My Little Bunny

“Just relax, Catherine. What could possibly go wrong?” He looked up at her with a mischievous glint in his blue eyes.

Catherine Gutierrez just looked at her boyfriend, Jeff Burton, in complete shock. Doesn't he know that you never say that because when you do then something always goes wrong. It’s a proven fact. And here he was tempting fate. But what did she expect from a race car driver. She was just about to respond when he flashed that boyish grin of his and gave her a soft, slow, deep, wet kiss that seemed to go on forever before he headed off to work at Richard Childress Racing. She just closed her hazel eyes and sighed. That man is going to be the death of me.

She waited a few moments and watched as he drove his car down the street and made the turn at the end of the block before she headed back inside. It was only a few days before the Halloween party at Chad Knaus’ place. Her best friend Natalie was currently in a serious relationship with the Lowes 48 crew chief and she was looking forward to seeing her again.

Catherine hadn't even had time to try on the costume that Jeff picked out for her. In fact, she had yet to open the box that it arrived in. She shook her head as she remembered the outfit he had wanted her to wear. For some reason he wanted her to be a bunny this year. And not one of the cute, fluffy ones either. He had his heart set on her wearing an outfit that was similar to those of the Playboy bunnies. The first outfit he showed her was more of a lingerie type outfit. It consisted of a black mesh, halter-style teddy with mini bow details, white button tail, matching bow tie neck piece and bunny ear head piece. Plus he wanted her to wear the white fluffy boa and black mesh gloves that would go with it.

She gave him that “you have got to be kidding me” look. “Jeffrey Tyler Burton, there is no way I am wearing that.” She just shook her head at him. “And don’t even give me that sad puppy dog look because it won’t work this time. I really don’t think that Chad and Natalie want to see that much of me.”

“Awww, dang.” Jeff looked at the screen with a hopeful look in his blue eyes. “Would you consider wearing it just for me then?” He got up from the chair and wrapped his arms around her pulling her close. She could feel her heart race as it did every single time he did that.

“You are not playing fair.”

“No, I am not. So how about it?” He started to plant little kisses on her neck. “I’m not going to stop until you agree to at least that much.”

She just grinned to herself. “But what if I don’t want you to stop?”

He stopped kissing he neck for a moment much to her displeasure and leaned in so that their foreheads were touching. “Well, then… how about I do this instead?” At that moment he began to tickle her. She held in her laughter as long as she could until finally she couldn't contain it and busted up laughing.

“Alright! Stop it! I give up. I’ll wear it just for you.”

The look he gave her that moment reminded her of a child who had just been told that he would indeed receive his top Christmas wish that year. He gave her a quick peck on the check and went back to the computer.

“You do know that I always get my way, right?” Jeff gave her that mischievous look that practically dared her to disagree with him.

“Oh really?” She replied with an equally mischievous look on her face.

“Don’t make me get up from this chair.”

She just gave him a wide-eyed deer-in-a-headlight look and slowly backed away. “Uh, that’s okay. I’m just going to get a sandwich and something to drink.”

He turned around to look back at the screen and scrunched his nose up at the various costumes on the site. “Hey, since you are going to fix you a sandwich…”

“Yes, I’ll bring you a sandwich too.” He didn't even need to finish his sentence. She knew exactly what he was going to ask. It was like they were already married even though they were technically still just in the dating stage. They hadn't even discussed marriage.

“And a Coke too, please.”

“Yes, I’ll bring you a Coke too.” She just sighed and shook her head as she walked into the kitchen. It had only been around nine months since she moved across country from Oregon to North Carolina after only knowing Jeff for about three months. It had seemed like the craziest idea in her entire life at the moment but as she fixed his sandwich she was really glad that she had made that choice. By the time she returned to the living room area with his sandwich and a Coke, he was already off the computer and engrossed in watching the Duke Blue Devils play the Kentucky Wildcats.

“So... which outfit did you pick me?” She tried to sound casual as she placed the plate with his BLT sandwich on the side table nearest him along with his Coke.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll see it when it gets here.”

She didn't know if she should be worried about his selection so she sat there for a few moments in silence watching the game unfold on the television.

“This is an awesome sandwich.” He gave her a kiss on the check. “Trust me. You will approve of the costume. I promise the one I picked out for you to wear to the costume party is not see through. Only I get to see you in that one.” He winked at her and walked off towards the kitchen.

That was the last time the costume was mentioned. And now it was a few days to go before the big party with the box it arrived in still sitting on the dinning room table unopened. Part of her was really nervous at the thought of what might be inside. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and reminded herself that she trusted this man. If he said that the costume would be alright then there was nothing to worry about.

