It took them the rest of that day and two more to get to Fort Collins. They took their time, and often stopped to do Chastity White photo shoots, some in interesting places. One that worked out to be an especially nice shot had the St. Louis arch in the background.

Even more importantly, in their discussions that took place as they crossed half the country, Chastity White Swimwear was born. It wasn’t a reality yet, and they weren’t even sure about the name, though they couldn’t find anything in a brief search on the Internet where someone was using the exact name they’d talked about, but the idea did firm up some. They took a lot of pictures, and Chelsea also took a lot of notes, and then they examined their ideas from several angles, getting some new ideas, rejecting others as too impractical, at least at this time.

One thing they agreed on early: it was the wrong time of the year to get started in the swimsuit business. They both realized that the big season for sales was not only already here, it was close to over with for the year. That wasn’t bad by any means; it gave them plenty of time to make plans and preparations so they could get off on the right foot for next year. They could do some research and investigation, along with making some experiments.

While the idea of having some standard swimsuits obviously had potential, the more they talked about it the more engaged they became with the swimsuits-on-demand concept. It had many similarities to the just-in-time warehousing Kyle worked with every day. It wouldn’t work in a store-bought retail situation, but it looked like it would work just fine for Internet sales if they could work out the kinks and details.

Even before they’d made it into Kansas, Kyle had resolved to buy a copy of the best pattern-making software on the market so Chelsea could learn how to use it. It wouldn’t be cheap, but he felt it would easily be worth it, and he decided to use his own money rather than Chelsea’s – a special gift to her. While he was at it, he decided to look for a large-format printer if he could find one cheaply, perhaps used, and at least investigate computer-controlled fabric cutters.

Privately, he reasoned that Chastity White Swimwear might never be more than a small, boutique company in a niche market. There was a lot of competition out there, but he knew that sometimes a small company that’s quick on its feet can move to service markets better than the bigger guys. There was a lot to learn about the business, and most likely some unknown pitfalls along the way, but with the way the Internet had changed sales and marketing he felt they had a chance to be a reasonable success if not one of the big guys.

All that meant they had a lot of work in front of them. Chelsea wasn’t going to be lacking for things to do the next few months, and though she had to take the lead in the new business, he was also going to have plenty to do as well.

About noon on Tuesday, their last day on the road, they got into the eastern edge of Denver. “The pickup is at the airport, not far from here,” he told Chelsea. “We can save some time if we split up and get it now, rather than having to double back down here to get it later.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” she replied, “but I don’t want to drive this thing in city traffic.” She had driven the rig a little, but she hadn’t been very comfortable with it. “I could drive the pickup, though.”

It didn’t take long to get the pickup, although it seemed strange indeed to be in the cab of the truck by himself as they went the last miles up the Interstate toward Fort Collins. It was getting to be late in the afternoon by now, so on a whim he called Andrea to tell her they were north of Denver and wouldn’t be long.

“I take everything went all right?” she asked.

“Better than I expected, although some things happened that weren’t to plan. It’s too much to go into now, but we’re all right.”

“Good. I can’t wait to meet this girl.”

“Well, if you want to, come over to the apartment after quitting time to help us unload. You might bring Bruce with you if he’s available.”

“He won’t be. He’s tied up at a meeting in Denver and it will probably run until late. But I can bring someone else along to help out.”

“It’s up to you,” Kyle told her. “Chelsea and I loaded this rig by ourselves, so the two of us can unload it without help if we have to.”

“I’m sure some help will be appreciated,” she laughed. “Hey, I need to tell you that this company is like a small town sometimes. The word got out that you were on a mad dash east to pick up your girlfriend, and all the lunchroom sharks are more than a little disappointed that they missed their chance with you. I’m not the only one who’s waiting to meet the girl who captured you.”

Yes, Kyle thought after he ended the call, that will probably make for a few changes around the lunchroom.

Kyle pulled the rig up to the apartment just after quitting time at Mercer-Howe. In spite of having Chelsea with him most of the way and taking their time for most of the drive, he was tired and glad to have the trip over and done with. She pulled the pickup into a nearby parking space and got out; she was again wearing her shorts over a swimsuit, this time a relatively conservative blue job. It was a monokini, though, so there was still quite a bit of skin exposed. “So this is it, huh?” she asked as she walked over to him.

“This is the place. It’s really nothing special, but it’s your new home. We can make do with it for a while, but in time we’ll probably want to look for something bigger, and maybe not in an apartment building at all.”

“I think you’re probably right on that, but it will do for now,” she smiled. “Kyle, I know we’ve talked about a lot the last few days to put Arlington behind me, but still, thanks for bringing me here. The alternatives were just so bad I didn’t even want to think about them.”

“There’s no need to think about them now or ever. You’re here, and that’s the important part.”

