My smile widened as I looked her up and down. She’d pulled her hair back into a high bun and paired the look with a pair of jade green earrings and an off-the-shoulder green and black wrap dress that stopped a few inches above her knee. The dress had a peek-a-boo middle, showing the smooth skin of her stomach.
“If you thought I was joking, then why are you dressed?”
Her frown deepened. “Smart ass.”
Even in the semi-dark, every inch of her exposed skin made my mouth water.
“You didn’t give me a dress code, so I hope this is all right for whatever it is we’re doing.”
“If it weren’t, I’d say to hell with those plans, just to make sure you didn’t think about changing.”
Her frown dropped, and she tried to stifle a smile. “Are you going to tell me now what we’re doing? Since you have me up at the crack of dawn.”
I reached around to my back pocket. “In time.” I held up the black silk scarf I’d brought with me.
“What is that?” She pointed, but her stunned gaze said she already knew what it was.
“This is what you need to wear in preparation for our date.”
“Excuse you. I am not about to go out in public dressed in a damn scarf.”
I burst out laughing. “Damn, cin, what I wouldn’t give to see you dressed in only this. And I sure as fuck wouldn't let you out in public wearing just this.”
She pinched her lips and squinted. “Oh. So you mean …”
“Yep.” I nodded. “This is to cover your eyes until the last possible moment.”
“How do I know you’re not going to take me to a dungeon somewhere and lock me up so no one will ever see me again?”
Frowning, I glared at her.
She laughed. “Fine. Whatever.”
I led her to the car and tied the blindfold around her eyes.
I held up my hand, signaling the number three. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
She reached out.
“Aht. How many fingers am I holding up?”
“I don’t know. I can’t see.”
“Making sure.” I helped her in the car before rounding to the driver’s side.
It was about a thirty-minute drive to my planned date.
“You couldn’t have waited until we were five minutes away to put this thing on me?”
“No,” I insisted. “There are signs along the road that might give it away.”
She folded her arms and poked out her bottom lip. I had to adjust myself in my jeans. The number of fantasies I’ve had about that bottom lip should be illegal.
I turned on my playlist. “Who’s this?”
She tilted her ear toward the speaker, and I could imagine her eyes squinting as she waited for the song to play so she could pull the name of this song and artist from her memory.
“Oh, come on,” she said as soon as the guitar strings started playing. Long before Axl Rose began singing his first note, Lena said, “Only the number one rock song of all time. ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ by Guns N’ Roses, written by Axl Rose. Off of their debut albumAppetite for Destruction, released in 1987.”