She started up the coffee pot again and carried the package into the living room to open it up. There was no harm in seeing what was inside and he didn't ask her not to open it without him present. She carefully used a steak knife to open up the package and inside it she found two different style bunny outfits. One of them was the lingerie style one that she was most definitely not wearing out in public. The other one was a three-piece Tux and Tails Bunny costume that included a tuxedo top with attached, tuxedo-style tails, matching tutu skirt with attached tail and an ear headband. There was even a pair of black gloves that reached up to her elbows. Nice choice, Jeff. Now this is something I wouldn't mind wearing to the costume party.

Catherine happily carried the costumes back to the bedroom just to try them on for size. All of her attention was focused on the costumes that she never even noticed Jeff’s car in the driveway. Crap… I forgot my coffee. She raced back to the kitchen, got her coffee and walked back to the bedroom. She sighed happily as she took a sip and then put the mug on the nightstand.

Well, time to try this tuxedo bunny outfit on. She undressed and tossed her clothes on the bed then unwrapped the costume. First on were the fishnet stockings that came with the costume… then the black tutu skirt. Finally she put on the tuxedo top with its attached tuxedo-style tails. Catherine checked out her reflection in the mirror and looked pleased at the result. She didn't know how Jeff managed to get a perfect fitting costume for her but he did.

“So, are you going to put on the bunny ears?”

She yelped in surprise and turned around only to find a very amused Jeff standing in the bedroom doorway. “Dammit, Burton, don’t scare me like that. I thought you had gone to work.”

“I’m sorry.” He walked over to her and put his arms around her, “Really, I didn't mean to scare you like that. You do look amazing in that outfit though. Did the shoes fit?”

“Shoes?” She looked up at him with an excited grin.

“Yeah, they should be in the box… and that would be where?”

“It’s in the living room on the coffee table.”

Moments later, he returned with the shoe box. “Here you go. I think I got the right size. Well, I hope I did."

She took one look at the shoes and shook her head. “Uh, Jeff... where did you get my shoe size from?”

“From one of your shoes in the closet.”

“Are you sure you read the number right?”

“Uhhh… I think so. But from that look you are giving me than I would say maybe not?”

“Hold this shoe.” Catherine handed him one of the new black pumps and went to go fetch one of her shoes from the closet. “And now hold this shoe. Do you see the difference?”

One of the shoes was clearly smaller than the other and unfortunately it was the new pair. Jeff just stood there staring at the two shoes in his hand and wondering how he could have mistaken the shoe size by such a large amount. Then it hit him. He had read the number upside down so he thought it was a “6” when it was actually a “9”.

Catherine was just trying not to laugh at him since he looked so sad about this mistake on his part. She softly stroked his face. “Don’t worry about it. I’m pretty sure I can find a pair of black heels before the party. At least you got the size of the main part of the costume right.”

“So do I get to see you try on the other bunny outfit now?” He looked hopeful and just grinned at her.

“No! You have to wait. Now get your Virginia rear end to work.” She playfully smacked his rear end.

“Alright, miss bossy. I’m going. But I want to see you in that costume tonight even if I have to put it on you myself.” He ran off before should could respond and she heard the door slamming closed as he left again.

Size 6 shoes. They were no where near her actual shoe size of size 9. How in the world he got that wrong when all he had to do was look in the closet and read the number off one of them was quite perplexing. Quickly she removed the costume and changed back into her regular clothes. But as fate would have it, somehow in the process of removing the stockings she had managed to put a hole in them. Great, now I need a new pair of stockings too. Might as well get two pairs then.

Catherine grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand along with her coffee and went back to the living room. The only thing on her mind was getting to the store quickly. She took one look around to find her purse and then headed out the door. Thankfully her car didn't give her any issues as she started it up. Jeff kept badgering her about replacing her old 1999 Honda CR-V but it still worked fine and she refused to give in to his requests that she let him buy her a new one.

It didn't take long for her to get to the store and she didn't waste any time as she made her way to the shoe section. Size 7... 8... 9... Yep, here they are. She quickly scanned the shelves looking for a pair of black heels. As fate would have it, there was one pair left that would work just fine with the bunny costume. It wasn't very often that she got lucky at the store but right now she was just grateful that it happened at this moment. Next she headed over to where the nylons were located and grabbed two pairs of black fishnet stockings. Perfect. Mission accomplished. She was so happy with her success that she picked up some chocolate on the way out of the store.

Later on that evening, she was still sitting on the sofa happily knitting and watching Food Network when Jeff arrived home from work. She looked up at him as he sat down next to her. “So, how was your day?”

“Good. And yours?”

“Mine was good. I got a new pair of shoes and two new pairs of stockings since I accidentally tore the pair that came with the outfit.”

“Nice.” He gently removed the knitting from her lap and placed it on the coffee table. “Now about that lingerie bunny outfit.”