Right about that time Andrea pulled into the parking lot – and, to his surprise, Echo and Corey were right behind her. There was a lot to do, and actually he was glad that his friends had offered to help them.

Of course, they had introductions all around; it took a while, but at least on first impressions everyone seemed to hit it off, not that Kyle had been expecting anything else. Finally it was Andrea who broke that up. “As long as we’re all here we should get started,” she said. “Kyle, what’s the drill?”

“Chelsea and I talked it over on our way out here,” he replied. “This all happened so quickly that I never thought about preparations, let alone make any. We’ve got more furniture than we have room for, so some things are going to have to go into the storage shed with the Triumph. For now, just haul everything in and stack it in the room with the computer desk, and we’ll sort it out from there.”

“That’s going to take you a while,” Andrea pointed out. “I might as well tell you now that there’s not much on your desk at the office that can’t sit until next week, and Bob said to go ahead and take the time if you need it. But there’s maybe an hour’s worth of work that could really use your attention if you’re available.”

“I could come in tomorrow morning and deal with it,” he offered.

“That would be fine.”

With that, they got started hauling stuff into the apartment. While some of Chelsea’s things were labeled, some weren’t – she’d packed in too much of a hurry back in Arlington, so having a few extra days to deal with things was going to be welcome. In fairly short order, they had most of the load taken in, and a couple pieces of his furniture had been brought out to the truck. The inside of the apartment was pretty well stacked with things, and it seemed like an impossible job faced them.

“I guess that’s it,” he announced finally. “We still need to run what’s left to the storage shed, then turn in the truck. There’s no point in paying for an extra day’s rental if I don’t have to. But I think Chelsea and I can take it from here. Thanks everyone, for coming to help.”

“Kyle,” Andrea asked, “what would you think if I were to invite everyone out for dinner? It will give us a chance to get to know Chelsea better.”

“I appreciate the offer, but honestly, we’re both tired of driving and riding, and we might not be the best company. How about tomorrow night, though?”

“That would be fine. We could have a cookout in the back yard over at our house. Bruce will be home then, and I’m sure Curt and Denise would like to come, maybe Jill and Greg, too.”

“How about Gwen?”

“That’s a real good question. She’s been out on dates the last three nights and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s out with this guy again.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m not. I don’t know the guy, but she seems rather taken with him.”

“Gwen? Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?”

“It’s as much a surprise to me as it is to you. I’ll ask, but there’s no way of telling what will happen with her. Is tomorrow night, oh, around six or six-thirty all right?”

“That ought to be fine.”

Kyle turned to getting Chelsea’s car off the dolly, and by the time that was done everyone was gone, except for Chelsea, of course. “You sure seem to have made some friends out here,” she commented.

“Yeah, and pretty good ones, too. I didn’t have friends like them back in Wychbold, except for you, of course.”

“Echo seems like a real nice gal. It’s sort of a pity her boobs are so disproportionate, but if that’s what she wants, more power to her. I can imagine she has a tough time buying clothes.”

“That’s why Denise makes a lot of them for her. I’ll admit, when we were talking about the pattern software I mostly had Echo in mind. Having that software available would be a big help to Denise and her.”

“You know, I’m actually looking forward to playing with software like that. Let’s get this over with.”

It only took a little while to get the truck the rest of the way unloaded. There was still plenty of room in the storage shed for the little sports car, although when they got everything sorted out in the apartment it seemed likely that things would get a lot tighter. After that, they went to a rental place to drop off the truck and dolly; they were just in time as the place was closing.

“I suppose we ought to go get something to eat,” he told her as they drove away. “I don’t think either of us feels like cooking, and that’s assuming we could manage it at all with the mess the apartment is in.”

“Yeah, that’s going to take some work.”

“There are a lot of good places to eat in this town, but we might as well go to my favorite Mexican restaurant. The food is excellent, and I really like their usual waitress. She’s a lot of fun.”

“Was she one of your dates?”

“No, she’s married, but she tried to set me up with a cousin of hers once.”

“I’m glad she didn’t,” Chelsea smiled. “I would have been in a lot worse shape if she had been able to.”

“I think I would have been, too.”

It was late enough when they got to the restaurant that most of the evening rush had passed, and Serafina wasn’t exceptionally busy. “I see you’re back with one of your dates,” she laughed. “Is this going to turn into another one of those stories?”

“Not this girl,” he said. “Serafina, this is Chelsea. I’ll tell you right now that she’s just about as loco as some of the other girls I’ve had in here, but this time it’s a good loco. You’ll probably see us in here from time to time.”

“Josie will be disappointed to hear that,” Serafina smiled. “After that last one you had in here, I thought I had a good chance of introducing her to you.”

“I probably wouldn’t mind meeting her sometime, but it’s not going to go any further than that. This looks serious.”

“How serious?”

