Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 138775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, I pulled him next to me. “It may look like a bun, but it’s secretly a ponytail. Give me your hand.”
He grinned, watching us in the mirror. “You can have any body part you want.”
I guided his fingers up to my hair. “Feel that pin there? That’s the first one.” I slid his fingers over to the next. “And those are the other two. Any time that you’d like tonight, just pull those three pins and you’ll get that ponytail you like.”
“Pull the pin? You’re not a hand grenade.” He chuckled, but his eyes were glazed over, and I knew he liked the surprise I’d prepared for him. “Are you ready for our date?”
“Where are we going?”
“A great little place I know. Lots of ambiance. You’ll love it.”
I laughed. “The basement?” I’d suspected as much, but Jayden could’ve pulled off a surprise. Like a four-person hammock in the backyard or something. After all, he was half of the team that had created a bedroom and a billiards hall in one day.
He kissed the side of my neck. “Are you ready?”
“Almost.” I took a deep breath. “You guys suggested that I wear this dress.”
“Kyle and Lucas did, and I’m going to thank them the second I see them.”
“And you suggested that I wear my hair in a ponytail—or a disguised one.”
He grinned. “I love that. So where are you going with this?”
“Can I make a request? About what you three are wearing?”
“Sure.” He looked surprised. “But my tuxedo’s in the shop.”
“Not that.” I grinned. “I have something else in mind.” Then I whispered in his ear.
After Jayden left, I waited a minute before following him. And during that time, I rapidly checked everything I could, my hair, my makeup, even if I had enough perfume. Then I opened the door to the basement and started down the stairs, suddenly feeling a bit shy. I stopped when I heard Jayden’s voice.
“She requested that we take our shirts off.”
There were a few seconds of silence during which my face turned bright red.
“Did she now?” Kyle sounded amused as hell. “Are you sure she didn’t just mean me?”
Okay, that was funny. But no, I wanted all three of them to be shirtless. They’d chosen what I’d wear—why couldn’t I do the same?
There was more silence, and I pictured them pulling off their shirts, which was a very nice visual. But then Lucas spoke up.
“That’s too weird for me.”
Kyle snorted. “If you think that’s weird, then you’re probably not going to want to stick around for the rest of the night.”
“No, I want to,” Lucas insisted. There was a hint of embarrassment in his voice, but far less anger than usual when he spoke to Kyle.
Then Jayden intervened. “You’re thinking about this all wrong, dude. Stop thinking that it’s weird for guys to hang around without their shirts off, because first off, that makes it sound like you’ve never been to a beach.”
“Or played a sport,” Kyle added.
“Here’s how you should be viewing this,” Jayden continued. “There’s a drop-dead gorgeous woman up there, and she wants to see you with your shirt off. Hear that? She wants to see you that way.”
That seemed like my cue, so I continued down the stairs, aware that they could hear me coming. When I stepped onto the concrete floor, I took a deep breath and looked around. All three of them were standing in front of the pool table. Kyle and Jayden were bare-chested. Lucas was not.
It took a superhuman effort to ignore the way Kyle looked wearing only his tight, black jeans. Or how Jayden looked in his tan pants. But I kept my eyes trained on Lucas. He had on a dark green sweater that brought out the green in his eyes. It was over a white button-down shirt and dark gray pants.
“Looking beautiful, Victoria,” Kyle said, but I ignored him and went straight to Lucas. He smiled as I neared. I sent Jayden a look as I passed him, and he got the message. I heard him whisper to Kyle and then they retreated, leaving just Lucas in front of me.
“You look very nice,” I said softly, then I stood on my toes to whisper in his ear. “But I’d really like to see you with your shirt off.”
His lips brushed against my cheek as I pulled back. I hopped up on the rim of the pool table and crossed my legs, letting the slit of the dress fall open in a way I knew Kyle had liked last time I wore this. Hopefully Lucas would, too. “Please?”
He held my gaze for a long moment, and I could see so many things. Desire. Doubt. Confusion. Concern. But the desire seemed strongest, and a moment later, he nodded. He pulled the sweater up and off, sending it somewhere into the darker sections of the basement. But before he could continue, I placed my hands on his button-down shirt. “Let me.”