Page 25 of Seduced in Ink

It had to be the idea of the tie.Thatwas why Aaron had all of these oddly confusing thoughts.

No other reason.

He ran his hand over his newly clean-shaven face and grimaced. He usually liked having a full beard, or at least a bit of scruff, but he’d shaved for her. He wasn’t even sure what Madison preferred. Not that it mattered. Because they wouldn’t be doing anything with each other.

They were only friends. This whole thing was just them being friendly.

And if he kept telling himself that, he might actually believe it.

No, it was the truth. It couldn’t be anything else. It wasn’t safe for it to be anything else.

He was doing this for Madison.

He made his way to his car after picking up flowers for Maeve and then steeled himself for the evening. This was not going to be fun. It would probably be horrible. But at least he’d have something to talk about later with his family.

That wasn’t a good enough reason to do this tonight, but Madison needed him. So, he would make it work.

Ten minutes later, he pulled up in front of Madison’s house, grateful that she lived close to him. Her parents lived on the other side of the city in a gated community and had a larger house than even Liam.

He shook his head. He was letting his thoughts trail because he didn’t want to do what he needed to do tonight. He just wanted to go home and read a book or turn on a movie and let his mind go in a direction where he could focus on his work later. But that wasn’t what Madison needed. Though he wasn’t sure either of them knew what she needed. Not really. Regardless, he would be by her side to try and help.

And he’d try not to think about her naked. Yes, that was an essential part of his plan tonight.

To not think about Madison naked.

His cock filled at the thought, and he looked down at it, cursing.

“Nope. We are not doing that today. Got it?”

Now he was scolding his dick. There was something seriously wrong with him.

Aaron pushed those weird thoughts from his mind, got out of his car, and made his way to Madison’s front door. He knocked quietly, almost as if afraid she’d answer. When she opened the door, she smiled at him, and he saw that her eyes were wide with the same kind of panic he felt.

He should probably stop swallowing his tongue and say something.

She looked gorgeous.

Absolutely stunning.

Even if it was a conservative dress that went past her knees and capped her shoulders without even a hint of cleavage. It still showcased her curves to the point that he had trouble thinking.

“Hi,” Madison said, and Aaron swallowed hard.

“Hey. You look great.”

She rolled her eyes. “I look like a secretary from the fifties, but that’s fine. It’s the best dress I have that my mother would approve of.”

He raised a brow.

“I don’t usually care what I wear, but considering that we’re going over as a couple to this thing, I didn’t want to add more fuel to the fire by wearing something I actually like.”

“And here I was, thinking that you looked fucking fantastic. I apologize for being wrong.”

Her cheeks flamed, and he wanted to reach out and brush his knuckles across her skin to see if he could cool her down.

Instead, he made sure his hands were at his sides and nodded.

“You ready to go?” he asked.