“We’re already sleeping together,” I insisted. “And I’ve stayed the night with him, so he knows what I look like first thing in the morning.”

“Doesn’t get much worse than that,” Harlow said under her breath, then, “Ouch! Damn it!” when I reached back to pinch the hell out of her arm.

“What’s up with you?” Pepper asked as she studied me with a narrow-eyed stare. “It’s not like this is the first time we’ve made you over, and you’ve never been this bitchy about it. You’re going on a date tonight with one of New York’s most eligible bachelors. You should be excited! Women would literally kick your ass to be in your shoes.”

I inhaled deeply through my nose before blowing out a deep breath. “I’m nervous,” I begrudgingly admitted. “I feel like I’m out of my element here. This whole thing has gotten so much bigger than I planned for, you know? I mean, first we hated each other. We went from enemies to friends, then to friends with benefits to dating so damn fast my head’s spinning. I feel like I’m not prepared.”

“Ah.” Harlow grinned, leaning down to pull me into a hug. “Young love, it’s a beautiful thing.”

I shoved her face away. “Shut it, whore.”

“Just go with the flow, Navie,” Pepper advised. “Don’t overthink things. Just take each moment as it comes.”

Pulling in another fortifying breath, I focused on my reflection in the mirror and willed myself to believe everything my girlfriends were saying.

I could totally do this.

I couldn’t do this.

What the hell was I thinking, trying to set up a romantic date for Navie? I wouldn’t have recognized romance if it walked up to me and kicked me in the nuts. The longer I thought about everything I’d set up for our evening, the more I felt like a douche. I wasn’t really a romance type of guy. Navie wasn’t the typical hearts and flowers kind of woman. And the evening I’d arranged for us was a total cliché, right out of a poorly scripted chick-flick.

“You’re taking me on a horse drawn carriage ride?”

I could see the humor swimming in her smiling eyes as I looked down at her. Then it hit me.

Son of a bitch! Why the hell did I think a fucking horse and buggy would impress her? She lived on a ranch in Texas, for Christ’s sake. I’m sure she rode horses all the damn time.

“Uh…” I stumbled, feeling like an asshole.

“It’s sweet!” She giggled, but I got the distinct impression she was just humoring me as we climbed into the carriage. “This is fun. I’ve never done this before.”

“I feel like an idiot,” I groaned, dropping my head against the back of the red-velvet cushioned seat.

“What? Why?”

“Because this is stupid.” I waved my arm around, indicating the carriage ride. “It’s like I stole every dumbass date from every cheesy movie ever created.”

Navie’s head fell back in laughter as her hand rested against my thigh, the melodic sound combined with the heat of her touch warming me from the inside out. I was quickly becoming addicted to her laughter. Playfulness strung her words together as she asked, “Well, what else did you plan for tonight?”

I glared at her from the corner of my eyes. “You can’t laugh.”

She pretended to lock her lips together and throw away the key. “No laughing, I promise.”

I hesitated before finally admitting, “A picnic in Central Park then a trip to the top of the Empire State Building. That’s it!” I harrumphed when she burst into a fit of laughter. “The date’s officially canceled. Get the hell out of my carriage.”

“No, no, no.” She giggled hysterically. “I’m not… I’m not making fun of you.”

“Could have fooled me,” I muttered, arms crossed over my chest as I glared out at the pedestrians we passed.

“Aw, I’m sorry,” she cooed, reaching up to place her soft palm against my cheek so she could turn my face to hers. “I’m sorry, Rowan. I’m really not making fun of you, I swear. I can see how much effort went into putting this together, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. It’s just…”

“What?”

“This doesn’t really feel like… us, does it?” It was as if she’d just read my mind. I felt awkward and out of place. “Can I tell you something?” she asked with a conspiratorial gleam in her eye. “I was really nervous before you picked me up.”

“What? Why?”

She shrugged and gave me a self-deprecating grin. It was then that I realized that no matter what we were doing or where we were, as long as I was with Navie, it was impossible for me not to enjoy myself.

“Things feel… different with us. I always have so much fun when we’re together and you’re not being a giant ass-face—”

“Wow,” I deadpanned. “You really know how to make a man feel good about himself.”

“You love it.” She winked, and Lord help me, but I was pretty sure I did. “Anyway,” she continued, “I guess what I mean is that this date kind of feels like the next level, you know? At least to me. I got worried that I’d somehow screw this up.”

I was in awe of her honesty. Just when I thought I knew every aspect there was to this girl, she hit me with something else that had me even more spellbound. I had never experienced such a strong connection with another person before, where we seemed to connect on levels I hadn’t even known existed.

“I feel the same way,” I told her in a low voice, reaching for her and pulling her flush against my side. After her confession, there was no way I was getting through the rest of our date without touching her in some way. Feeling her became necessary.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Griffin gave me shit when I told him what I’d planned for tonight. Believe me, I’m never going to hear the end of this. I guess I was worried about screwing it up, too, so I might have overcompensated.”

“Just a little bit,” she teased. Unable to help myself, I leaned in for a taste of plump, berry-colored lips. Once I ended the kiss, she let out a dreamy sigh. “How about this? We’ll do everything you planned for this date, but we do it as ourselves. That means heckling and jokes, you occasionally saying something asshole-ish, and me relentlessly teasing you for your sudden and unexpected romantic streak.”

“Deal,” I grinned then added, “and asshole-ish isn’t a real word. Maybe if you read something other than your porn books, you could broaden your vocabulary.”

“There he is!” She laughed, giving me another kiss.

The evening turned out to be more perfect than I could have imagined. We were us, no false pretenses, no need to put on a show and be someone other than who we were. I couldn’t remember ever having been on a better date. Navie was the perfect companion… even when she kind of lost her shit upon discovering that the guys from the cable show Impractical Jokers were filming in the park, insisting we do anything possible to get on TV.

By the end of the night, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I could seriously fall for her. And the knowledge of that didn’t scare me the way it normally would have. I found that I was actually excited about the prospect of a future with Navie.

It was unexpected.

She was unexpected.

My life was brighter just by having her in it.

“Oh, fuck,” Rowan groaned, his head thrown back against the pillow. “Yeah, just like that. Ride my cock, baby.”

Lifting up on my knees, I slammed back down onto him harder, each thrust pushing the air from my lungs as I drew closer and closer to that blissful edge. I clenched around him as I moved, loving each grunt that rumbled from his chest, knowing it was all because of me.