“Well, Chelsea has been calling me her fiancé, and I’ve been calling her mine,” he laughed. “We haven’t gotten around to making it formal or discussing dates or anything, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it happen sooner or later.”

Serafina looked Chelsea up and down, then said. “Wow, you really must be loco. I don’t know what it is, but Kyle seems to attract the crazy ones.”

“I was crazy to let him go in the first place,” Chelsea said. “But I don’t think you’re going to have any more of the antics in here that I’ve heard about.”

“Life is not going to be as interesting around here,” Serafina laughed. “Now, how about some wine to start off this romantic evening?”

After dinner and more fun banter with Serafina they went back to the apartment. “It’s good to be here,” Chelsea told him once they were inside. “I see this mess and I feel like I ought to start in on it, but I think I’d rather take a shower and try out your bed so we can christen this place together.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” he agreed.

They may have been tired from their day and the unloading, but they weren’t so tired that they couldn’t have a memorable session together. Afterward, they lay in bed cuddling close to each other, enjoying the afterglow. “Kyle, I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Thank you for coming to rescue me. I think we’re going to have a good life together, and I’ll do everything I can to make it that way.”

“I think we’re going to have a good future together too. I’m glad it worked out the way it did.”

“I am, too.”

The next day they worked at the apartment, except for the hour or so that Kyle spent at the office. Several more boxes of things were hauled over to the storage shed, and some of them were his. By the end of the day there was still a lot to do, but they were making progress and were down to the details.

It had already been decided that the spare bedroom was going to turn into Chelsea’s workroom, and to accomplish that Kyle’s computer desk had been hauled out to the living room and replaced with hers. The spare bedroom also included Chelsea’s dress mannequin, a worktable, and her sewing machine, along with a pile of boxes. If Chastity White Swimwear was going to turn into a reality, this would be its first headquarters, so Kyle could expect to see the room getting much more crowded before they were done.

As it got late in the afternoon, Chelsea asked him, “Do you think I ought to dress up a little for this thing at Andrea’s?”

“If you’re asking if you think you ought to be a little more formal than a swimsuit and a pair of shorts, I would say yes. They don’t have a pool or a hot tub, so it might be a little hard to explain.”

Chelsea settled for a tank top and a skirt, and Kyle thought she looked good – but then, he thought she could make just about anything look good.

A number of people were there beyond the few he had expected – this was turning into a real “greet Chelsea” party. It seemed that everyone there had seen the Chastity White website, so she got asked a lot of questions about it before the curiosity died down. After dinner, people tended to drift into small groups. Kyle noticed that Chelsea, Echo, and Denise were having an animated discussion, and not surprisingly it was about swimsuits and making them.

“I’ve never been able to find a one-piece swimsuit that fits,” Echo complained. “I mean, even before I got my boobs worked on. I sure would like to be able to wear something as sexy as the ones you wear. When I try on a one-piece, it’s way too tight in the chest and it’s trying to flatten me, while it’s all baggy at the waist.”

“I’m not quite ready to get started yet,” Chelsea told her. “I’ve got to get done moving in and getting things organized, but when I do get ready, we’ll see what I can come up with.”

Kyle was on the outside of the group and decided to keep his mouth shut. Echo was the perfect example of someone who needed a custom-fit swimsuit, and he suspected that she might be an excellent person to test some of the ideas he and Chelsea had talked about. In fact, Echo in the right swimsuit ought to be very spectacular looking; that might make for an interesting photo shoot, and he didn’t doubt that Corey would enjoy it, too.

As things died down a little, Andrea came to him and said quietly, “I can see why you like that girl and why you missed her. She seems to fit right in with the group, and I think we’re all going to have a lot of fun with her around.”

“I think she’ll fit in, too,” he said. “She really is easy to get along with. Granted, she has her interests, but then everybody does. Some people might consider hers a little odd, but I like them and think that they’re pretty harmless.”

“Yeah, but an interesting harmless,” Andrea laughed. “I think we’re going to have a lot of fun in the future.”

“I hope so too. Hey, I notice that Gwen isn’t here. Did she decide to stay away, or is she out with her boyfriend again?”

“Out with her boyfriend, and I’m not sure I know what to think about that. Somehow it doesn’t seem like Gwen. I don’t know the guy at all, but when I talk to her she sure seems interested in him. When you get right down to it, that’s what I hoped she could find with someone someday. I guess I’m just glad for your sake that it wasn’t you, after all.”

Another day’s work got the apartment pretty well in order, although the finishing touches might take a long time. Chelsea would be around to work on it, since she had a lot of work laid out from the notes they’d taken on the drive to Fort Collins. But, before they got seriously into it, they decided to take a little bit of a break, explore the town and the surrounding area, and take a few more photos for the website, of course. Chelsea loaded a bag with several swimsuits and they spent most of a day just driving around in the Triumph, occasionally stopping for a photo.

