Their Divine Doctor, a Holiday Ménage (10 page)

* * * *

The next day after work, Emma checked the clock in her phone as she pulled up in front of the white house set back amongst thick shade trees in the older residential neighborhood.

Rachel and Grace had suggested Emma visit their friend Camilla O’Neal, who was an assistant manager at The Dancing Pony. Prior to taking that job, she had worked her way through college as an exotic dancer at a club in Morehead.

Camilla didn’t broadcast that part of her life far and wide, but she did offer private striptease and pole-dancing lessons to interested women.

“You can do this, Emma Guthrie. If you can skinny-dip and have outdoor-in-broad-daylight sex, you can certainly handle shaking your booty a little.”

She stepped from her vehicle, checking her bag to make sure she had all the things she’d been asked to bring. Trying to imagine herself moving like a stripper, she somehow managed to trip over her feet as she walked up the shady sidewalk to the front porch.
Who in the hell am I kidding?
Heat stole over her cheeks, but she took the last few steps with determination.

The doorbell echoed inside the house, and a few seconds later a gorgeous, petite strawberry blonde answered the door. She had to be at least nine or ten inches shorter than Emma. Soft music played in the house as Camilla held open the screen door for her.

“Hi, Emma. I’m Camilla. Don’t look so worried. I’ll have you gyrating and grinding in no time.” She had a twinkle in her eye and an easy smile that helped put Emma at ease as she stepped into the living room.

Emma said, “Gosh, I hope so because I’m as clumsy as I can be.”
Please don’t let me break my ankles wearing the hooker heels in my bag.

Camilla giggled and replied, “No more talk like that. You just have to find your rhythm, that’s all. You’ve probably been trying to fit into somebody else’s idea of what is sexy. It’s time to find out what works for you. I’m glad you wore something comfy and easy to take off.”

Emma’s eyebrows shot up at that comment, and Camilla giggled playfully. “What? That’s part of it. You want to learn how to get out of your clothing in a way that has your men’s jaws hanging open and them begging for more, right?” she asked encouragingly, like the
only
answer to such a question was “Yes!”

She pictured Gage with his intense green eyes riveted on her, ready to pounce, and Duke’s sensual gray gaze as he watched her peel off each layer. A little seed of confidence began to grow inside of her. “Yes, I do!”

Camilla beckoned her and said, “Then come on back to my studio and we’ll get started.”

* * * *

Late September…

Duke stood at the living room window watching the activity below. “There they go again, Gage. What do you suppose is going on downstairs?” Duke asked as he observed Summer Heston, Maya Warner, Rachel Wolf, and Camilla O’Neal carry another round of full black trash bags to the back of Rachel’s SUV.

Their apartment complex was built on the outskirts of Divine. A pecan tree orchard was located on one side, an open pasture was on the other side, and across the road was a field used for growing hay. Parked on that side of the street was a faded, blue van. It had been there when he’d seen the girls take out the first load of bags.

“She just moved in,” Gage said as he looked over Duke’s shoulder. “What could she be clearing out already? Was that blue van there earlier?”

“Yes. I don’t recognize it. Someone was looking at the vacancy in the other building. Maybe it belongs to them.”

Emma had been tied up for a couple of weeks working on a special project and had promised that she would be ready for their big evening out, which wasn’t until that weekend. They had asked her in advance so she’d have time in case she wanted to shop for a nice outfit.

“I think she’s planning something,” Duke said. “She sounded bubbly on the phone earlier.”

“I miss her.”

“I do, too. Want to hit up Jelani and Marcario? They’re back in Toronto for a couple of weeks before leaving for the Congo.”

Gage sighed. “Cool. I guess. For some reason
Call of Duty
doesn’t appeal to me lately.”

Duke stepped away from the window. “I know. Me too.”

It didn’t really interest him tonight, either. It was more of a fallback option since Emma was tied up. Duke sat back on the couch and put his boots up on the coffee table, feeling a funk coming on. It had only been a couple of weeks, but it felt like a month. He missed Emma.

* * * *

“Go big or go home, right?” Rachel asked as she stood next to Emma, gazing at her now blessedly empty closet. It had been packed from floor to ceiling with odds and ends from two decades of buying and not wearing. She’d get brave, buy something, be too afraid to wear it for fear of being noticed, and then let it languish in her closet until it went out of style.

