Author's note: A few references in this story will make more sense if you've read "Kristen gives Dave a birthday show!"; I hadn't intended to follow up the earlier story featuring Kristen and Dave in Rockport, so the titles don't make it clear that they are related.
As always, thanks for reading...
*****
Kristen and Dave weren't surprised to find that they'd slept too late to have breakfast. The small diner which had become their go-to option for that meal during their week in Rockport would have to wait; they hadn't returned to their hotel room after their late-night tryst on the beach until almost 3 AM, so a leisurely morning suited them both. It was closer to lunchtime than breakfast by the time they walked into town to find a meal, settling in at a casual spot overlooking the harbor. Along the way, they passed several spots where Kristen had left behind some part or another of her outfit during their walk back to their hotel the previous night. Kristen couldn't help blushing as they discussed the escapade, but she was glad to see her slow-motion striptease had made a lasting impression on her husband.
As they returned to the hotel after lunch they stopped at the shop with the scarves Kristen had admired the night before and she bought a few. After she made her purchase Dave reminded her about their discussion the night before about her shopping there while wearing only a blouse. Kristen blushed again but told him, "You never know, our vacation isn't over yet!" She hadn't thought today about what had sounded almost like a challenge from Dave the night before; now that he'd brought it up again she had a hard time thinking of anything else.
The art gallery whose proprietor they'd met when his dog's leash got tangled with Kristen's legs was just a few doors down; Kristen was happy to have a distraction as they paused to look at the paintings on display. Most of the paintings were landscapes which looked like local scenes, a few of which looked familiar from their hikes around town. A few displayed high in the window were of a very different looking area, still with the ocean as a backdrop but with a desolate and somewhat eerie foreground, full of angular slabs of rock with small pools of water scattered around. These paintings were almost bleak looking, but their stark scenery was warmed by the one sign of life present in each - a nude woman sprawled over the rocks! In some paintings, she seemed to be relaxing or sunning herself, in others looking down at one of the pools of water and in a few walking around the rocky landscape. They each agreed that the paintings were intriguing, but the prices visible in the window were high enough to make them limit themselves to browsing the display window, not bothering to enter the gallery.
Reaching their room around 1 PM, Dave reminded Kristen that he had booked a trip on a whale watching trip for that afternoon. He didn't want to go on a trip and return without seeing any whales, so he had signed up with a tour operator who guaranteed sightings, which happened to be longer than most tours, almost 5 hours from start to finish. Being prone to seasickness, Kristen had already let him know she had no interest in joining him; she kissed him goodbye and said, "I'll just have to amuse myself somehow or other this afternoon. I'm sure I'll think of something."
"That's what worries me!" kidded Dave.
"See you around dinner time," replied Kristen.
After Dave left, Kristen thought about her options. It was a little cloudy for lounging around on the beach; not too cold to do so, but cool enough to render it a second or third choice.
Simply having a nap had some appeal after her late-night yesterday, but she didn't want to waste precious vacation time holed up in the hotel room.
More window shopping seemed like a good option, though she was pretty sure she'd already seen everything she was interested in already. Then two ideas came to her in close succession. She hadn't gone into the galley to see what was available inside; she remembered the proprietor offering her a good discount with his card the night before, so maybe some items for sale might be within reach after all.
The other idea taking root in her mind was taking Dave up on his dare to go shopping half dressed! Since the gallery owner already had a pretty extensive look at Kristen the night before, she thought the art gallery would be as good a place as any to complete this challenge!
"What to wear?" thought Kristen, "Or should I be thinking in terms of what NOT to wear?"
She quickly decided that to stay in the spirit of the dare she ought to be dressed as closely as possible to the way she'd been when the topic of shopping while barely covered had come up. She couldn't remember if the idea emerged before or after she'd disposed of her panties, so she compromised by wearing panties, but selecting the sheerest pair she'd brought with her on the trip. She remembered that she'd already left her skirt and bra behind by the time skimpily dressed shopping had entered their conversation, so she decided that the only other clothing available to her for this outing would be a button-down dress shirt of Dave's. She had a similar blouse in her suitcase but thought the extra length his shirt provided might give her a better chance to keep those panties hidden. It took far more time for her to select the outfit than it took to actually get dressed in the two garments and a pair of flip-flops.
