Page 21 of Don't Lie to Me

Technically, he never asked me. He told me to bring a dress, but I didn’t want to waste time arguing with him over a small technicality. Clearly he liked being a bit bossy, and I was discovering that I didn’t necessarily mind.

Yes. Are you taking me out?

J: I am. And don’t wear underwear. I want you bare for me.

Oh my god.

Oh. My. God.

I stared at the text for who knows how long reading the words repeatedly. And then I read it some more wondering if I mis-read it. Surely another message would come through any minute with a winking face, or something alerting me to the fact that he was just joking.

It never came.

But I was incredibly turned on by the whole idea. My hands were sweating and my heart was racing. He didn’t mean it. Surely he didn’t. My dress was short…it already barely covered my rear end and was by far the most provocative dress I owned.

When I called Macy the night before to ask her what I should wear, she told me to go big or go home so I decided to choose a deep burgundy, fitted, one shoulder-strap dress that brought out my blue eyes and showed off my legs. If I wore this tonight with Jack, with no underwear, it would be practically indecent. But even as I tried to talk myself out of it, I knew I would do it. Something in me wanted to do whatever Jack told me to do.

I struggled through the rest of the emails, blushing to myself, and glancing periodically for that ‘just joking’ text that never came. I spent the rest of the day distracted and turned on at the mere thought of what he had planned for our first date.

After lunch, Logan and I left the condo to make a run to the dry cleaners using the Audi A4 Jack provided for my professional errands. We stopped at the liquor store, an organic market where I bought all of his locally-grown organic fruits, vegetables, and meat; and then I drove back to Lincoln Park to drop Logan off for his sleepover.

“Be good!” I yelled after him when he ran off with his friend, Connor, as soon as the door opened. I sniffed at the thought that he didn’t give me a good-bye hug or anything. Surely at not even five he wasn’t too old for that now, was he?

After talking with his friend’s mom, Peyton, and confirming that I would pick him up in the morning at ten, I made the drive back to the penthouse. My heart fluttered the entire time. I hadn’t heard anything from Jack since that last text and the anticipation of not being one hundred percent certain if he was joking or not still had me squirming in my seat.

SEVEN

I made it back to work at five o’clock; thankful the Friday drive into the city was slower than normal. I had just enough time to shower in the bath off my servant’s room and get ready.

I showered, curled my hair into loose waves so it fell halfway down my back, and applied my make-up, using enough eye shadow to create a romantic, smoky eye, but wasn’t overpowering. I was just finishing applying a pale pink lip-gloss across my lips when I heard the front door open.

I quickly strapped on my gold high-heeled sandals, smoothed out my dress and turned back and forth in front of the mirror. The burgundy dress and eye shadow highlighted my bright blue eyes and the deep color accentuated my tanned skin. With a quick flip of my hair, I grabbed my clutch bag and was ready.

At least physically, I was ready, and in more ways than one.

With every step, my thighs rubbed together, giving me a reminder that I had followed Jack’s directions. I felt smutty, but sexy. It was a heady combination and by the time I reached Jack in the living room my cheeks did not need that last flick of blush I applied earlier.

He smiled at me in what I could only describe as predatorily. His slow perusal of my body and my skin-tight dress only served to make my cheeks even more heated. By the time he turned his eyes back to mine, I was certain my cheeks matched my dress.

“You look ravishing,” he said with a thick, aroused voice.

I quirked an eyebrow. “Is that a promise?”

He narrowed his eyes at me for just a minute, before reaching out his hand that had been behind his back. In it, he held one single calla lily. I took it and breathed in its delicate scent.

“Thank you.”

He grinned that lopsided smile and clasped his hands together. “Someone reminded me today how much I suck at dating. I thought this would smooth things over.”

“It does,” I replied and took another quick breath from the flower. Really, I was just trying to calm my overactive heart. He looked even more breathtakingly handsome tonight with a slight scruff across his cheeks and chin. I didn’t even want to know how it was possible for his hair and suit to look sexier at six o’clock at night than it did at eight this morning. It wasn’t fair to those of us who fell apart by lunchtime.

Jack followed me into the kitchen while I searched for a vase thin enough to hold the flower. He filled it with water for me, and I set it out on the kitchen counter.

“Are you going to tell me where you’re taking me?” I asked as he guided me out to the door of the penthouse to the elevator.

“No.”

One hand stayed on the small of my back the entire time. The heat from his hand touching me there only reminded me of what I was missing beneath the dress. His hand moved lower on my back, just about to where my panty line would normally be. I moaned softly without realizing it. The slight tightening of his fingers against my back told me he heard it.

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