A tiny sparkle caught his eye. A thin, silver chain on her ankle he hadn't noticed before. She was sitting half way up the marble stairway in the entrance hall, alone and removed from the crowd. Her flat heeled shoes lay by her feet as she sat with bare legs crossed, her hands planted on the edge of the same step her ass was perched on.
He was in the middle of one of those conversations that are almost interesting at the beginning, but peter out well before the end. Everyone in the small circle he was standing in were beginning to spend more time checking to see who else was around than talking. He was equally disinterested in them all.
The glint of the chain drew his eye, but it was the way her smooth legs were crossed and angled on a slant that put an edge on his pulse. Her pale, lavender dress was snug and too short for sitting halfway up a staircase in a crowded reception hall.
He realized he'd never really noticed the sensuously svelte contours of her body, or the creamy smoothness of her skin. The suspicion she wasn't wearing panties suddenly gripped his mind in a hard clench. His gaze followed the sleek curve of her thigh until the hem of her dress fell across the path of his inappropriate gaze, covering too much and not enough.
A couple of the people in the circle finally drifted away, and while he put up an acceptable façade of attention, Blair's mind spiraled deeper into the strange speculation as to whether or not his daughter's pussy was bare beneath her dress.
Then he realized Naia had caught him looking. He could tell from the smile of coy surprise that pursed her lips as she pretended to be interested in the century old elegance of the mansion. Her smile had always been enough to lift him off the ground, but this was a rare brand of smile for any man to see on his own daughter's face. There was a vicious naughty streak in it a mile wide.
Naia uncrossed her legs and stretched. The movement put a hard lump in Blair's throat as he caught the briefest flash between her supple thighs. It wasn't what he saw. It was what he didn't see. He didn't see the quick flash of color a pair of panties would give off, even at a modest distance. But the movement had been fleeting and her dress cast too much shadow.
She had to be wearing black panties, he told himself. What earthly reason could she ever have to attend a semi-formal event with her own father without them?
Naia was on her feet and coming down the stairs before the thought completed itself in his mind. She almost had that classic, girl next door look, with her long, silk-spun blonde hair and fresh smile, except there was a dark edge of mystery in her amber flecked eyes. She had a way of seeming like she was always thinking of doing something drastic, but was ultimately too nice a girl to ever do whatever scandalous thing was running through her mind.
That's how it used to be, at least, but today there was a different attitude about her. Blair had noticed it earlier, before they'd even gotten in the car, but he hadn't been able to put his finger on what was different. He'd thought she was quietly stunning in her usual, offhand way, but with a little more edge than usual.
Or maybe he was just imagining everything. Whether he was or not didn't seem to matter. It didn't stop his wondering about the state of her pussy, whether she was covered or uncovered under her dress – and it didn't stop his pulse from hammering in the most unnerving way as she approached him smiling and took a familiar hold on his arm.
"I could really use some air," she told him. Then she looked at the others he'd been talking to and excused herself for taking him away.
No one cared. The conversation had died fifteen minutes ago. Naia led her relieved father away and he took her through the crowded hall toward the rear doors leading onto a broad terrace overlooking the gardens and sea beyond.
They walked through the terrace crowd and into the gardens, Naia clinging to her father's arm at every step. No one paid much attention to them. They looked like one more handsome couple seeking a few minutes away from the crowd.
"So who were those people?" she asked casually, as they meandered between rows of manicured hedges.
"I don't remember," he chuckled. A coy hint of smile played around his mouth while his mind wrapped itself ever harder around the question regarding her panties. Yes or no. Simple question. Even simpler answer.
"You were distracted maybe? A little?" A playful thread of teasing dangled in her tone. He was sure of it.
"Coulda been," he smirked.
He slid his arm around her waist, resting his hand on her hip. He couldn't feel anything under her dress, but maybe his hand wasn't in the right place. Or maybe she was wearing something too scant or sheer to feel through the fabric.
She snugged affectionately against him as they walked. When the urge to put his hand on her ass to feel the flex of her cheek as she walked, he realized he needed to see Diane. And badly. It had been over a week, although that didn't feel like enough reason to be thinking about and looking at Naia the way he was.
Blair's relationship with Diane was one of mutual convenience. They liked each other, and they managed to laugh a lot together. She was young, pretty and generously made. Everything about their relationship was correct, but in the end, it never seemed to add up to right.
And there he was holding onto Naia, his daughter, his mind playing delirious tricks on him. The irony wasn't lost on him how he loved every molecule of air that ever touched Naia's skin, and yet she was the last woman on Earth about whose panties he should wonder.
~~~
Naia had been bored out of her brain. The house was nice, the artwork was nice, the food was nice – and the people were dead boring. Naia had known that's how this party was going to be from the moment she agreed to attend with her father. Oh she wasn't complaining. Well not much anyway. She'd readily agreed. She'd walk through fire for her father if he asked her too. They shared that sort of relationship.
