Mark smiled warmly at Ari as he leaned down and gave her a kiss. He looked over at me as I stood up and he reached his hand out for mine.
“Mark, it was great to see you.”
He looked me up and down and frowned before giving me a smile. “You, too. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon…shopping.”
I quickly sat back down and swallowed hard as Ari giggled. When Mark turned and walked away, I felt like I could breathe again. I leaned back in the chair and looked up at our waitress, who had been waiting patiently.
“I need a drink, a very large drink,” I said.
“He does not. Don’t listen to him. I’ll have the cheeseburger, well-done with everything, um…and an order of onion rings with ranch dressing on the side, please.”
Ari tilted her head and smiled at me. I had no idea how she could recover so fast from all that.
“I’ll take what she ordered.”
The waitress laughed and took our menus. “Let me know if you change your mind about that drink.”
I nodded and mumbled, “I will.”
“Oh my gosh. We get to go to a formal dinner and dance tonight. How exciting! Maybe we could get a few leads on some horses tonight.” Ari sat back and began twisting her hair with her finger.
She only did that when she was nervous.
Aha! So, her dad overhearing us did bother her. I knew it! “Does it not bother you at all that your dad—yet again—walked up on us talking about sex? And not just normal sex but mind-blowing, hot sex.”
Ari shrugged. “Nah. I’m pretty sure he knows we have sex. He has two grandchildren.”
I shook my head. “Not the same thing, Ari. Not the same thing.”
She pulled out her phone and waved her hand at me like she wanted to brush the conversation away.
Fine by me. I’d be the one who dealt with her dad and his death stare all night long.
“Let me find a dress store. Oh! There’s one right around the corner. We’ll have to rent you a tux.” She looked at me through her eyelashes and bit down on her lip. “Oh God, I get so turned-on when you’re in a tux.”
I smiled and felt my dick come to attention. “Oh, yeah?”
She nodded her head. “Oh, yeah, very much so.”
I wiggled my eyebrows up and down.
Ari let out a little moan. “Mr. Johnson, I’m going to get a dress that will knock you out of your damn boots.”
I adjusted my tux in the mirror and ran my hand through my hair to give it that perfect look. Ari was still getting ready. She wouldn’t let me see the dress she had bought earlier today, and she’d kept teasing me with hints about it.
The bathroom door opened slowly, and I held my breath. When she opened the door completely, I exhaled quickly. I was pretty sure my mouth was hanging open.
Ari stood before me in a beautiful ivory strapless gown that was covered in lace. The slit on the side went far up her leg. I almost wanted to tell her she had to take the dress off and put something else on. I moved my eyes up and saw the diamond necklace with the matching diamond drop earrings. I had bought them for her for our five-year anniversary. Her hair was pulled up with just a few curls framing her face. Her bright-red lipstick made it seem like she had just stepped out of a movie set from the 1950s. My eyes wandered back down her body before landing on her perfect chest.
“I’m pretty sure this push-up bra has my breasts up to my chin. What do you think?” she asked.
I licked my lips as I slowly shook my head. “You take my breath away.”
She smiled bigger and bit down on her lower lip. She ran her finger up and down her exposed thigh and said, “Easy access for you, my dear.”
“Hell yeah, it is.”
The phone in the room rang, and I walked over to pick it up. “Hello? Okay, we’re heading down right now.”