Of course she does! Was that really an option?

Stepping back from the mirror, Katie admired the way the tight, black leather pants hugged her legs like a second skin. Paired with a leopard print crop top that left her taut midriff bare, she felt a thrill run through her. The outfit was daring and something she’d never have considered before, but now she couldn’t help but grin at her reflection. "I look fierce," she thought, striking a pose and feeling a rush of confidence. As much as the outfit did wonders showcasing her figure, she also loved that her top would match Carmella's leopard print mini skirt. She thought it would be a fun surprise for Carmella, since her friend explicitly told her she needed to ditch her other outfit.

"Look, the vest is sexy, hon, but nobody wears just a vest," said Carmella when they were planning their trip, "We gotta get you somethin' else to wear for the rest of the day." Katie was about to say that the day was almost over, but stopped herself because any reason for a new outfit seemed good in her books.

Back in the dressing room, she briefly wondered how Carmella would feel about the two of them matching. Hopefully Carmella would be as excited as she was. Katie steeled her nerves, opened the door and stepped out.

Her eyes immediately darted over to Mr. Cowall and Carmella who were sitting on some chairs in a little make-shift waiting room near the hallway of dressing rooms. They were deep in conversation and hadn't yet noticed her step out. Katie smiled and watched them chat with each other. Mr. Cowall must have been deep in a story because his hands were moving around to emphasize his words and his face was actively expressive. Katie found herself admiring Mr. Cowall's ability to engage and captivate an audience. He was always so personable, which she reasoned was probably why he was able to be so successful. Usually Katie found herself on the receiving end of his stories, so she found it quite interesting to just watch his mannerisms from a strictly objective point of view. Carmella seemed to be enraptured in his story. She watched with deft attention and her own face had even begun mirroring Mr. Cowall's expressions as he told his story.

Katie wanted to wait for what seemed like a natural stopping point in Mr. Cowall's story before asserting her presence, but Mr. Cowall beat her to it. In the middle of a sentence, with his hands held out as if he were simulating an explosion or describing a globe, Mr. Cowall's eyes drifted away from Carmella's attentive expression and met with Katie's adoring gaze. With his hands still extended, Mr. Cowall fell speechless and his jaw dropped. Katie giggled. She loved eliciting that kind of reaction from him with her outfits. It was one of the things she looked toward to every morning at the office. Carmella quickly followed Mr. Cowall's lead and turned to look at Katie. Her eyes gleamed, and her signature smile quickly spread across her face.

"Oh my God!" she squealed. "You look so hot!" She stood from her chair and quickly tottered over to Katie on her impossibly tall heels. Mr. Cowall had managed to snap out of his stupor and dropped his hands, but he was still silently and hungrily soaking in the vision before him.

"Where did this shirt come from?" asked Carmella in disbelief. She began walking circles around Katie, occasionally picking at the hem of the top and pants to adjust how they sat on Katie's curvy body. Katie grinned mischievously as she remembered finding the shirt in the store and hiding it in the ever-growing pile of clothing that her fashion mentor had been picking up for her. She stayed silent and waited for Carmella to finish her tour. When the blonde vixen came to a stop and realized Katie hadn't said anything, she looked at her devilish grin and returned a smile.

"You little minx!" Carmella exclaimed while playfully pushing Katie's shoulder. "I love it!"

"You two look like a matching set," said Mr. Cowall, piping up from his spot in the chair.

Carmella looked down at her own skirt and squealed. "Oh my god, we do! I love it!" Katie beamed and basked in her friends' approval. "What else are you hiding in there?" asked Carmella, "I'm coming in with you. No more surprises." She began ushering Katie back into the changing room.

"You're going to let me wait out here all by myself?" Mr. Cowall called after the retreating women.

Both women were already in the changing room, but Carmella peeked her head out to address Mr. Cowall. "Relax, Andrew," she said, "You ain't gonna have a problem findin' something to do. And good things come to those who wait, or whatever." She closed the door and slyly smiled at Katie. "It'll be more fun to keep him in the dark. That way you can shock him each morning. Keep him wantin' more, doncha think?"

