“Since we were eight,” he said.
“And do you hurt each other?”
He frowned. “Sometimes.”
“Really?” She found that astounding—how had they hurt each other?
“But it’s never on purpose, and we always do the kiss-and-make-up thing,” he admitted.
“Well, there you go. Your own life has just proved your theory wrong. But tell me more about this kissing.”
He snorted. “I don’t like to kiss and tell. As for our relationship, we know everything there is to know about each other. We’re honest to the point of brutal in a way couples never are. They always keep secrets and blunt the truth, thinking it’s a kindness.”
She wondered what he’d say if she asked how fat her butt looked in her shorts. “So you don’t think a woman can deal with knowing everything about you? Knowing the real you?”
His eyes narrowed. “I’m certain of it. Therefore, I’ll amend my argument to state that only sexual relationships are toxic.”
There was no winning with a man who’d already made up his mind. And what had happened to this one to make him so jaded? Had to be more than he’d admitted.
“Have you ever trusted a woman enough to tell her everything there is to know about you?” she asked.
“No.”
“Well. Until you do, you can only guess about how she’ll react. And if one woman reacts poorly, it doesn’t mean others will react the same way.”
He brushed his fingers through his hair, the motion jerky. Was this getting through to him?
“You can’t change what’s happened in the past,” she said, “but you can change the path of your future.”
He arched a brow, all cocky assurance when he should have caved under her logic. “Want to go there, do you?”
What did that mean? “Are you implying I’m trying to change the past?”
“You’re definitely not changing the path of your future. You’ve allowed your sister to become a chain around your neck.”
“I have not! And she certainly isn’t a chain.”
He shrugged, all whatever you say.
Frustrating man! “Enough about her. I want to talk about your attraction to me.”
He went still. “And yours to me.”
“I never said I was.” She’d only thought it, again and again.
“You didn’t have to say anything, honey. Sucking on my tongue and sinking your claws in my back told me all I needed to know.”
The sudden heat in her cheeks could have warmed the entire building every day of the upcoming winter. “Be that as it may, I’m not interested in a fling.”
“Like I told you, I figured you for a long-term girl. But I wouldn’t give you a one-nighter even if you begged me.”
“But...but...why?” He’d kissed her with such passion, and now he couldn’t stand the thought of being with her even once?
He massaged the back of his neck, somehow looking both fatigued and virile. “I seriously think I feel one of those hemorrhoids coming on.”
The unexpected comment drained the affront right out of her, and she laughed. He laughed, too, and she wished she could hear it. Whether it was rusty or hearty. The way his face lit, as if he were peering directly into the sun, gave him a boyish innocence she’d seen only once before on him. She...liked it.
He quieted abruptly, acting as though the laughter were his enemy. He scowled and pulled at the collar of his shirt. “Well,” he said, and his throat moved with a cough. “I should be going. Like you mentioned, your doctor will arrive soon with your discharge papers.” But he made no effort to stand.
Even though she was annoyed with him, and realized he’d avoided her question, she wasn’t ready for this stolen moment to end. Here and now, they weren’t boss and employee—they were moth and flame. Her lips still hungered for him, tingling, aching. Her hands itched to return to his hair. No kiss had ever affected her so strongly, and he hadn’t even put his hands on her!
“Stay,” she finally rasped. “Just a little while more.”