“How about this one?” I asked, plucking a knee-length navy blue dress from its hanger at the very back of my closet. It had long sleeves and a V-neck with a simple cut that flowed out from the waist.

Rosie, who was perched on the edge of my bed and painting her toenails a deep shade of red, scrunched up her nose at the dress. “Uh. No. Just because you’re a mom doesn’t mean you can’t dress sexy.”

“This isn’t sexy?” I asked, holding it in front of myself as I spun to face the floor-length mirror on the back of my bedroom door. “I like this dress. It’s simple. Classic.”

“It’s boring,” Rosie said.

“Rude,” I frowned, tossing the dress on the pile of other dresses I’d already gone through on the bed behind Rosie.

She put the wand back in the nail polish bottle and fanned her toes. “Come on. Don’t you have anything colorful in there? Anything that screams ‘hey, I still like to have fun every now and then’?”

I rummaged through the closet and paused when my fingers caught the fabric of a dress I’d completely forgotten I owned. I grabbed the hanger and pulled it out.

It was a cute dancing dress I’d purchased after I convinced Brett to do a swing dancing class with me. We’d only been together for a few months at that point, so he’d agreed to go. Of course, he canceled the day of after I’d already purchased our nonrefundable tickets. The dress had sat in the back of my closet for nearly three years. The price tag was still attached. I’d been so in love with it that I didn’t have the nerve to return it.

The shoulders were scalloped, and the neckline was wide, exposing shoulders and a fair amount of cleavage. The bodice was tight with ribbing along the sides. At the waist, it went outward, supported by one layer of black crinoline that peaked out at the hem of the skirt. The fabric was soft and light satin in Ferrari red. Black lace trimmed the neckline to match that at the hem.

“Oh my God,” Rosie said, getting off the bed and coming to stand beside me. “Why on earth haven’t you worn this little number before?”

“I forgot I owned it,” I said honestly.

“It’s stunning. This is the one. Go on, put it on.”

I did as she said and stripped out of my jeans and T-shirt. I pulled the dress on over my hips and turned so that Rosie could zip me up.

She paused when the zipper was halfway up my back. “Your straps are going to show,” she said. “Take your bra off.”

“What? No.” I stared at myself in the mirror. “I need the support.”

“Ugh, no you don’t. Your tits are great. This dress has boning in it. Your girls will look phenomenal. Trust me.” She didn’t wait for me to object again. She snapped my bra open and made me do the rest of the work. I tossed the bra aside, and she zipped me the rest of the way up.

I flattened the dress out and turned sideways. I tried to suck in my tummy, and Rosie grabbed my shoulders and made me face the mirror again.

“You are stunning, Jo.”

“Thank you,” I said, and as I stared at my reflection, I believed her.

Rosie had come over and helped me do my hair and makeup. I wasn’t one for dolling up, but Rosie was all hands on deck when it came to all things beauty. She curled my hair and pinned it to one side and insisted I wear a pair of sparkly dangly earrings she had brought over. She painted winged eyeliner on my eyes and coated my lips in crimson. The hair and makeup, paired with the dress, was a lot to take in, but I liked how I looked.

“Last thing,” Rosie said, going to my closet and grabbing a pair of black heels. She put them down in front of me.

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to wear those,” I said, more than a little worried about the prospect of walking around in heels all night. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d worn a pair.

“Well try them on and see how they feel.” I stepped into them and wobbled on the spot. Rosie winced. “Okay, maybe the heels are a no go. How about a cute pair of flats?” She returned to my closet and came back with a pair of plain black flats with a pointed toe. I put them on and smiled appreciatively.

“Better?” Rosie asked.

I nodded. “Much. I can walk in these.”

“I think he’ll have a heart attack when he sees you.”

Part of me hoped Zach wouldn’t know what to do with himself when he saw me looking like this. I smiled at my reflection, and then my stomach shot into my throat when the doorbell rang. I looked at Rosie, panic blooming in my gut. “He’s early,” I said.

“That’s okay.” Rosie laughed. “You go get the door. You’re ready to go anyways. I’ll lock up and leave after you.”

“What are you up to tonight?” I asked.

Rosie giggled and fidgeted with her thumbs. “Ryan’s house.”

I felt my eyebrows shoot up. “Oh?”

She nodded. “Yeah. He and Sam are letting me crash their boys’ night.”

“Well,” I said. “Try not to have too much fun.” I gave her a hug and thanked her for helping me get ready. She pushed me out my bedroom door and scolded me for making Zach wait so long.

My heart was pounding as I went down the hall to the front door. I unlocked the handle and pulled it open.

Zach was standing on the other side with a bouquet of brightly colored flowers in his hand. His eyes widened when he saw me, and he looked me up and down. Then he remembered he had the flowers and held them out to me. “These are for you,” he said, his eyes still working up and down the length of me. “You look incredible.”

“Thank you,” I said, pinching the fabric of the skirt of my dress. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Like it?” he asked incredulously. “Hell yeah, I like it.”