Katie blinked. It wasn't like it was a stealing revelation or epiphany, but something Carmella said just resonated with her. Teasing Mr. Cowall and keeping him keen sounded like a lot of fun. She smiled wide in response.

"OK. First, I love this," continued Carmella. She waved her hand around to indicate she was referring to Katie's outfit. "You're wearing this outta here, kay? Are you hidin' any other surprises from me?" She gave Katie a sly grin who just shook her head in response. "OK! I want to see this on you next." She grabbed a bright yellow skirt out of the pile of clothes they had amassed and thrust it at Katie.

"OK!" said Katie as she grabbed the skirt. She hooked her thumbs under her waist band to remove her pants, but hesitated. "Are you, uh...?" she asked and nodded to the door.

Carmella laughed. "There's plenty of room in here, hon. It's not like you're packing anything I haven't seen before!"

"Oh, ok," Katie responded. She hadn't ever shared a dressing room like that before, but it really wasn't any different from changing in the locker room at the gym. She peeled off the leather pants and the leopard print top and tossed them on top of her vest and skirt, creating a new pile of clothes she wanted to keep.

"Oh, honey," said Carmella with a disappointed tone. Katie, who had leaned over to grab the yellow skirt from the bench, looked up curiously. "You're wearin' all these sexy clothes, but that's what you're wearin' underneath?" She pointed at Katie's bra and panties.

Katie looked down at her undergarments. They weren't anything fancy, but they served their purpose. Her bra was white and, other than being strapless, was fairly unremarkable, while her panties were light pink hipsters cut low enough so as not to be seen over her skirt. She rolled her eyes at her friend and continued with the skirt. "It's not like I'm planning to strip down in front of anybody here."

"Well, that's a shame, but that's not the point," said Carmella. She started digging through the pile of clothes to find a top to pair with the skirt. "You're a total bombshell. Doncha agree that you owe it to yourself to always dress sexy? Not just when you're out, but even when you're home alone in your underwear. It's super empowering, you gotta try it." She handed Katie a black top, and Katie reflexively grabbed it, but she was far from aware of it. She was too deep lost in thought.

She did deserve to always feel sexy, she realized. She hated feeling frumpy, but most of her underwear was just that. Frumpy. Sure, hipster panties weren't by definition frumpy or unsexy, but hers definitely were. It had been too long since she treated herself to some sexy lingerie.

She and Jake had fallen into a pattern of comfort. A rut, so to speak. It's not as if she ever had an excessive amount of lingerie and sexy underwear, but there was once a time that she would buy cute bras excited to see Jake's reaction to her wearing them. That time seemed so long ago though. Now all her bras just served to hold her girls in place. They didn't dress her up like a princess. They weren't accessories. With Jake, all she wore was boring, frumpy underwear, and boring, functional clothes. Frumpy. She deserved better than that. She deserved to be sexy.

"Hello? Earth to Katie..."

Katie blinked and focused her gaze on her friend. She must have zoned out, but she was back. "You're right, Carmella," she said with a smile, "I do owe it to myself, don't I?"

Carmella smiled wide. "You’re damn right you do," she said, "And I know just where to go so you can buy some."

“Do you think Mr. Cowall will mind going to another store?” asked Katie as she donned the black top Carmella had given her.

“Oh, Andrew? No, I don’t think he’ll mind the idea of you prancing around with barely anything on,” laughed Carmella.

“I’m going to nip that idea in the bud,” said Katie playfully. “There’s no way I’m doing any prancing in just a bra and panties.” Katie modeled the outfit for Carmella, who nodded in approval.

“You’re such a party pooper,” said Carmella. “You should show off more. You’re too sexy not to, doncha think?”

Katie paused while she took off her shirt, but then quickly finished the task and playfully tossed it at her blonde friend. “You know,” Katie said with a smirk, “I’m beginning to think you’re a bad influence on me.”