“The vintage clothing store in Morehead is going to love you, Emma,” Rachel said. “Now you have room for the things that worked and room to buy some new things. Want to open your box from Hips and Curves?”

Emma squealed, “It came?”

“Yeah, UPS just brought it,” Rachel replied then chuckled. “Duke and Gage are wondering what is going on down here, I bet.”

“How do you know that?”

“Camilla said one of them peeked over the railing when she opened the door for the UPS man.”

Emma fought the urgent need to rush upstairs. She knew the old saying that “absence makes the heart fonder” was true because she was missing her men like crazy this week. In order to accomplish her makeover, she’d needed the evenings free and wanted it to be a surprise for her men, so she had been keeping them in the dark for the time being.

“Aw, you miss them, don’t you?” Rachel asked as she rubbed her lower back.

Emma nodded, “I do. You okay?”

“Yes, my back aches, that’s all. This little guy has been jumping on my bladder all day long. I’ll bet you have more than your fair share of aches and pains too, don’t you?” Rachel asked knowingly.

“Mostly in my legs. Camilla really knows her stuff.”

“It will help with your balance and walking too. How is it coming with the shoes?”

Emma giggled thinking of last night as she rubbed her aching hip. “It was great. I only fell
one time
! And you’re right. The lessons are helping with my balance and poise. I never learned how to walk in heels properly.”

“Practice makes perfect. Ready to get to work?”

Emma smiled and nodded. If she was going to do this thing, she was going to do it right. She could keep doing what she’d been doing and accept her own personal status quo, or she could make some changes that might knock her men, and maybe herself, for a loop.

Rachel cut the tape on the box and dumped the contents on the bed. Soon Maya, Summer, Camilla, and Emma were squealing over the contents.

Later, after everyone had gone home, Emma looked around her bedroom with fresh eyes. Her closet was positively spartan now, but she looked forward to her shopping excursion with Summer and Maya. They were hitting Discretion, Macy’s, and points beyond the next day.

She slipped her unreasonably priced, but fairly comfortable, high heels from her feet and placed them on their shelf then removed her clothing and put on her comfy SpongeBob SquarePants pajama bottoms and a snug white T-shirt that she’d been sleeping in.

She’d bargained with Rachel to keep these two pieces. Emma let them take everything else they thought didn’t work for her, but she’d held her ground on her jammies. Rachel gave in, making her promise that since the satin pajama pants and camisoles had arrived from Hips and Curves she would save the jammies for emergencies only. This wasn’t technically an emergency, but she didn’t want to go upstairs in her scrubs and she didn’t want to give her surprises away.

She took one last look in the mirror and smiled at what she’d accomplished with her hair and makeup on her own tonight, without any help, then brushed out her hair and washed her face. Slipping her feet into her bunny slippers, which she’d hidden in the pantry because she knew there was
no way
the girls would let those stay behind, she grabbed her keys and looked at the clock. She heard a soft thump directly above her, so Duke and Gage must have been up late watching television.

Quietly, she slipped out of her apartment and tiptoed up the stairs, her bunny-ear slippers flopping with every movement. She rapped lightly on the door and giggled to herself when she felt the vibrations as they must’ve both jumped up and ran for the door.

The door jerked open, and they both stood there, looking so happy to see her all she could do was fling herself at them. “How have you been?”

They simultaneously wrapped their arms around her and buried their noses in her hair. Duke growled, “Better, now. We missed you.”

Gage chuckled and murmured, “Emma’s feeling frisky tonight.”

Emma turned to look into his mischievously twinkling green eyes. “How can you tell?”

“You’ve got the bunny slippers on.”

* * * *

That weekend, in early October…

Saturday night, Emma stood in front of her mirrored closet door making a final inspection. Half her closet was filled with her work clothing. The other half was now occupied by the items she’d gone shopping for with Maya and Summer. She’d almost felt foolish as the girls had demonstrated how she could mix and match all the pieces she’d purchased.

She’d been so enamored with reading and learning as a child that she’d never gotten into playing dress up and learning about fashion like other girls did. Her mom had always assisted her with putting her clothes together, and she’d just never worried about it.

Once she was in college she’d always worn blue jeans and T-shirts, besides the required clothing for medical students. Her roommate had offered fashion help with special occasions, and Emma had honestly never given it that much thought as long as she was decently covered. As an adult the pattern had only been further ingrained.