Monday finally rolled around and Kyle had to go back to work. Chelsea did, too, although her work was going to be right in the apartment. Over the next few days, sometimes with Kyle’s help, she put together a business plan for both the website and Chastity White Swimwear, and she worked on a development and marketing plan, along with a few other things, some of which Kyle didn’t know about. She also spent some time on her own exploring around the town, especially looking at fabric stores and the like, just to get an idea of where she could get what she needed, and just plain shopping for necessities like groceries.

One evening after dinner she went into the bedroom while Kyle did some research of his own on his computer. She came out of the bedroom wearing a robe and said in a sultry voice, “Kyle, do you remember when I said I had an idea for a swimsuit that would be good for the bedroom?”

“Yeah, and I wondered what you were talking about.”

“How about this?” she said, opening the robe, to reveal a dark blue ‘slingshot’ type swimsuit that ran from the crotch to both shoulders with nothing at the sides. There were cutouts that her breasts protruded through, and the neckline … well, it was somewhere around on her backside. It looked more than a little blatant, but it also looked like fun.

“Yeah, that looks pretty good,” he remarked, knowing that he wasn’t going to get any research done tonight. It could wait, though. “In fact,” he continued as he got up from his chair and pulled off his T-shirt, “it looks damn good to me.”

“It’s not exactly a Chastity White swimsuit,” she smirked. “Call this a Chelsea Walsh type swimsuit.”

“Would you actually dare to go swimming in that?”

“Well, in the right location,” she giggled. “Someplace really isolated, like a swimming hole no one knew about. Or a hot tub in a rather private back yard.”

“Maybe we’ll have to try it that way sometime,” he laughed, as he followed her to the bedroom. “But we’ll try it your way, first.”

A couple of evenings later the weather promised to be clear, and the light in the evening gave the promise of a special golden hour. “Let’s go get a Chastity photo or two,” he suggested, and almost before the words could get out of his mouth she was pulling on a red swimsuit with black trim. It was rather conservative, except for the fact that the front and back of the suit were laced together, and the separation between the parts was rather wide. Once again, it was a swimsuit that promised a lot without revealing much of anything.

She had a couple of other things to do while Kyle gathered up camera gear, and as he did that he noticed the “bedroom swimsuit” she’d worn and they’d enjoyed earlier in the week. An interesting idea came to him, and he quickly scooped it up and stuffed it in a camera bag.

They got several interesting shots of the red swimsuit, at least some of which would be good enough for the website. They got back in the pickup – there was no point in messing up the Triumph on the gravel road – and he drove to the ridge where he’d wanted to get a picture of Gwen not all that long before. “This looks like a good place,” she commented as he stopped the pickup.

“I think it is,” he agreed. “But let’s not use that swimsuit. Use this one.” He reached into the camera bag and pulled out the extremely revealing garment.

“Kyle,” she said dubiously, “That’s not what I’d call an appropriate swimsuit for a Chastity White shot.”

“How much do you want to bet that I can’t make it one?”

“All right,” she said, “I know better than to bet with you.”

It took her a few minutes to make the change, since the red swimsuit laced up and took a while to get off. “I don’t know how you’re going to make this a Chastity White shot,” she said. “I’m a little embarrassed to be out in the open in this outfit. I’d almost rather be in the nude.”

“Easy,” he said. “I’ll take it from the back side, with you looking over your shoulder at me. When we put it on the website, it’ll be our little secret about what it looks like from the front. That’ll make it more exciting for us.”

“Well, all right,” she grinned. “I’ll just have to look like I have a secret, too.”

It only took a couple minutes to get the photos he needed. “Since we’re here,” he suggested, “and you’re so close to being nude anyway, why don’t you actually get nude while I move to a different position for a Kyle Murray impressionistic shot? It’ll be from a different angle, and won’t look like a Chastity White shot anyway.”

“We might as well, as long as we’re here.”

It took a little longer to get the shot he wanted, but it was a lonely road and there was little danger of anyone coming by. It was the shot he would have liked to have gotten with Gwen that time, except that he had known at the time there was no possibility of her actually posing in the nude for him. He hadn’t even contemplated it then.

Finally he was done. “All right, you might as well get covered up,” he called to her, and she came down the road from the fence post where she had been looking at the ridge, and started to pull the red swimsuit back on again. It was the only thing she had to cover up with.

“You know, Kyle,” she said after she was more or less dressed and once again in the pickup, “that was actually kind of thrilling. I suppose I am a bit of exhibitionist at heart. The swimsuit shots are fun and I want to do them lots more, but it would be nice to be able to do some nude shots like that, especially when there’s some risk to make it more fun.”

“We can do it,” he smiled. “We can do it all you want. The important thing is that I’ve got you back with me and I don’t intend to ever let you go again.”

“Who said I ever wanted to go away from you? I think I have all I ever wanted.”

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.