“Remove the obstacle.”
A flicker of understanding blinked through her and vanished before she could grasp it, leaving a racing pulse in its wake. “Excuse me?”
“Neither of us ever got over the way we ended; we need closure. Rewrite the conclusion to that part of our lives, so it ends on a more positive note. One involving fewer clothes and less yelling. Though, some uncontained shouts of pleasure would be a nice bonus.”
There was no way. Arrogant asshole. “You mean sex? Your idea of closure is sleeping together? After the whole let’s make amends spiel, I expected better from you.” If the idea bothered her so much, why did her skin heat and nipples harden at the thought? Not that he needed to know she had any reaction besides disbelief.
He raised an eyebrow. “Just because I’m not interested in pledging my life to you doesn’t mean I haven’t noticed you’re… you. Intelligent and gorgeous. You’ve grown up, filled out, and a reputation like yours? Fucking sexy. Not only that, but in person, you leave your reputation in the dust. I’m just saying we need to get this pent-up animosity out of our systems. Once we have closure, we can move on.”
She wasn’t going to react to the compliments. Nothing about his words warmed her. She focused instead on the underlying insult. “Get it out of our systems. So charming. Why would you even think I’d do something like that?”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, I’ll bite. Yesterday at breakfast you said you’re single. When was the last time you dated someone seriously?”
Two years ago. She had a hard time finding a guy who had his own job, but whose ego didn’t mind hers being better. “I don’t know.”
“Right. Last time you got off?”
Three months ago—guy she’d met in a bar. Unless I count my vibrator. “Not quite as long ago.”
He shook his head. “Nice. More recently than the serious relationship?”
“You have work to do, and I need to be finding some.” She stood to leave and strode toward the exit. He made it to the door before she did. Her heart slammed into her ribs at his nearness and determination, and she pulled up short.
She didn’t replace the distance between them, torn between the familiar scent of peppermint gum and aftershave, and being furious about being blocked in.
“You’re single, attractive, and married to your job. My money says you’re not unfamiliar with the idea of a casual fling.” He tugged on his ponytail. “Is the idea of being with me, no strings attached, as a way to rewrite our past, really that unappealing?” The cajoling vanished from his voice, replaced with something almost…sincere.
Yes. Yes. Yes. The answer chanted in her head. She needed to say yes. It might not be a big deal if it were anyone but him asking. “N-Obviously.” She winced when her tongue betrayed her, stumbling over the lie.
He stepped out of the way and gestured to the door. “I don’t believe you, but I’m also not a no means yes kind of guy. Sorry to take up your time.”
Walk out the door, down the hall, to the stairs. That was all she had to do. Pretend this conversation never happened and go back to avoiding him. So why am I still here? “What about Scott?”
“You two aren’t a thing, right?” He stared back, expression blank. “Because we don’t usually share.”
Share. The word twisted her thoughts into unrecognizable shapes. Why was she stalling? “No, we’re not, and that’s not what I meant.”
His smirk was back. “We both know he doesn’t like the tension. This gets rid of it.”
Damn it, he was being logical, and part of her was intensely grateful for it. “One night. Just to give us a happier ending, and we move on?” What was she doing? He was treating her like a body with no brain. A means to get off and nothing more. Despite the compliments, this wasn’t about getting to know her, it was about sex.
Then again, she’d done no strings before, always knowing the guy she was with didn’t see her as anything special. It just made an ache spread in her chest to know Zach saw her the same way.
If he was smug about the fact she was still there, it didn’t show on his face. “That’s the idea.”
It wasn’t as if she was going to get attached, and she could think of worse ways to finally put the scorned little girl in the back of her mind to rest. Thoughts of running her hands over his sturdy chest, trailing her fingers down his arms, feeling his mouth…well…everywhere, made compelling arguments for giving it a try. If she could ignore all the emotions she attached to the person making the request.
That was exactly what she needed to do. If the past was behind her, then he really was just another guy. This was a way to remember that.
And once that tension was out of the way, maybe they could actually be around each other again without acting like children. Rediscover the friendship that existed before they dated.