ever coming through. Over an hour later, she was at it again.
Lex: Can’t make it tonight. Boop choked on a hair ball, so I’ll need to take her to the vet.
Me: Okay, I’ll come with. A little public indecency in the waiting room could be fun.
Another hour later…
Lex: False alarm. Beep is fine.
Me: I thought it was Boop who had a hair ball.
Lex: Don’t act like you know my children! Anywho, I seem to have come down with a nasty virus. I’d hate to get you sick.
Me: It’s okay. With Jack in school, I pound vitamin C like it’s my second job. I’ll bring over chicken soup and see if I can make you FEEL a little better.
Lex: Hello, Hudson, this is Nurse Jenkins again.
Me: See you at six!
The rest of the day followed the same pattern of shoddy excuses. I was almost to her house when the last one rolled in.
Lex: Fine. Brutal honesty. I didn’t want to tell you this, but given what happened last night, I guess I’ll need to tell you sooner or later. I have crabs. We should refrain from any further contact until we can get things under control.
I parked beside the Chevelle in her driveway and waited until I got to her front door to type out my reply.
Me: Nah. I’m all good. I have a set of clippers and an all new cartridge of razor blades I’ll bring with me. Don’t stress. A little time between your thighs and I’ll have you fixed right up.
I was barely able to contain my laughter when I heard a loud, “Damn it!” from the other side of her door.
It was funny. I’d spent all day fucking around with Lex so I hadn’t really had a chance to consider if I was nervous about all this or not. Sucking in a deep breath, I smoothed down the front of my gray V-neck tee and ran a quick check of my emotional inventory. There was a lot of excitement in there, maybe even a touch of some old-fashioned horniness, but no nerves to be found.
Switching the bouquet of colorful roses to my other hand, I rapped on her door and smiled. She was making this way more difficult than it needed to be. There was no reason why either of us needed to be nervous about—
I choked on a lungful of air when she opened the door.
And yep, there were the nerves.
For as many times as she had tried to get out of this date during the day, she had known good and damn well it would be happening.
Holy shit, she looked incredible. The short hem of her blue tank top dress flowed in the breeze, and the scooping neckline revealed just enough cleavage to make a man question his sanity. Chunky bracelets were stacked up her wrists, and her deep-red hair cascaded over her bare shoulder. And fuck me, she was wearing tan heels that were sexy enough to convert me from an ass man to a leg man.
She was usually a jeans-and-T-shirt kind of girl, and it wasn’t a novelty to see Lex dressed up and ready for a night out, but this was so much fucking more.
“You look gorgeous,” I said, the words coming out gravelly even to my own ears.
She tucked a rogue wave behind her ear and smiled. “I wasn’t sure if I should dress up or not. This was kind of in the middle.”
I didn’t claim to be an expert on Lex’s wardrobe, but when you spent as much time together as we did, you noticed things. And I’d never, not once, seen any of the laid-back, sex-kitten-at-a-sports-bar attire she was wearing now.
“Is that new?” I asked.
Her cheeks pinked. “I might have swung past the mall after I woke up from my coma today. You know, on my way to take Beep—”
“Boop,” I corrected.
“Right. Boop to the vet.”
Oh no, Alexis Lawson had not been sitting around all day, trying to get out of our date. She’d been out at the mall, setting fire to her debit card in order to find the perfect outfit for our date. And fuck me, she had succeeded in mouthwatering, hard-on-inducing, spectacular fashion.
I thrust the roses in her direction. “Here. Put these in some water and let’s get out of here before I decide that I also fuck before the first date too.”
She squeaked and snatched the roses.
I chuckled as she all but jogged to the kitchen and hastily shoved them into a vase. And yeah,