Hidden Desires (26 page)

The door opened anyway with her mother walking in. "Oh please, like I haven't seen it already."

"Mother!" Brooke exclaimed and covered her breasts with her hands.

"Oh, those are nice panties!"

"Mom!" Brooke protested again.

"Are you going to stand there all night or what?"

Brooke turned her back on her mother and shoved herself into the bra quickly just to have herself covered.

"So, you decided on the bra?" Harriet asked innocently.

"Not really, you left me no choice."

"I can't believe you're ashamed in front of your mother."

"I'm not a baby any more mom. Things have changed."

"Oh, and heaven forbid I should see your Ooni. You know I kissed that thing when it was no bigger than..."

"Did you come in for a reason?" Brooke interrupted with a hand on her hip.

"I know you don't mean to be snippy, you're just nervous."

"Yes, very." The blonde admitted.

"I came in because wanted to tell you that I'm proud of how brave you're being. This is a very hard thing to do."

Brooke softened. "Thank you, Mom."

"Well, I'll leave you to get finished. You better come show your father what he bought you."

"Not to worry, I will." Brooke kissed her mom on the cheek and pushed her out of the room.

 
*  *  *

"What the hell is that?" Bert pointed to his daughter's chest in horror.

Brooke looked down at herself. "That would be my boobs, Daddy."

"Christ Brooke! I know that! They just never looked like that before!" he shielded his eyes.

Brooke chuckled. "Its a Wonderbra, and don't make me self-conscious now, I'm wearing it. I already put on my deodorant and if I have to take off this shirt I'll get white stuff all over it getting it back on again."

"But, really, Brooke..." Bert started to complain.

"It is known, Daddy, you protest."

Bert took his hand from his eyes, but refused to look at his daughter. "And you think Fred is going to hide those?" He asked his wife.

"No dear, that's the point."

"I want to meet this Cayden." He demanded. In response, he received two exasperated stares. "Oh Christ.! Fine, go on out and have a good time." He said rolling his eyes.

"Thank you, Daddy!" Brooke ran over and jumped on his lap to kiss him on the forehead.

"Don't you be doing that to anyone else young lady! Especially that Cayden character!" he warned. "Jumping on laps willy-nilly with a Wonderbra..."

"Dad, I'm a big girl." Brooke argued.

"Oh, I can certainly see that." He shielded his eyes again.

"Daddy, honestly." Brooke rolled her eyes. "I better go. Where's Fred?"

"Waiting patiently by the door." Harriet said, hugging her daughter. "You have a great time, and take that cell phone!"

"It's in my bag, Ma, love you! Come on, Fred." Brooke said, grabbing his new leash and heading out.

Bert glared at his wife. "You let her buy that bra?"

"Why not? I think she looks fine." Harriet argued.

"Jesus, Harriet! She looks too fine. I don't want Cayden the Tall getting any wild ideas about our daughter!"

Mrs. Hewitt smiled. "It is known, Dear."

 
*  *  *

Cayden was feeling pretty good, and was chatting by the folding table with Jake and Henry, who brought his two Yorkshire Terriers. Cayden hadn't picked up any clues about Jake before, but with the way he got on with Henry, the blatantly gay man wearing a pink triangle on his tie, the tall shopkeeper was wondering if she should leave them alone. Every time she tried to excuse herself though, one of them aimed the conversation at her and she was stuck there. She wasn't bored with the conversation and it was kinda funny to think that both of these grown adults were afraid to be alone, so she hung around. The subject started dancing around partners and Henry asked Cayden about her status.

"Oh, I'm single, happily so." she replied.

"You? Single? Look at you!" Henry gaped. "I'm assuming it's by choice, cuz honey, they must flock around you like you're the messiah."

Cayden had the good sense to blush. "Well, yeah, and thank you."

"CAYD!" Jodie just rushed up to her in a flurry.

"Jo?"

"Wade and Harley both dated the same guy!" she said excitedly.

"This is huge?" Cayden questioned her enthusiasm.

"At the same time!" Jodie blurted.

Cayden chuckled along with Henry and Jake.

"Can you believe it? That is so weird. They never would have known it of we weren't talking about you."

"Me?" Cayden became alarmed, she hated being the topic of conversation.

"Yeah, we were talking about disastrous blind dates, and since you hold the record, you came up." The waitress explained.

"No wonder she's happily single." Henry remarked with a snicker.

"Oh, but by choice." Jake chimed in.

Cayden glared at Jodie.

Jodie, apparently not the least bit intimidated went on. "You wanna talk about luck? Sexy here hasn't got any of it. Her horseshoe is definitely leaking."

"Jo!" The tall shop keeper warned.

The men laughed and Cayden pouted. "I do too have luck."

