my head. It was a black trucker’s hat, and on the front was an animated crawfish holding up its claw. To one side, it said, “Suck this.”
Novelty to the extreme.
She adjusted the size of the hat and placed it on my head, cocking it to the side just slightly.
“Can’t have you looking like a total dweeb.” She winked. She stepped back and took a look at me. “Even with that ridiculous hat and shirt on, you’re still hot as fuck.”
“That’s good to know.” I grinned, enjoying the candid compliment. “Are we headed back to your place now?” I asked, a little too eager.
“No, I have something else in mind.”
“Kitten’s Castle?” I teased as she linked my hand with hers and led me down the street.
She glared at me. “No, not Kitten’s Castle.”
We walked hand-in-hand, enjoying the blustery night and the sounds of zydeco music being played on the corner of Toulouse and Royale.
“Hey, suck this!” a drunk man said while grabbing his crotch and walking by us, referring to the stupid crawfish on my hat.
I gave him a thumbs-up and kept walking. Fucking idiots.
“Got to love the atmosphere,” Lyla said.
“And the tacky hats you get for free.”
“It’s a very nice-looking crawfish, plus it has meaning, Kace.”
“How do you figure?” I asked, adjusting the hat.
