There were two sides to Hunter. One I knew: my friend, my rock. The other: the man. Pure masculinity. Pure testosterone. I was more aware of that now than ever. My body reacted to it on a primal level.
“Cat got your tongue?” he whispered playfully.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Just tell me what you want.”
He placed his hand over mine. Holy shit. My skin sizzled everywhere he touched me... and everywhere he didn’t, as if my entire body was anticipating his touch—craving it.
“Shopping. Tomorrow” was all I managed to say.
Hunter’s grin turned triumphant. Damn, I loved making him smile. “We have a deal.”
***
Hunter
The next afternoon, we headed to a shop Tess recommended on Fifth Avenue. The street was packed, but there were only a few other patrons in the shop. The salesperson led me and Josie to a changing room all the way at the back.
There was a leather armchair directly in front of the changing rooms, and on the small coffee table next to it there was a bottle of water and a glass. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
Josie turned to me. “The Ballroom Galas only start in September, but we’ll be attending other functions in the meantime, right?”
“Yes.”
“Are they as elegant as the galas?”
She’d come to a few over the years.
“I don’t know how to answer that. I always wear a tux.”
She laughed, patting my shoulder. “Okay, I can handle this.”
She went directly to a salesperson and they spoke about lengths and styles and God knows what else before the woman disappeared. Josie closed the curtains.
I poured water in my glass and nearly toppled it over when I heard a zipper. She was undressing. I drew in a sharp breath, focusing on my glass.
The woman—Honor was the name on her badge—brought a handful of dresses, handing them over to Josie. When Honor left, she didn’t draw the curtains to the changing room all the way together.
I played with the rim of the glass, determined not to look.
Five seconds later, I lost the battle with myself and glanced up. I was getting more than an eyeful. Was she doing this on purpose? To torment me? No, that wasn’t her style.
The right thing to do would have been to tell her that I had a direct view, but as of late, when it came to Josie, I couldn’t seem to be able to do the right thing.
She was gorgeous. I got an eyeful of her legs and—
Fuck me.
The panties she was wearing... were those even panties? They covered nothing of her ass. The front was semitransparent.
I glanced at the glass in my hand again, attempting to calm down. It was useless. I had a raging hard-on.
I fought to get it under control, and by the time she came out, I’d succeeded somewhat, but I was hanging by a very thin thread.
She was wearing a red dress that was just... perfection.
“What do you think?”