Jo stuck out her tongue. "Alright Cayden, you do have luck." she said is a teasing manner.

"You do realize I will have to get you back for this." The tall woman half joked.

"Yes, dear." Jodie said with an innocent expression.

"They fight like a married couple." Jake snickered.

"EW!"

"Get out!"

Both Cayden and Jodie replied at the same time, then laughed.

Jodie was happy to see her friend loosened up, she knew the beer had something to do with it, but that didn't worry her. Cayden wasn't coming to work in the morning, and she doesn't drive anyway, so it was all good to the waitress. She smiled up at her tall friend who had backed a few steps away from Henry and Jake. Cayden offered her friend a sneaky smile and Jodie caught on fast, pulling Cayden away by her arm. "I need her for a minute." she said as she dragged the tall woman away.

"Good going, Jo."

"So ya think?" she nodded towards the two men.

"Yeah. I never knew about Jake! How do you like that?" Cayden said in wonder.

"You just never know who you'll be attracted to Cayd. That's the funny thing about attraction, you can't control it, it controls you and it doesn't discriminate."

Maybe it was because she was paying attention for a change, or maybe it was her pleasant alcohol induced mood, but Cayden actually heard Jodie. Her brain digested what her friend said and she nodded mutely, Brooke's image flashing in her mind briefly.

Jodie watched her friend shake loose an apparently unwanted thought and swig her beer.
Yep, that hit the spot, didn't it Cayd?
"So, you wanna come mingle with me? I get all the dirt."

"Yeah, sure, why not? Cayden agreed and let herself be led away.

 
*  *  *

Brooke stopped just a few feet before The Fuzzy Belly Deli, her feet unable to take her any further. Her mouth was terribly dry and her palms were very sweaty. The urge to pick Fred up and run away as fast as she could was strong, and she took several deep breaths to fight it. She looked down at the small dog and smiled, despite her fear, when he looked up at her in anticipation. "Yes baby, I'll pick you up." She scooped up the dog and held him at her hip with one hand, she used the other to rearrange her hair in a store window. She was regretting her choice of clothing now, not feeling quite as cocky as she did when she was home looking in the mirror. "Who am I kidding with these tits?" she asked her reflection. She started to turn away and stopped herself. "You're here, just do it. You have Fred if you need him. She invited you for shit sakes. Just go inside."

Brooke approached the shop slowly and peeked inside. There were plenty of people, but her eyes cut through them all in search of Cayden.
I can't do this...
she thought fleetingly until the tall woman came into view. Brooke's heart pounded wildly and her knees went weak. "My god Fred, she's even more gorgeous than the last time!" Her belly curled with the familiar feeling of arousal as she watched Cayden drink a beer. "She even drinks sexy." She whispered to herself. "Feel what she's doing to you! You can't let this go!" The blonde put her hand on her chest and felt her heart beating crazily. "Go! Now!" she demanded of herself and entered the shop with an air of confidence she really did not feel.

 
*  *  *

Jodie, Wade and Cayden were hovering around the hors d’ouevres, watching a bird-like woman named Cheryl pick her way through the crackers. It seemed that she was searching for a particular cracker, as the three watched on with amusement. Her little Pekingese, Toto, was happily partaking in a gourmet bone.

Cayden leaned over to her friends to whisper. "You know, now that she breathed on all of them I don't want any."

"OH DEAR LORD!"

The tall woman became frightened when Jodie suddenly shouted and was about to turn and see what had upset her when she was spun around like a kid playing pin the tail on the donkey. "Jodie! What the hell is wrong with you?" She asked in irritation, getting dizzy.

"Nothing! I'm fine! Say, you know, I think we need more booties!" Jodie exclaimed, eyes wide.

"What?" Cayden was growing annoyed.

"In the store room, we need more booties!"

The shop keeper rolled her eyes. "Jodie, I hardly think there's a sudden run on... hey! Quit pushing! I'll get them!"

Jodie watched as her friend muttered to herself and disappeared behind the closed door. "Wade! Wade!" she panicked, "It's her! Brooke!" she turned Wade to face the newcomer. "She came!"

"Oh wow! She's a knock out! Holy shit, Jo!"

"Oh my god, what do we do?" Jodie took two steps forward then two back, waving her hands around.

"First we stop acting like a mental patient and go over and say hello."

"Good idea." Jodie agreed and made a beeline for the blonde.

Wade followed, looking over his shoulder for Cayden.

 
*  *  *

The tall brunette took the opportunity to sit in peace before she went back out to the party. She had no idea what had just come over Jodie, but now she was a little grateful that her nutty friend threw her in the store room. She sat down on a box and stretched out her legs, thinking of nothing in particular as the pleasant haze of alcohol clouded her brain.

 
*  *  *