Page 118 of Blush Crush

Evelyn tosses her head back, laughing. “You two are so cute! Take all the time you need.” She gives us a small wave and retreats to her paperwork.

As soon as we round off to the next set of shelves, Ariana tugs me into the aisle. “What the heck is going on? Is this like a private shopping thing? And how do you know about this place? I didn’t even know about it.”

A cocky grin pulls at my lips. “I have my ways.” Reaching inside my pocket, I pull out the list I made and hand it to her.

“What’s this?” Her eyes narrow at me, a suspicious smile lifting. The smile broadens as she reads through the list. Her eyes flit to mine. “A scavenger hunt?”

I lean against a shelf, watching her. “Well, what do you say? Wanna play?”

She takes me by surprise and reaches her hands around my neck to pull me down for a kiss. It’s brief but sweet, yet my heart hammers in my chest.

“Yes, I definitely want to play.”

I clear my throat, trying to focus. “Okay, what’s first on the list?”

She looks down before reading aloud. “Find a book with a naughty dedication.” A blush colors her cheeks and she swats the paper at me playfully. “Did you make this up yourself or did you find something online?”

“A mix of both,” I admit. “I referenced a few online templates, but I had to tailor it for my girl.” I wink.

She giggles, but I can see the excitement lighting her eyes. She loves this, I know it.

“So are we competing or doing this together?”

“Together. Teamwork, baby. And we’re walking out of here with every book on that list.”

That seems to light a fire under her, and she starts moving through the shop, reading the section names. “We’re probably going to find the naughtiest dedications in dark romance.”

“Lead the way.”

She navigates to the dark romance section with focused efficiency and starts pulling covers and flipping to the dedication pages. I follow behind, pulling random books and opening them to random pages, which earns me a look.

“Dedications are usually in the first few pages of a book.” She smirks.

“I know where the dedications are.”

“Didn’t look like it,” she teases.

I give her ass a light smack. “Can’t a guy just flip through some pages for inspiration? Gotta figure out how best to punish you for being a brat.”

A flush washes over her, her breasts rising above the neckline of her dress as she inhales deeply.

“Don’t get any ideas,” she says, but the way she says it tells me she wants me to get all the ideas, and then use them on her.

We continue rifling through books, and after a few minutes she finds one that makes her clap the book shut and press it against her chest.

“Found it.”

“Let me see.”

Reluctantly, she hands it over to me, and yep, goddamn. It’s filthier than anything I’ve ever heard in a locker room. “Cum slut,” I muse, rereading it. “That’s a nice little combination of words, don’t you think? We might have to read this book together.”

“Shut up,” she laughs, grabbing the book from me and setting it aside on a nearby table.

Next on the list is a book cover with a shirtless man. I thought it’d be kind of hard to find, but turns out there’s a whole section of them. She looks through a few, scrutinizing each one with a serious look on her face.

“What do you think of this one?”

I look over her shoulder, and it’s a shirtless guy leaning against a wall, one arm propped behind his head, a smirk on his lips. There’s a hockey stick in his hand, which would look less like a prop if he was actually dressed to play. I look a little closer, and I swear I’m not a narcissist, but I feel like he kind of looks like me. “Got a type, doll?”