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.

The cab ride was a quiet affair of sneaky glances and soft smiles. As we weaved through busy streets, I paid attention to every little detail and tried to figure out exactly where we were going. The longer we were in the cab, the more antsy I got. I felt like a little kid waiting to open up her Christmas presents. I just wanted to know.

“I have something to ask you,” Josh said beside me.

I turned to look at him, and immediately found myself lost in the sharpness of his features and his warm brown eyes.

“What do you want to ask me?”

His voice dropped dangerously low. “Do you trust me?”

I didn’t hesitate in my response. “Yes.”

His eyes softened and, without a moment of hesitation, he lifted his hips off the seat and his hand disappeared. I watched with piqued interest as he pulled out a sash of red satin from his back pocket and rested it on his lap. The air shifted around us, and my body switched on as his eyes blatantly ran over my body. I felt drunk on lust.

“I could only choose a red blindfold to match a red dress,” he muttered, shifting across the seat until he was flush against me.

Blindfold?

“I didn’t know you were into that kind of thing,” I said in a teasing tone, desperate to conceal the high pitch threatening to take over my voice at the thought of him blindfolding me. “I am learning more about you every day.”

His smirk was almost territorial. “One day I’ll show you just what I’m into.”

And there goes my body: flushed, wet, and ready to be shown exactly what he could do. I needed a damn off switch when it came to him. I swallowed the need that I knew would show through in my voice and said, “Friends don’t show friends. Friends tell friends.”

“Our kind of friendship allows it.” He leaned in and the smile he shot caused a shiver to run frantically down my spine.

Sight no longer existed, as Josh gently placed the red satin over my eyes. My senses exploded. My hearing went from soft to loud, and suddenly every breath we took thundered to life. I inhaled sharply as my sense of touch was ignited by his fingertips sweeping down my cheek and over my lips. It was too much to comprehend at once.

“Shit,” I whispered as my hand shot out, desperate to grab onto his hand, arm, anything to use as an anchor. “Josh, this is too much.”

“Just relax, Ashy.”

His fingers entangled with mine, and we remained linked for the rest of the trip. I continued getting swept away by the sounds around me. I heard every hoot and holler from the street as the cab weaved through the city to a destination unknown. Sensing that the cab began to slow, I focused harder, then we came to a stop. Josh released my hand, and I was hit by cool air as a door opened and Josh exited. I sat in silence and warmth until the door beside me opened. Josh’s fingers tangled with mine again, and I was slowly led out of the cab, still in complete darkness.