He nodded in agreement. “So tell me what else you need to unpack.”
They discussed the details of moving and Selena joked about the chaos and what it does to the mind.
When they finished their meal, he tossed money onto the table and took her hand. “Now for your next adventure,” he said and Selena tensed up with the mysterious comment.
“I thought we’d head home and I’d finish unpacking so I can be ready for work tomorrow,” she told him.
He shook his head. “No. You’re not doing that. At least, not yet. You’re coming with me and I’m going to explain a few facts of life to you.”
Selena didn’t like the sound of that. Not one little bit! “Uh…Reid, I’m pretty familiar with the facts of life.”
He shook his head as he held the door for her. “No. You’re confused about a few things.” He led her down the street. “I remember sitting next to a couple in a restaurant a while ago. The woman was scoffing at an advertisement for a new kind of bra. It was an ugly contraption, made of some new kind of material that was supposed to be incredibly comfortable and with all of the bells and whistles that a bra might need…if you were a one hundred year old woman.”
“Reid,” she was silenced by his finger on her lips.
“No. Since you won’t tell me what happened in your past to make you shy away from everything sexual, I’m going to explain things to you my way.” He paused, chuckling when she simply rolled her eyes. “Good. Now, as I was explaining, this bra was incredibly ugly. The woman mentioned how ugly the bra was and that it didn’t matter how perfectly the bra fit. If the bra is ugly, the woman wouldn’t want to take off her clothes.”
He watched as understanding brightened her beautiful eyes. Obviously, Selena silently agreed with the woman. “She’s right. If a woman isn’t wearing something that makes her look sexy, she won’t feel sexy.”
He could tell that she didn’t believe him. “Think of it this way,” he changed tactics, “when you go to work, you wear professional outfits. You put on your sexy heels and your pretty jewelry. You do up your hair, which, by the way, I love when you put it up.” He grinned, winking at her. “Makes your neck look all hot and sexy. Gives me ideas about what I want to do to your neck.” He chuckled when the expected blush appeared. “Anyway, the guy replied that she was missing the whole point of the bra.”
Reid watched and waited, but the blank look in her eyes told him that she didn’t understand what he was trying to tell her. “If the woman didn’t feel sexy, because she was wearing an ugly bra, she’s not going to want to take off her clothes.”
The slight eye roll caused him to chuckle. “Yeah, I get that.”
He smiled slightly. “Not only do you get that side of what I’m trying to tell you, but I suspect that you use your underwear as a defensive mechanism.”
There was a long pause as she absorbed his words. They hurt. He was wrong! She didn’t…she wouldn’t….!
“I don’t!” she snapped, wanting to argue with him that her underclothes were simply that – something to wear underneath her dresses and suits.
“You do. If your bras and panties are ugly enough, you are in no danger of taking anything off and showing me what’s underneath.” He waited…and it took less time. Damn, he loved her soft, pink blushes.
Belligerently, she held to her story, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me.”
He took both of her hands in his. “Selena, the man in this story never grasped that pretty lingerie isn’t necessarily for the man. His point was that the bra would be on the floor of the bedroom as soon as things started to get going and that’s the way men like things.” He laughed when she rolled her eyes again. “Lingerie is more for the woman. It’s to make her feel good. A woman can wear the prettiest dress, but it’s really what’s underneath that makes the difference. It’s all psychological.”
She didn’t want to believe him. “It’s practical.”