Kristen studied her new look in their hotel room's full-length mirror before fully committing to this adventure. The shirt covered her well enough, but she was more than slightly nervous about a stray gust of wind lifting the shirttails and putting her panties on display! They were definitely not meant to be seen in direct sunlight, which would probably make them more or less disappear. She convinced herself that she could keep the shirt under control for the short walk to the gallery and back; she closed her room's door behind her, carrying only her room key, wallet and phone in a small tote bag.
Though the walk along the sidewalk had been the thing she was most worried about, once she was on her way she relaxed, noticing several women showing considerably more skin on their way to or from the beach than she was doing. The weather cooperated as well, allowing the shirttails to stay put. "This is turning out to be a pretty mild adventure," she said to herself, a little disappointed. She was at the gallery in less than 5 minutes and spent a few minutes studying the paintings in the window, particularly the landscapes with the nude woman.
The gallery owner greeted her enthusiastically as she entered his shop, "Hello! Welcome to the Martner Gallery, I'm Arthur. I'm glad to see you came to have a look at my paintings."
"Hi, I'm Kristen, pleased to meet you, though I suppose technically we met last night. Are these all your work?" asked Kristen, "I like them very much; they look unearthly but beautiful, particularly the series of the nude on the rocky landscape."
"Ah, yes, those are dear to me. The model was my wife, as well as my muse. Since I lost her I haven't been able to do more paintings in that style. I do still visit the setting, Halibut Point, and remember our times there."
"I'm sorry to hear that, they're wonderful, " Kristen said, "Are you still painting other subjects?
"Yes, the other landscapes you see are mostly recent. I still enjoy painting, just not the way I did before. But enough about an old man's memories - do you see anything you'd like on display? I can give you a 30% discount."
"That's very generous," Kristen replied, "but still more than my budget allows when the original price on the nudes is $1,000. I'm sure they are priced fairly, I just can't afford one. Maybe if I come back another year..."
"Would it make a difference if the discount was 50%?"
"That's very kind, but I'm sorry, I just can't spend that much right now."
"I'd particularly like you to have one of that series," he said, pausing a moment before continuing, "The thing is, you remind me very much of my wife when she was your age. If you can't afford to buy one, would you consider posing for me in the same setting in exchange for one painting of your choice?"
Kristen felt herself blushing as she answered, "I'm flattered you would offer me such a deal but I don't think that would be possible. Besides the fact that we're only in town another day and a half, I can't imagine myself posing nude out in the open like that." In fact, she was now having a hard time thinking of anything else, mostly with nervousness but with a more than a little bit of curiosity.
"I would actually only need a few hours of your time since I paint in my studio from photos taken at the setting. As for the nudity, when I visit the setting of my Olivia's nudes these days, I rarely encounter anyone else, and when I do they can be seen coming a long way off. If you can't bear to pose nude, I'd still offer a 70% discount for a photo session. If you CAN do it, I'll send you one of the new paintings from our work together, in addition to giving you your choice today of the original series."
Kristen had forgotten all about her original reason for visiting the gallery; she was amazed at how her attempt to complete Dave's dare to go shopping wearing not a whole lot had turned into a wholly unexpected offer to be a model wearing even less. "Arthur, I'm tempted, but I need some time to think about it. In the meantime, would you mind taking a couple pictures of me here in the gallery with my phone for me to send to my husband? He didn't think I'd actually dare go shopping dressed the way I was last night when we met you, so I need some proof."
"I'd be happy to," Arthur replied, "Though I seem to remember you having many fewer buttons fastened when we met."
"You have an excellent memory, thanks for the reminder. I'm sure my husband would say I didn't complete the dare if I didn't exactly match last night's look, he's a stickler for accuracy," Kristen replied as she began to unbutton her shirt. As she reached the last two buttons her hands began shaking; she looked towards the door to be sure Arthur would be the only one to see her with the shirt completely open in front. Looking straight at the phone's lens, she opened the shirttails far enough to make clear just what she was and was not wearing other than the shirt.
"There, I think we have some good shots for your husband. He's a lucky fellow," said Arthur after taking a dozen or so shots with her phone, including the last few with her back to the camera and the shirt dropped down well off her shoulders.
She took back her phone, reviewed the photos and picked out a couple to send in a text to Dave with a simple message: "Shopping with minimal covering accomplished. I hope you're having fun on your boat..."
Seconds later came his reply: "Damn. Looks like more fun where you are. As usual. xoxoox"
Despite wondering if telling him was a good idea, she texted back: "Man we met last night with dog owns gallery, is a painter. Has asked me to pose for him...what do you think"
