Anxious, she gave herself one last critical look. Her eyes took in the blue spaghetti strap dress she’d chosen over every other dress in the overstuffed closet. Royal blue and slinky, it was her secret weapon when she wanted to amaze. Cut mid-thigh, it showed off her legs, and in the front dipped enough to show off a hint of cleavage. She smiled and sprayed on her favorite scent, the one that always got a ton of compliments, just when the doorbell rang.

When she opened the door, her tongue almost fell out of her mouth, rolled down the wood floor, and begged. The man rocked the hell out of any suit.

She was thrilled. He took in her body, and his eyes flared with lust. He tightened his jaw and balled his hands into fists. His reaction was better than anything he might have said. Her glance strayed to the small box in his hand.

Before she got a chance to speak, he stepped inside, pulled her into his arms, lowered his head, and locked his lips on hers. The kiss was sudden, incredibly arousing, and so scorching, she was sure her heels had melted. Heart thumping wildly, she looked into his face.

He licked his lips. “It’s been too long since I tasted you.”

“Give me a second to grab my bag.” She turned toward the sofa and took a step.

“Wait—I brought you something from my trip.”

Turning back, she frowned. He’d gotten her a gift? She wasn’t sure she was comfortable with him buying her things. She opened her mouth to refuse it, but he lifted a hand and cut her off.

“Before you say anything, just take a look. It’s just a little thing I saw and thought of you.” He handed her the small box.

She looked at him for a moment before giving in to curiosity and opening it. Inside was a silver bracelet with a purple jade Buddha charm.

“I know you like purple, and these little guys are supposed to be good luck. I figured everyone can always use some of that. Anyway, it’s nothing big.” He shrugged, but he held himself stiffly, almost as if he were afraid she might reject his gift.

She curled a hand around his neck and pulled him toward her for a kiss. “Thank you.” She pulled the bracelet from the box and handed it to him. Holding her wrist out, she waited for him to fasten it on her. After he had, she smiled, kissed him again, and grabbed her bag.

“We need to get out of here before I change my mind, strip you down, and have you for dinner instead.” His voice was hoarse, and his eyes were filled with raw lust. He looked at her hard, sending shivers up her spine.

Their eyes met, heat rose, and her body responded as if he owned it. He never let his eyes stray from her during their conversation over dinner. The waitresses at the restaurant stared at him, she noted, but he paid her no mind. Warmth spread through her while their evening progressed.

“Do you see yourself having children in the future?” He watched her lips when she sipped her wine. He never let go of her hand, his hand so large against hers.

“Yes, I do. I mean I’d love to, but for that to happen I need to be in a committed relationship, where we’re both on the same page. If I’m going to have a couple of kids with someone, he needs to be in it for the long-term. Be able to accept me like I am.”

He gave her a guarded look. She frowned before she could stop it. What was going through his mind? This was not the subject she thought he’d bring up.

“What about you?” she asked.

“I’d like children, sooner rather than later. I’m tired of women who think kids will ruin their figures so they don’t want any.” His response sounded adamant.

“What if your partner has trouble conceiving?”

That she knew of, she had no problems, but it was too common that women her age had trouble conceiving. She tried to read him for lies. Some men didn’t like kids not related to them by blood.

“That’s not an issue. If we can’t have children on our own, there’s always adoption. There’s a bunch of kids out there who need good parents. If we can’t, we can’t. I’m a firm believer that a parent is not the one who creates, but the one who raises the child.”

He had gotten her with just those few words. If she weren’t careful, she’d end up proposing to him. After a quiet moment, she realized she’d been lost in thought.

His voice deepened, becoming serious. “This isn’t a game for me.”

“Okay.” Clearly, she had missed something.

“I’m not looking to be just your friend with benefits. I want you and me, together, committed.”

“You mean you want us to see each other exclusively?” Had he read her mind? Was she projecting to him what she was looking for?

“If that’s how you want to phrase it. I don’t want anyone else, period.” His piercing eyes, the compressed line of his lips said this was no joke. He was serious.

The liquid heat that had been running through her exploded in her veins and roared to a raging inferno.

“I don’t want any lies between us. I want you to know, some days ago I left my webcam recording. It was a mistake, but when I came in, I saw a video—of you.”

“What?” Her voice came out a startled shriek, but she didn’t care.

“I know this sounds bad, but I didn’t do it on purpose. You were struggling to remove your nylons.”

He tried to stay serious, but mirth was in his eyes. He’d seen her fight off a pair of clingy pantyhose and thought it was funny.

Anger and embarrassment surged at his revelation. He had recorded her, and she’d had no clue.

“That’s more than the amount of creepy I can handle.” She placed her napkin down. Just when she made a grab for her clutch on the table, he sneaked his arm out and held her by the wrist. The move left her half standing.

“Don’t go. I’m telling you the truth; I didn’t do it on purpose, and I erased it after I realized I’d done it.”

“Sure you did, but not before you got to watch me. That’s just weird and freaky. Not to mention I jumped around like a lunatic trying to take the damn things off. It was a huge pain in the neck, and my ass was flashing all over the place.”

He gave her a wicked smile. “But you’ve got such a beautiful ass.”

“This is not funny. I don’t know what to think. You recorded me without my knowledge; that’s invasion of privacy.”

His thumb rubbed circles over her pulse. Still wrapped around her wrist, his hand did not let go.

Without consent, her heartbeat jumped at his touch. Even angry, she still wanted the damn man.

“I didn’t do it on purpose. I promise it will not happen again.” His eyes darkened with arousal. “Unless you want it to.”

Heat crawled across her face from the mounting embarrassment. What did he see? Oh, Lord. Had she been wearing her granny panties that day?

“What, um, what was I wearing?” She hoped whatever underwear she’d had on didn’t have any stains or tears. She felt like an idiot asking, but she needed to know.

He smiled. “A sexy pair of bikini panties. No one has ever made purple look as good as you did.”

She wanted to stay upset, but the way he was smiling, as though she were the sexiest thing he’d ever seen, made it hard—not to mention her pulse was throbbing in her throat. She gulped in an attempt at shoving away the dryness residing there.

While she debated over what to do, the waiter arrived with their dinner. Her internal battle ended when she admitted defeat to his soft smile. She didn’t want the night to end just yet.

He didn’t stop touching her all through dinner. He grabbed her much smaller hand, lifted it up to his lips, and placed soft kisses into her open palm. Her nipples ached. The soft material of her dress grazed against her skin and incited her hunger for him.

His fingers’ soft touches fanned electric currents throughout her body. A large ball of need settled in her womb.

She taunted him and licked her chocolate cake spoon slowly. Low, throaty whimpers escaped, and she closed her eyes and savored the burst of flavor. It wasn’t hard to do. She was already turned on by his nearness; her body ached fiercely. When she opened her lids, his gaze had locked on her tongue. She continued to lick the spoon. By the end of the night, she was ready to take him to the back alley, have her way with him, and douse the fire in her cunt.

“Let’s go,” he barked.