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out. They just flatly refused to continue supporting him, and he landed with a grunt on a couch cushion. “Okay,” he said, after catching his breath. “I’ll assist you in any way I can.”

“Thank you,” Alice said, nodding her head.

The sight of that bobbing ponytail damn near did him in.

“No problem,” he wheezed through his constricted throat.

Alice marched off toward her bedroom. “Be back out in a bit,” she said, glancing at him over her shoulder.

Beau shook his head and grinned. He had no idea what to expect from Allie, but that was one of the things he loved about her.

Chapter

Twenty-Three

Alice stared at herself in the mirror. The sheer teddy looked cheap and flimsy, like a Halloween costume. She pulled at the droopy top, which she didn’t quite fill out. The ribbons at the bottom tickled her thighs, and the stretchy, cheap elastic indicated this would be a one-time wear. She had gotten it for free for buying an expensive vibrator.

It even had crotchless panties, and they were . . . well, they were beyond ridiculous. They had a small slit in the crotch, but you couldn’t really see it while standing. They just looked like regular panties if regular panties were made of itchy nylon netting with gaping leg holes.

She chewed her lip.

No man had ever seen her vulva. Beau would be the first. But it was no big deal. He’d probably seen plenty. And surely nothing about hers would stand out as memorable, right?

She was suddenly overcome by a wave of anxiety. What if she was unappealing? What if there was something wrong with her? What if Beau had a preference for one type of vulva over another? Why hadn’t she made an appointment for waxing? Did she have time to trim?

She stomped her foot. She wasn’t about to start thinking like this. Her confidence in her own body shouldn’t depend on anyone else’s opinions about it. And besides, there was no such thing as normal when it came to people’s genitals. She was perfectly fine.

She took down her ponytail and shook out her hair. Tonight, she was going to lose her—

There was no such thing as virginity.

She wasn’t going to lose a dang thing. She was going to have an experience. And she was going to have it with Beau!

She fanned her face with her hands. She absolutely had to cool down, because this outfit was probably highly flammable. She’d hate to set herself on fire with sheer embarrassment.

There was no need to be modest. Modesty, like virginity, was a social construct.

She opened the door. Beau was sitting on the couch, hunched over a book and mindlessly rubbing Sultana. Alice smiled as he dragged his finger across the page, pleased by how quickly it moved. For a moment, she almost forgot that she was dressed like a blow-up sex doll.

“Look at you being a bookworm,” she said, walking to the couch. “What are you reading?”

“I have no idea,” Beau said, turning the page and continuing to read. “I opened it up to a random page and landed right in the middle of a sex scene.”

It was next month’s book club selection, the virgin trope. She cleared her throat. “Speaking of sex scenes . . .”

Beau quickly shut the book. “Shit. Sorry.”

“It’s okay—”

“Oh my God,” he said, glancing up for the first time. “You look . . .”

“Silly?”

Beau’s mouth had been hanging open, but he shut it and smiled. “That’s not what I was going to say at all, Miss Martin.”

Well, that was a relief.

Beau stood up, but his eyes didn’t make their way to hers. They roamed her body, taking in every detail. His cheeks were a bit flushed, and there was a very small and nearly indiscernible twitch happening at the corner of his mouth.

Reading people was hard, and it was especially difficult while wearing crotchless panties. Was he turned on? Or was he about to laugh? “I can’t tell what you’re thinking. And it’s making me really uncomfortable.”

“I’m thinking a lot of things.” He touched the hem of the teddy. “Like this must be itchy as hell.”

“It is,” Alice said, swatting at a ribbon. “And I’m sorry if it’s not visually stimulating.”

Beau let go of the teddy and took Alice’s hands in his. “Oh, darlin’. I am highly stimulated. Would you like to feel how much?”

Alice glanced down to where his thumbs gently brushed across her knuckles. There was a definite bulge straining against the fly of his jeans, and yes, she wanted to touch it.

She pressed her hand against him. He was so hard. And thick. And even though she didn’t entirely trust her ability to precisely assess measurement without a ruler (and was ashamed for even thinking about it), what was pressed into her palm was definitely longer than five point six inches, which was the average length of an erect penis.

“Can you feel what you do to me?” Beau whispered. “And it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. God, Allie. Just being near you makes me dizzy.”

That was so hard to believe, and yet, at this moment, she did. She believed him. She turned Beau on, and that made her feel sexy. And powerful.

She rubbed him, applying a little more pressure, and he groaned and dropped his head to her shoulder. He exhaled shakily right in her ear, and it made her warm and tingly.

“Should we head to the bedroom?” she asked.

Beau laughed softly, tickling her ear. “I’m not sure I can walk that far.”

An erection shouldn’t impede anyone’s ability to walk, so Beau was probably teasing. But he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to move. He kissed the side of her neck before pulling away to stare into her eyes. The usual glint of mischief and mirth was there, but so was lust and desire. His lids looked heavy and sexy and this must be what people meant by bedroom eyes.

“I can’t decide if I want to walk to second base with my fingers,” he said.