“And your apartment is only eight yards away.”
“Can we just enjoy our time together before I leave? I don’t want to be arguing when we could be . . .” she said wistfully.
“Could be what?”
“Enjoying my last couple of days here.”
“We better make the most of it then. Last night was fun, Ashy. Really fucking fun,” I said softly as I moved toward her.
She watched every step and pulled her lip between her teeth. “You are making it very hard for me to stick to my no-men rule. You, your fingers, and your mouth are dangerous. I need to get back to my apartment so I can gain some strength,” she said, not hiding the fact that she allowed her eyes to freely roam over my face and land on my lips.
“Me, my fingers, and my mouth crave that sweet body of yours, so there’s no way I could stop, even if I wanted to.”
“Damn it. Stop with your swoony talk. We have a guest. Do you really want Duke to witness me visiting Josh Land?” she quipped with a raised brow, and my chest swelled with pride at hearing her use the term Josh Land.
“Fuck no.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Silence fell between us, but our gaze remained locked. I had been replaying the previous night continually in my head. I refused to allow one moment to destroy what was pretty fucking awesome. “Are we good?” I asked hopefully.
“We are good.”
Her eyes darted away from mine, and it immediately grabbed my attention. When she avoided my gaze, it was usually because something was bothering her.
“Lachlan messaged me earlier,” she whispered.
My jaw ticked at the mere mention of his name, yet I was glad she didn’t feel the need to hide it from me any longer. Her eyes glazed over, as the demons she was fighting started showing themselves. She met my stare, and I got lost in the emotion circling her stunning green eyes. She was fighting something. He had said something that was bothering her.
“What did he say? What can I do?” I asked softly.
She smiled sweetly, then grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the kitchen and back into the living room. “Eat pizza, sit beside me on the couch, and watch the game.” Her avoidance was on full display.
“Is the lovers tiff over?” Duke asked when we both sat on the couch. “I thought I’d have to choose between you two. And I’m sorry, Josh, but Ashlyn would win. She has something you don’t.”
“You are an asshole,” I shot and glared at him.
“What? A pussy is a huge bargaining tool,” he stated and shot Ashlyn a wink for good measure.
“Are you seriously talking about my pussy?” Ashlyn laughed from beside me.
Duke hooted. “I fucking love the fact that you say pussy.”
“What else would I call it? Vagina doesn’t sound as sexy as pussy, and I refuse to call it the c-bomb, because that just makes it sound dirty, and believe me there is nothing dirty about downstairs.”
She shot me a quick look that screamed of my knowing exactly how perfect her pussy was, and it made me feel like I was a fucking king, ready to work my ass off to make her my queen.
Nothing would stop me from making her mine.
Be ready in an hour. Wear the dress and shoes. I’m taking you out.
The last night of staying with Josh had arrived and, what I thought would be a quiet night in, now seemed like it was turning into a night of the unknown. I had the urge to text him back and beg for him to tell me what we were doing, but I knew it would be pointless, and I would just waste getting ready time, so I tapped in a simple response.
Okay. You have me intrigued.
Immediately I received a response.
Good. See you soon, Ashy.
My stomach flip flopped at the thought of the nights activities as I rushed down the hall toward the guest room. Thankfully, I had already showered, so I had some extra time to pretty myself up. As I focused on my hair, working on the perfect loose curls, I heard the front door open and close. My hand froze. Josh was home. I waited to hear him come down the hall. I expected him to appear in the bathroom behind me and meet my gaze in the mirror, but he never came.
“Thirty minutes, Ashy,” he called from the other end of the hall, near his bedroom.
I left my hair down in loose curls, and decided on smoky eyes, soft lips, and a spritz of my favorite perfume. After I slipped into the red dress that Josh had picked out and stepped into my heels, I was ready for the unknown. Moving up to the mirror, I gave myself the once over and nodded in approval.
“You ready?” Josh’s voice echoed down the hall.
I took a deep breath, grabbed my clutch from the bed, and switched off the light.
Josh pulled his attention away from the television and flashed to me as I stepped into the living room. I sucked in a breath as he stood from the couch, while his eyes greedily ran the length of my body, lingering a moment too long on my hips, and then again on my breasts that were displayed nicely, thanks to the tightness of the dress.
“Christ, Ashy,” he muttered when his heated gaze finally landed back on mine.
“Nice choice of dress,” I said in a breathy tone and did a twirl for good measure. It helped to break the extreme stare we were embedded in.
When I turned back to face him, I allowed myself to take him in. His hair was still wet and, even though he had showered, he hadn’t shaved. Seriously, did he know that I had an unhealthy obsession with rough, stubble-faced Josh? He was dressed in a black button-down shirt that was opened at the neck, a black belt, and charcoal slacks that hugged his hips and showed off his muscular thighs. I felt the familiar tightness in my stomach, and I knew my body had officially switched from intrigue to need.
“You ready?” he asked in a voice ravaged with seduction.
“What exactly am I getting ready for?” I replied, raising a brow in question.
“The unknown, Ashy.”
So much promise and intent rested in his words. The unknown was dangerous, yet exciting. It was life altering, and the epitome of confusion. The craziest thing, though, was that it made me, the girl who got lost in fairytales every night, believe that maybe one day my heart would succumb to the silly scenarios that swirled around in my head. Scenarios that had most recently involved Josh, the man who lived a life of casual, non-committal sex, and who had always said that monogamy was never for him.
Why was I even thinking of this? I shook the absurd thoughts out of my head and pushed my shoulders back, lifted my head high, and headed to the door with an extra bit of swing in my step.
“What just crossed your mind?” Josh asked as we stepped out of the apartment and moved to the elevator. He pressed the button for the ground floor and moved back beside me.
“Huh?”
His eyes narrowed. “Just then, before you headed for the door, a look flashed over your face.”
Fuck, he could read me too well. Josh could never be faulted for not paying attention. I glanced at him and noticed his brow pulled tight, as if he was trying to penetrate my mind and find out exactly what was swimming around in there. I had to think quickly on my feet, because I certainly couldn’t bust into to a conversation about my one-time dream of having a relationship with him.
“Just wondering what we were doing tonight, you have me intrigued,” I replied, with a smile.
He shook his head dismissively, and I swear I saw him roll his eyes. Under his breath he muttered, “Fucking lies.”
I chose not to bite because . . . well, technically it was a little fib I had chosen to feed him. I should have realized he would see straight through me, but some things just didn’t need to be said out loud. We remained in a comfortable silence as we made our way to the ground floor. Josh placed his hand on the small of my back as we walked through the foyer of our apartment building, then he led me to an awaiting cab.