The thought of Rafe ogling half-naked women set her blood to boiling. She trusted Rafe fully, but she still had to admit to some rather irrational insecurities.
“You’re late, Rafe,” Shane hollered as he walked into the house.
Ari had the sudden urge to grab on tight and not let Rafe go, but she refused to be one of those clingy, desperate wives who so justly earned the scorn of the world. There was no point in starting out their new life together if she didn’t trust him enough to send him off to a simple bachelor party.
“This is so ridiculous, Shane,” Rafe grumbled as he extracted himself from Ari’s arms and stood looking down at her one last time.
“Time’s wasting. We will see you tomorrow, Ari,” Shane said with a wink.
Ari was concerned when she looked at Shane. He had dark circles beneath his eyes, and though he was smiling, it was obvious that something was wrong. She was about to ask him, but he turned and began leading Rafe away.
Soon, she was standing in Rafe’s large living room all by herself, and she had to fight off a little anxiety before she got ready to head home. After all, it was bad luck to stay the night at Rafe’s place, and with the bad luck they’d already had, she didn’t want to jinx the wedding.
This was silly. She had the journal she could pore over, or she could call her mom and go out for dessert before heading home. She absolutely refused to allow Rafe’s comings and goings to affect her this much.
As she moved toward the library, she heard the front door open, and her heart skipped a beat.
“Come on, Ari, we have work to do.”
Ari turned to find Lia and Rachel standing in the living room, both dressed in tight skirts and revealing tops, and with their hair and makeup done to perfection.
“What’s going on?” she asked with no little trepidation. They’d already had her bachelorette party the night before. It had been a great time, though she’d never admit to Rafe that they’d watched a performance of the Chippendales dance troupe.
He’d be furious if he knew that one of the dancers had basically given her a lap dance. After she’d had a few drinks, against her usual rules, she hadn’t even minded.
Yes, she knew it was a double standard that she’d seen male strippers but didn’t want him to have the same privilege with women dancers, but female strippers lost all their clothes. The male ones kept their “naughty bits” covered, leaving that for the imagination. So there, Rafe! And besides, men were always thinking below the belt, but did women ever do that? Hmmm. Never mind.
“We’re crashing the bachelor party,” Rachel said with glee.
“There is no way I’m doing that. I had to practically force Rafe from the house to go to his party at all. I don’t want him to think I don’t trust him,” Ari said.
“Shane hired a stripper to jump out of a cake,” Lia informed her.
Ari’s eyes narrowed, and she glared toward the door. She hoped Shane felt the heat in his back.
“He promised me the party would be PG,” Ari said.
“He lied. Apparently, he does that often,” Lia said, and Ari had a good idea where Shane’s dark circles had come from.
“I still can’t…” Ari began, though she wasn’t happy.
“Look what we bought. We’re going to trade the stripper out for you. Then the only person dancing on your fiancé’s lap will be you. Unless you don’t mind some young, fake-breasted Barbie doll wriggling all over his…lap,” Rachel said with feigned innocence.
She was holding up a tiny little skirt and sequined bra, plus a few other items Ari doubted she could fit into.
“I can’t wear that in public,” Ari gasped.
“Suit yourself. We can rent a movie and get fat on popcorn and chocolate,” Rachel said, plopping down. The witch knew Ari was going to go crazy even thinking of another woman all over her fiancé.
“Fine, then,” Ari said. She snatched the bag from Rachel and marched herself into the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later, she was staring at the mirror in horror. The bra left her br**sts half exposed. The skirt barely covered the lower part of her backside, and the garter belt made her legs look a mile long. She actually liked the way she looked — she would love to wear the outfit for Rafe in private, but there would be a lot of men at his bachelor party.
In fact, Rafe would kill her if anyone saw her like this, but desperate times took desperate measures. Well, here goes nothing, she thought as she opened the door and made her way back to the living room after dousing herself in her favorite perfume.
“Oh, my gosh, Ari, you look like a wet dream come to life,” Lia gasped and made Ari do a spin to show off the outfit.
“Here’s the final touch,” said Rachel, holding up a pair of five-inch red stiletto heels.
“I will end up killing someone with those,” Ari said, eyeballing what she considered weapons.
“Well, then, the man will die a very happy death,” Lia assured her.
“Unless I’m the one I kill with those monstrosities,” Ari said. “It will be a miracle if I manage to stay upright.”
“You probably won’t stay upright for the entire evening in that getup,” Lia joked. “Rafe will see to that.” She sat Ari down and began putting her hair up while Rachel applied a thick layer of makeup.
When the two women were satisfied with their handiwork, they gave Ari a coat and marched her out the front door, pushing her into the car waiting for them.
As they approached the private club where the party was being held, Ari’s nerves went through the ceiling. She really didn’t know how Rafe was going to react, but the girls wouldn’t let her change her mind.
They sneaked in through the kitchen, and paid off the stripper standing there.
“I need to check my makeup,” Ari said, and she rushed toward the bathroom. The girls followed her, not giving her a chance to run away.
“Just breathe.”
Ari looked at herself in the mirror and a blush stole over her cheeks. She couldn’t believe she was about to step — no, leap — into a room full of men wearing practically nothing and give her husband-to-be a lap dance.
When she was almost ready to talk herself out of it, the door opened and a sharp whistle made her jump.
“Damn, girl! Too bad Rafe’s blindfolded. You look hot. I can’t wait to see his reaction when the blindfold comes off.”