*

The women finished sifting through all the clothes they had brought into the changing room. Carmella had proven herself to be a very talented personal shopper because, even though they left a significant pile of rejected clothes on the changing room bench, they emerged with a much larger pile to purchase. Katie was wearing the leopard print crop top and leather pants she had modeled previously, and Mr. Cowall looked slightly disappointed.

"So, I only get to have input on one outfit?" He stood from the chair as the women approached him in excitement.

"Don't worry, Andrew," said Carmella, "She's a certified fox. I'm sure you'll love everythin' we picked!"

Katie giggled and sidled intimately next to him. "Just think of it this way, now you have a surprise to look forward to each morning."

Mr. Cowall looked down on her with his irresistible glacial eyes. A small smile slowly spread across his face. "I look forward to seeing you each morning anyways."

Katie smiled and blushed furiously. She knew she shouldn't be feeling the butterflies flapping hurricanes in her stomach, but it was hard not to swoon.

They walked to the register and gave the pile of clothes to the cashier. She was a young and busty Asian girl wearing a sequined top and pink mini skirt. Katie would have expected Mr. Cowall to ogle the girl extensively, but instead his eyes were fixated on Katie and her skintight pants. She reveled in his hungry approval.

The three girls made idle chit chat as the cashier processed each item, but Mr. Cowall stayed silent drinking in Katie's outfit.

"Are these made of real leather?" he finally asked before he reached out and touched Katie's ass.

Katie's smile dropped when she felt his hand caress her behind. Her heart raced. She chastised herself because she knew he would take it too far, but she knew she couldn't blow it here. Mr. Cowall was about to buy her a fortune of sexy clothes and she needed to make sure he wouldn't end the trip early. She **** a smile back on her face and gently grabbed his hand from her ass. She guided his hand to the small of her back and looked into his beautiful blues.

"Its faux leather," she said sweetly and loud enough for Carmella and the cashier to hear, "But it's actually really comfy." Then she wrapped her arms around Mr. Cowall's neck and whispered into his ear, "I'm happy to be your arm candy, but I'm still engaged to Jake and I need you to respect that." She withdrew from the embrace and looked up at him.

He looked understandably disappointed, but he cooly responded, "So no touching?"

Katie smiled sweetly. "Just keep it PG."

Mr. Cowall nodded and then looked over at the large pile of clothes that were now neatly folded on the counter. "I thought you were only buying outfits for the rest of the week!" he exclaimed.

Carmella laughed. "We did! There's tonight," she said pointing at the outfit Katie was currently wearing, "Then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and don't forget the banquet!"

Katie looked at Carmella in surprise, "Banquet?!"

"You'll wear the cocktail dress," Carmella said dismissively.

Mr. Cowall sighed and approached the counter, pulling out his credit card as he did. "Usually when I spend this much on a woman, I at least get dinner and a show out of it..."

Katie felt bad. He was obviously still feeling upset about not getting to see her outfits, and to top it off she had to tell him to keep a rein on his hands. But his mention of a show gave her another idea.

While the terminal processed his card, Katie wrapped her arms around him from behind and then cuddled herself beside him. "Thanks, Mr. Cowall..." she purred. The cashier shot her an odd look, but Katie paid her no mind. "Carmella wants us to go to another store after this. I promise I can give you a show there."

Mr. Cowall thanked the cashier and took the bags of clothes from her. He turned to face the two women, but addressed Carmella in particular, "Another store? What did you have in mind?"

The blonde woman flashed a wide smile and looked excitedly between her two friends. "You know, the kinda shop that sells silky and lacy things that leave little to the imagination."

Mr. Cowall's eyes widened causing the two women to cackle cheerfully. Katie took one bag from him and placed his free arm around her shoulder. His shocked expression changed to a sly, confident smirk. "Lead the way," he said to Carmella. The blonde woman clapped gleefully and spun on her heels to lead them from the store.