Feeling like a new woman, she gazed at her reflection and smiled. She was still the same person, and still Doctor Emma, but she liked this new facet of who she was, too. It was healthy to break out of ruts, and she’d discovered while shopping with Maya and Summer that one of her ruts was buying clothing that was too large for her. When they’d asked why she wanted to try on such large sizes, Emma had told them it was so she could be comfortable. But she knew deep down that she was also hiding inside her clothing because she was self-conscious about her curvy figure.

Looking at herself in her sleek black dress, Emma was glad that all the voluminous tops and bottoms and matronly dresses were gone from her closet. The girls had also confiscated almost all of her shoes, even her floppy leather sandals. When they’d gone shopping, they’d made a point of buying comfortable, casual clothes and shoes that fit her
properly
since she enjoyed so many outdoor activities. The excursion hadn’t been just about buying sexy dress-up clothes and high heels. It had become a full wardrobe overhaul. Her pocketbook had squealed in protest, but she hardly ever shopped for clothing and had determined she was long overdue.

Of course the overhaul hadn’t ended there. Meeting Camilla O’Neal had also had an impact on her. The striptease lessons had gone a long way toward building confidence in the way Emma handled herself and the way she moved. She only had basic moves for pole dancing down, but Camilla had helped her master the art of striptease, which she planned to try out on Duke and Gage soon.

A thrill raced through her when the doorbell rang. She grabbed her evening bag and her overnight case, because she’d promised to spend the whole night with them. Her cell phone was turned off because she was not on call for that weekend. She turned out the lights in her bedroom and hustled down the hall to answer the door.

Duke and Gage stood there looking like movie stars. Gage was dressed in a long-sleeved, white button-down shirt, worn untucked over gray trousers, and Duke was dressed in a lightweight, black sweater that hugged his biceps and lean, muscular chest.

Her jaw dropped, and she smiled when they had the same reaction to her. “Come in. You both look so handsome.”

“Emma.
Wow
,” Duke said as he took her overnight bag from her shoulder. He gestured for her to turn for them, and she complied, ignoring the self-conscious voice that whispered they would see all her flaws as she turned. Emma fought down the urge to self-consciously wring her hands together, remembering Camilla’s instructions. “You’re…stunning.”

Those two simple words made all the expense, work, and sore muscles worth it. Both men kissed her gently as though they were concerned about messing up her hair or makeup.

She took a slow breath and felt herself relax as she replied. “I know this is not how you are used to seeing me. I’m glad you like it.”

Duke’s eyes shone with approval as he said, “This is just another part of you that we get to enjoy, Em. In different ways, we were all out of our comfort zones. We’d usually be dressed in flannel and jeans on a Saturday night, playing
Call of Duty
with friends, not dressed up to take you out to a five-star restaurant.”

Admiration glimmered in Gage’s eyes as he nodded in agreement and said, “You look sexy as hell in those high heels. You’re absolutely beautiful, angel.” Their words filled her with pleasure, and she felt herself stand up a little straighter because of them. Gage pulled the bouquet of red roses from behind his back and held them out to her. “We brought you something.”

With a gasp, she took them and lifted the fragrant flowers to her nose and, with heartfelt gratitude, murmured, “They are beautiful, thank you.”

Gage asked, “Ready for your evening out?”

Emma nodded and said, “Let me put these in a vase.” While seeing to that task, Emma asked, “Where are we going first?” They’d asked her to be ready at four o’clock, which led her to believe that their plans included a drive somewhere.

“Our first stop is Tessa’s, a little out-of-the-way place in Morehead that was highly recommended. We’re getting there early so we can take you out for a night of dancing afterward.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of Tessa’s!”
Boy
,
have I heard all about Tessa’s!

Duke chuckled and said, “We have a table reserved in the main dining room. We had to get on a list for one of the private dining rooms. I hope you’re not disappointed.”

“Not at all, Duke. I’m sure I’ll love it.”

“I did put us on the waiting list, though,” he added as she placed the rose-filled vase on the kitchen counter. The girls had hinted at the intimate dinners several of them had enjoyed at Tessa’s, and her heart thrilled that they had that experience to look forward to.

“Ready to go?” Gage asked as he reached for her hand. A flush warmed her cheeks as they looked her over appreciatively once more.