“Let me just go put these in water,” I said. As I filled a vase with water in the kitchen, I called down the hall to him. “So where are we going anyway? Am I overdressed?”

“No, what you’re wearing is perfect. And I’m not spoiling it yet. You can wait and find out when we get there.”

I was sure Rosie was doing everything in her power not to squeal in excitement on my behalf in my bedroom. I passed the closed door, grabbed my purse from the table at the front door, and grinned up at him. “Let’s do this thing then.”

I was shocked to discover that our date night location was a romantic venue called the Lamp Post. They served swanky five-course meals and only had wine that cost upward of two hundred dollars per bottle. We spoiled ourselves with a bottle, which was the most decadent thing I had ever tasted—aside from the chocolate dessert we ate at the end of the evening.

“How’s Sam doing?” Zach asked as he leaned back to sip his wine.

“He’s great,” I said. “He’s at Ryan’s right now. And guess who else is there?”

Zach shrugged.

“Rosie.”

“Oooh,” Zach said, his lips curling in a wry smile. “That sly dog.”

“I told her they should just go for it. It’s getting a little old watching them fawn over each other like two lost lovebirds.”

Zach chuckled and put his now empty wine glass down. Music started to play from somewhere behind me, and I looked over my shoulder to find a dance floor opening up. The servers had moved tables out of the way to create an open space beneath a crystal chandelier that shot rainbows of light along the ceiling.

When I looked back to Zach, I found him on his feet with one hand offered to me. “Care to dance?” he asked.

Excitement fluttered through me as I placed my hand in his. His fingers curled around mine, and he guided me to my feet and then to the dance floor, where other couples were already congregating. The music was soft and slow, and Zach immediately started a gentle waltz with me.

“I’ve always wondered,” I said as he held me to him, cheek to cheek. “Where did you learn to dance?”

“I don’t know if I should tell you. You might laugh at me.”

I pressed my face into the groove of his shoulder and breathed in the smell of him. Pine. Sandalwood. My heart skipped. “I might.”

His low rumbling laugh in his chest vibrated against me. “My mother and father used to be part of a dance club.”

“A dance club?” I asked, refraining from giggling.

He nodded against my cheek. “Yes. The first Friday of every month, they would attend an event. It wasn’t a ball, exactly, but it was close enough. When I was old enough, they started taking me with them. And I liked it.”

“Probably because you got to dance with all the pretty rich girls who were dragged by their parents,” I said.

“You know me so well,” he said, and then he spun me away from him in an effortless twirl. His fingers caught mine at the last moment, and he spun me back, wrapping his other arm around my waist and pulling me into his side.

“Well, I for one am glad for it,” I whispered.

He walked us in a slow circle, and we stared into each other’s eyes. “Are you?”

I nodded. Words were, for the time being, out of reach. I was engrossed by him. By his eyes, his lips, the cut of his jaw, and the dark beard he had grown. It made his eyes look even brighter—even in the dim lighting of the restaurant.

His hand on my waist was warm and reminded me of the other night. I thought of how it had felt to have him deep inside me, telling me to wait. I thought of how he tasted and the way he looked at my naked body. I wanted all of that again.

“Zach.” His name left my lips without my realizing I had spoken.

“Yes?” he asked.

“Take me home.”

The song came to a stop, and everyone on the dance floor broke apart to wait for the next one. We, however, drew closer. Zach tugged me to him sharply. I exhaled in surprise and stared up at him as he lowered his lips to mine.

At first, the kiss was tender and gentle. It was like kissing velvet. Only our lips touched, and then, all at once, he was demanding more from me. He crushed his mouth against mine with such ferocity that our noses were pressed together. His tongue pushed inside my mouth, and I could taste the lingering of the red wine.

I kissed him back, hot and needy, and pinched his bottom lip between my teeth. He smiled into our kiss, and I hooked a leg around his.

I didn’t care who saw.

The music finally started. Other couples started dancing, but we stayed where we were, kissing like our lives depended on it under the chandelier.

When we finally broke apart, we were both breathless.

“Let’s go,” Zach said.

I nodded and took his hand. We slipped between tables and spilled out onto the sidewalk, giddy and giggling, where Zach flagged down a taxi. We piled in, and I gave him my address, and then I grabbed Zach’s face and turned him toward me to devour him with more kisses.

His hands wandered up my bare thighs, and we both ignored the cab driver as he cleared his throat in an effort to get us to cool down. There was no putting out the fire between us.

We didn’t fuck in the backseat, but I was sloppy wet and in desperate need of Zach’s body by the time we pulled up to the curb. Zach paid the driver and opened my door for me. We went up the lawn to the front door. I didn’t have a chance to unlock it. Zach spun me to him and pressed me up against it. He pinned me there with my wrists above my head and then began leaving a trail kisses down my neck and across my breasts.

Had he ripped my dress off of me right then and there, I would have let him take me.