The Blind Date by Landish, Lauren (suggested reading .txt) 📕

balancing precariously on the edge. Our texts are steamy again, but they’re no substitute for the real thing. And while he’s naturally risk-averse and I’m image-conscious, I’m about ready to say screw it all and meet him for a quickie in the car on his lunch break.

And that’s a bad idea. A really bad one in the day and age of security cameras, phone recordings, and viral videos.

Which is why I’ve decided to be the captain of my own destiny and carpe the hell out of this diem by taking control of tonight’s plans.

I look around my apartment, making sure everything’s good. Raffy’s staying the night with Loretta, who’s giving him the full spa treatment and keeping him overnight in full puppy luxury.

In a total sign of our friendship, she didn’t ask why Raffy needed another sleepover so soon, though I’m sure she expects an explanation at some point.

There’s a knock at the door, and I give my fisheye a quick glance to see Noah looking sexy as hell in a dark suit, his hair slicked and his shirt partially open. He looks delicious, suave, and powerful, and I know I’m doing the right thing as I unlock the door and open it, keeping myself behind the door.

“I came straight from work,” he says, and I know he’s ready for tonight too. Even if he doesn’t know what I have planned.

“Come in,” I tell him, smiling from around the door. “How was your day?”

“Now? Much, much better,” Noah says, his eyebrow lifting. “Why are you behind the door?”

“Because of this,” I tell him, pushing my door closed and locking it. “You like?”

Noah’s jaw drops as he sees me, and a little thrill rushes through my veins. Normally, I carefully curate what I wear, both on my social media feeds and in public, so as to not be ‘too sexy’. I’ll wear a tank top, but not something with more cleavage than the Grand Canyon. I’ll wear shorts, but my cheeks are always fully under wraps.

Not tonight.

Tonight, I greet Noah in nothing but a see-through black bra and the naughtiest panties I own, which admittedly were given to me by a manufacturer who wanted me to post something with them. Never in a million years would I do that, though I suppose I could do a review on them.

They do feel amazing, and watching Noah’s reaction is even better.

“Riley, I . . .”

“I don’t want dinner,” I tell him evenly, reaching out and wrapping my fingers through his lapels. “I don’t want wine or cheesecake or a movie or any of that. We’ve been patient. So patient,” I moan.

Noah regains his footing, and his lips twist in a knowing smirk. Confident, cocky, arrogant—I don’t know which it is, and I don’t care. Not now, when we’re way past that. “And now, Sunshine?”

“I want you to pick me up, carry me to the couch, and fuck me all night long.”

I’ve never been so bold in my desire, so hungry for what I want. It feels naughty to use those words, say those things so plainly and demandingly, but I want Noah that much, and as he wraps his arms around me, lifting me into the air, I can see the same hunger in his eyes.

“Are we going to be . . . interrupted?” he asks, his hands cupping my ass as he carries me to the couch. “At least, Raffy-wise?”

“No . . . he’s on a visit,” I assure him. “Phone’s off, computer’s off. Nothing will interrupt us.”

Noah sets me down, letting me slowly slide down his body, and then he sits on the couch in front of me. He takes his phone out, pointedly turning it off and laying it on the table and then pulling his jacket off, tossing it to the chair in the corner.

He looks up at me, and I have never felt sexier—standing over him in barely-there lingerie as I see the effect I’m already having on him. He’s hard as a rock in his pants, and I need it.

“Fuck, I was an idiot back in the day,” Noah says softly, his fingertips dancing up the skin of my leg, drawing goosebumps in their wake. “I never knew.”

“And now you do,” I assure him, climbing into his lap. “Now, we both know.”

Feeling my weight on him, his fingers go tight on my thighs, spreading them wider so he can pull me against him. He grinds his thick ridge along my seam, drawing moans from us both.

As though that let some slight amount of pressure off, Noah goes tender again. “You . . . are beautiful,” he whispers, trailing a finger up my arm and making me shiver. He traces over my collarbone before following the strap of my bra down to my left breast, circling my stiffening nipple.

He leans forward, sucking me through the thin fabric, and I feel my core clench in time to his ministrations. He must feel the pulses too because he firmly pulls me down on his hardness again.

Our eyes meet, saying so much. About the past, this moment, and what the future may hold. Neither of us knows that for sure, and we certainly can’t control it. But what we can do is fully enjoy the present.

“Use me,” Noah demands, unbuttoning his shirt. “No shields, no fronts, no guard. Just you and me. Noah and Riley. I want you. So use me. Take me, however you want. I’m yours, Sunshine.”

My heart races, my core pulsing with want at his words.

He just gave me an offer I can’t refuse.

I can only oblige.

“Thank you,” I finally answer, pushing him back into the corner of the sofa and tugging to help get his shirt off, exposing his hard chest to me. “I need you, Noah.”

From the bulge I feel between his legs, he needs this too. Noah wraps his arms around me, his hands finding my hips and digging his fingers into the soft curves of my ass. It’s like lighting a fuse, and within seconds, I’m grinding against him, my arousal soaking into the soft fabric