Ella gave her short sniff. "Not hardly. Cameron told James last week that Chase was so torn over the girl that he was walking backward."
"He hasn't even taken her to dinner?" Tessa whispered, shocked. "They aren't involved?"
Ella shook her head, glancing back at the door as she frowned in concern.
"Courtney says Chase was yelling in Ian's office over that stupid ex-husband of Kia's, Drew. Chase never yells over anything."
Ella glanced toward the bedroom. "It doesn't matter. Whether she's Chase's or not, she's hid long enough." Then she smiled. "But I know how to find out if she is Chase's."
"Oh, Mom, what are you going to do?" Tessa's eyes widened, but Ella was proud to see the amused trust in her gaze.
Ella shrugged. "There are ways, Tessa." She made a shushing motion and pointed toward the sounds in Kia's bedroom. "Trust me, there are many many ways."
It had been too many years since Kia had gone shopping with the girls. By the time they were half an hour into the excursion, two others had joined them, Kimberly Raddington and Terrie Wyman. Within another hour, Courtney Sinclair and Jaci Wright, Chase's brother's fiancée, were there as well.
The crowd of women was met eagerly by each store manager, and Kia was certain a small fortune was spent in those shops.
Kia found herself drawn back to her own favorites. The lingerie stores that specialized in the wickedly erotic items she had treasured before her marriage. Before Drew had systematically destroyed the confidence she had in herself.
Chase had loved the panties, bras, and stockings she had picked out to wear with her gowns, though. What would he do if he saw her in the lacy corset she found, the panties barely there, the stockings inset with tiny, sparkling decorations?
There were the camisole sets, silk and lace, wicked and erotic. And as she looked at them, she remembered Chase's expression both times he undressed her. The pleasure in his face when he tore aside the sexy panties.
She picked up more than she should have. With each piece, she thought about whether Chase would see them, if he would enjoy them.
There were sleep sets and underclothes sets. And with each one, she knew she was spending money on pieces of frippery that might never be seen by the man she was buying them for.
She was unaware of the looks the other women gave her, the way they examined each piece she placed in her basket, and how Courtney used her cell phone to catch several pictures of her. Just so they could be sure that certain parties would overhear them discussing the articles when they met at Courtney's later that evening.
They talked her into a pair of heels that made her look like a sex goddess with her petite figure, and a pair of boots to match a too-short dress that she knew she would never wear.
The black boots hugged her legs and went over the knees. Three-inch heels and a hidden zipper. They went very well with the just-below-the-thigh deep violet dress that she blushed at the thought of wearing.
So why had she bought it? Because she looked at it and saw the woman who hid inside her. And she bought it because that woman desperately needed something as wild as she wanted to be.
The dress was more tease than reveal. But it was a dress a woman knew would draw looks, a dress guaranteed to stimulate interest.
By the time they collapsed in their chairs around the table one of the more exclusive restaurants had held for them, Kia was exhausted. Her feet were throbbing, and the wine she had with her meal had her smothering a yawn.
"I've had enough, Ella," Kimberly moaned as she sat back in her chair and stared at her empty wineglass balefully. "If I have one more drink, or have to enter one more store, Jared is going to have to leave the office and cart me home. He won't be pleased, you know." Her nose wrinkled mischievously. "Maybe."
Kia smiled at that knowing addition to her declaration.
"I've had it, too." Jaci glared at Ella. "Cameron didn't tell me you were worse than a drill sergeant when you went shopping. He's supposed to know these things."
"Cameron knows." Courtney laughed. "Ian sent him and Chase to tag along several times last year when the negotiations on some piece of property got nasty. They swore the next time Ian drafted them as bodyguards, they were quitting."
"Oh, but they were definite eye candy," Kimberly drawled. "Dark and fierce, and oh so sexy."
"Hey, one of those dark, fierce, oh-so-sexys belongs to me," Jaci protested with a good-natured laugh. "How the hell am I supposed to look him in the eye without cracking up when I get home if you sit and sigh over him? Sigh over your own hunks."
"That, dear, is the fun in shopping with us." Ella reached over and patted her hand playfully. "You get to snicker when you get home, and he'll wonder exactly why you're so amused. It keeps them on their toes."