Super Secret | Half Hero Book 2 [ON HOLD]

Chapter 6: Tasteful Side-Boob

There is a practiced art to displaying a tasteful amount of side-boob, and my mom wasn't sure she was pulling it off. The crash of the front door floated up the stairs to the master bedroom closet, where we were debating in front of her full-length mirror.

"Thank goodness," I sighed, turning to shout. "Hey, chum-puddle! Did you get the nipple tape?"

"Ellie!" my mom scolded while studying the lovely curve of her porcelain skin in the reflection.

Aaron's loutish footsteps clomped through the house until he reached the carpet in my mom's furnished walk-in closet.

"For the record," he announced loudly. "I never want to hear the words mom and nipple tape in a sentence again. This is a one-time deal."

He was holding his lanky arms behind his white t-shirt but halted when he saw our mom in her new shimmery black dress.

"Woah," Aaron commented.

"Did you get it?" I pressed, snapping my finger to get his attention.

"Yes, laser-lips, I got it." Aaron scrunched up his face and tossed a small box of double-sided tape to me.

"Thanks, doofus."

I'd been granted the day to spend with my mom and brother, and tonight was a special occasion. Varun had asked my mom to some bigwig's home in Washington to welcome a new faculty member to Georgetown University.

To prepare, we'd spent the day doing mother-daughter facemasks (that smelled like a snail's you-know-what), at-home pedicures, facial waxing, and hair deep conditioning for added luster. Aaron had managed to steer clear of our girly day of pampering, for the most part.

"I don't know," my mom said, scrutinizing the sophisticated swoop of the back.

"Don't worry," I assured her, digging into the box to pull out the first tacky strip. "They're painless and they save you from the dreaded nip-slip."

"If you're going talk about nipples," Aaron wailed, stalking out of the room. "I'm out."

Giggling, I walked her through positioning the tacky side against the clean skin of her breast.

"You know," my mom whispered to me. "Between you and me, he's the reason I need nipple tape for this dress. My breasts sank about four inches when he'd finally sucked them dry."

"Gross, mom," I'm fanned my hand to illustrate how much I wanted that story to go away while peeling back the next set of strips to fasten her dress to the strategically placed adhesives.

"Even with the tape, it's a little scandalous, don't you think?" My mom's expression fell into worry. "I mean, this is dinner and dancing with a bunch of stodgy Georgetown prunes. Is this too much?"

"It's exactly enough," I replied, turning her body to square with the mirror. My mom was naturally lean and small-boned, like me, and she was rocking the hell out of the tantalizing gown. "Unless there's going to be twerking, in that case, we might need to double tape it."

I loved the sound of my mom's laughter, it was loud and sometimes bordered on cackling, but always genuine. The swell of her well-endowed chest shook the shimmery material of her gown. Even under the recessed lighting of her closet, she was stunning.

"I bought this on a whim, trying to be more adventurous," she divulged, skimming the sparse collection of jewelry she had displayed on one of the inlaid cabinets. "It's been so long since I've wanted to be seen as anything other than a mom, and now, I feel, sexy."

That wasn't a descriptor I'd ever applied to my mother, but she had every right to feel that way. The dress hugged her waist and accentuated the daintiness of her slender calves with a tailored sheath silhouette. I especially enjoyed the tiny feelers of the ladybug tattoo on her lower left shoulder blade poking out.

"I can't believe I've never asked you this," I shook my head. "But did you date anyone else, you know, after dad died?"

My mom took a deep breath, considering something I wasn't privy to. "No, not really," she answered. "I mean, a couple of men asked me out here and there, but I was always too busy with work and you kids. There just wasn't time to focus on another person."

She selected a dangling pendant necklace that nestled in the fold of her breasts. I help to fasten the clasp while she situated the bauble, admiring her innate elegance. Until now, I'd never seen my mom as a woman with a life outside of her children.

"What about Mac?" I probed. "You two were close."

My mom's lips twitched into a wistful smile. "No, we never crossed that line," she told me. "I wasn't ready, and he wasn't-"

Her voice trailed off as I leaned in. "Wasn't what?"

"It's not important," she sniffed, using one of her freshly varnished fingernails to dab the corner of her eye. "It was a lifetime ago."

We had barely discussed my time with Mac up in Canada, mostly to share a laugh about his secret-softie music collection, but just like him, she was guarded about their friendship. I didn't press her, because talking about Mac was never easy. I missed that big crotchety lumberjack something fierce. If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have been yanked into Hamm's crosshairs (yet again.)

"Now, the finishing touch, the shoes." My mom shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned to grab a reflective box from one of the empty shelves.

Clothes were never something she cared about when we were kids, but it seemed that her budding relationship with Varun was awakening other sides of her. While it was strange to picture her loving another man, I was happy that she was getting her groove back (so to speak.)

She hooked her pinky finger around a subtle python strap to pull out a classy kitten heel sandal. I plunked down to watch her slip her feet into the luxurious shoes that fit her to a tee. When our eyes met, she grinned.

"What do you think?" My mom gave me a small twirl to show me the full effect.

"I think Varun's a lucky fucker to date my sexy mom," I whispered.

"Language," my mom gave her knee-jerk reaction with a flattered look. "But, thank you, sweetheart."

I had to stand on my tippy toes to hug her.

I'm not going to lie, even I felt awkward writing a chapter called: Tasteful Side-Boob!