Emmie was snuggled under the covers again when I entered the bedroom. She looked content and still a little sleepy. I ached to climb into bed beside of her and spend the rest of the day making love to her, but I had plans that I intended to follow through with.

I walked over to the closet that I had hung my clothes in while Emmie was still sleeping. “Grab a shower, baby girl.” I told her as I pulled out a pair of slacks. I only had three pairs in my entire wardrobe. I fucking hated slacks, but the restaurant I was taking Emmie to tonight wasn’t the type of place that accepted jeans and a T-shirt as appropriate attire. “Then put on one of those sexy outfits you bought yesterday.”

She yawned. “Why?”

I didn’t turn to face her because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from joining her in bed. “It’s a surprise.”

“I’m not a fan of surprises, Nik.”

I grinned as I pulled a white T-shirt over my head and reached for my dark gray dress shirt. “Guess you will just have to deal, baby.”

A pillow hit me in the back, and I laughed out loud but still didn’t turn to face her. “Hurry up,” I urged as I bent down to get my boots. “You only have about thirty minutes before the car gets here.”

“Car? What car?” she demanded.

“I might have gotten a limo for tonight.” I had a vision of making love to Emmie on the ride home tonight. With her spread out on the long back seat and my head between her legs as I licked her toward orgasm after orgasm. My dick swelled at just the thought and I had to readjust myself so that I didn’t split the crotch seam of my slacks.

“Thirty minutes!” She yelped and I heard her jumping out of bed. “You are such an ass. You can’t expect me to get ready in thirty minutes.”

Her distressed tone had me finally turning to face her. “Why not?” I had lived with Emmie for over six years now. It never took her longer than ten minutes to get ready for anything. She wasn’t like most girls who spent hours in front of the mirror before starting the day.

“Because…” She grunted. “Just because, Nik!” Emmie went into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her.

I sighed. Now she was mad at me. What a great way to start our first date.

Terrified of making her angrier than she already was, I went downstairs to wait for her. Jesse was standing at the stove stirring something that smelled incredible. His eyes widened when he saw me. “Where are you going?”

I shrugged, pulling a beer out of the fridge. “I’m taking Em out to dinner.”

“Wow, look at you. Getting smart and shit.” He grinned and turned back to whatever he was cooking. “So I guess you won’t be eating any of my hamburger helper.”

“Is that what that is?” I crossed over to the stove to stand beside him and looked down at the pan he was working on. Macaroni noodles, hamburger, thick cheese, and what looked like some green onion and red peppers were added to the mix. “Dude, that looks awesome. Save me some for later.”

“I’ll try, bro.”

“I’ll bring you home a slice of cake or something.” I wasn’t above bribing. My stomach growled and I was tempted to starting eating from the pan right then and there.

“Fine. I’ll make another batch later, just for you.” Jesse rolled his ever-changing dark eyes at me. “I want some chocolate cake.”

“You got it.”

Emmie still hadn’t come down by the time the limo pulled up in the driveway. I opened the front door to wave at the driver, letting him know that we wouldn’t be long when I heard heeled footsteps coming down the stairs behind me. Turning around to see if Emmie was ready to go, I froze at the sight before me.

To me Emmie was sexy in a pair of baggy pajamas and one of my old shirts. My breath caught in my throat as I took in the beautiful vision that was walking toward me: knee high, stiletto, black boots; a black dress that fell just short of mid-thigh with a modest neck line. Her hair was down, curled around her shoulders and shining. Make-up made those incredibly big green eyes stand out in her perfect face.

My tongue felt like it was glued to the roof of my mouth, and I struggled to form words as she stepped off of the last step and twirled around, showing off the back of her dress. It dipped down to the small of her back, showing off her creamy complexion and slender shoulder blades.

The smile she gave me told me she was over being mad at me, but I was still standing there staring at her like an idiot. “How do I look?”

“I…” I cleared my throat. “Wow… You… I… Wow.”

Her giggle did something to my stomach. I was sure there were butterflies flying around in there. “That good, huh?”

“Fuck, Em.” Jesse came from the back of the house and saw her standing at the front door with me. “You look hot.”

“Thanks, Jess.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek before turning back to me. “Are we ready, Nik?”

I shook my head, trying to clear it of the desire she had fogged it with. “You look beautiful, Emmie.”

Chapter 15

Jealousy. What A Bitch

A week went by that was full of complete bliss where Emmie and I were concerned. I couldn’t ever remember being so happy. Each morning I woke up with Emmie snuggled against me and made love to her until she begged for mercy and something to eat, which had to include something with bacon. The rest of the day was spent hanging out down on the beach or in front of the television with the guys. I took her out every evening, whether to dinner or a movie or just dessert—again with the bacon. Then I brought her home and made love to her until we were too exhausted to move.

Now we were sitting out on the deck. Jesse was lying on a lounger beside me and Emmie was snuggled up on my lounger with me while Drake snored soundly across from us. I was content, close to falling asleep and loving life.

Of course Emmie’s phone kept vibrating every five minutes. She had turned the ringer off to keep from disturbing me, but she was texting with someone and the vibrations were starting to get annoying. Yawning, I picked the phone up off my stomach where she had placed it after the last text. “Who are you talking to?”

She shrugged. “Axton.”

I tried not to stiffen, tried not to let the images of Emmie kissing my friend fill my mind. Of course it happened anyway. My hand fisted around her phone before I relaxed it enough to look down at the screen and the new text. My eyes narrowed when I read his message. “He is not coming here!”