“Yeah? Well, you’re bad for my belly.” He patted his flat stomach.
Heck, she could bounce a quarter off those abs. “I’m full.”
“I’m not, but I can pause to let you get your second wind.” He stood, and she looked up at a man who had shown her compassion, made her laugh, and made her feel beautiful when he looked at her. “How about a tour? I promise, this is not an excuse to show you my etchings.”
“Too bad.” Oh hell. Had she said thatout loud?
Chapter 11
Evan loved that her face turned beet red. Elated that she felt what he did yet nervous because one of them should slow them down, he gave her an out.
“What did you say?”
“I said let’s get started. On the tour, I mean. Not the etchings part.” She blew out a breath, and he stifled a laugh. “God, I’msonot good at dating. And you can say what you want, but this bet was a date in disguise.”
While he decided how to answer her, she added in a hesitant voice, “Wasn’t it?”
He wanted to kiss her, right then and there. Instead, he kept a healthy distance from her as he waved her away from the table into the attached living room. “So what you’re saying is my attempt to be slick about getting you all alone in my clutches was lame because you saw right through it.”
She gave him a small smile. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Well, damn. Don’t tell Hector or word will spread that I suck at seduction.”
She chuckled and relaxed, as he’d meant her to, and he showed her around his townhome.
“And before you ask, I cleaned a lot. Okay? I’m not that anal-retentive about how I live.” He totally was but didn’t want her to see his love of cleanliness as obsessive or anything.
“Good, because normal people don’t live like this.”
He smiled to show he understood her teasing and mentally reminded himself to mess up the space a little next time. “Well, it helps that I’m rarely home. Now I’m finding more time to enjoy life. You have no idea how stressful my CPA job was.”
“I bet. Especially around April 15th.”
He shuddered. She laughed and followed him around, taking in the office and half bathroom before moving upstairs.
She glanced around with wide eyes. “This place is huge. Three bedroomsandtwo bathrooms upstairs? Wow.”
“I figured it would be nice if I ever had company. But I just don’t. You’re the exception.” He sighed. “Now I sound lame again.”
“No.” She put a hand on his arm, and he treasured the comfort. “There’s nothing wrong with being alone, you know. Just because you’re a guy doesn’t mean you have to have a steady stream of women coming in and out or you lose your man card.”
“Are you sure? Because my oldest cousin calls me the anti-Casanova.”
She chuckled. “Better than the anti-Christ.”
“That’s what my other cousin calls me. I’m not kidding. I control our budget for Vets on the Go!, and that doesn’t make me Mr. Popular.”
She laughed harder. “They sound funny.”
“They’re a laugh riot.” He pushed open the door to his bedroom, watching her look around. He made sure he stayed well away from her, keeping his attention firmly off the nightstand, where those pesky, available condoms lay in the top drawer. “I love them though. I always wanted a big family, especially brothers. But it was just me.”
“Yeah, me too. No cousins, aunts, uncles, or grandparents. My parents came from rough childhoods and cut off contact with family, not that they had that much to begin with. And now it’s just Daniel and me left.” She paused, and her joyful smile took his breath away. “And Lila and Rachel. And I guess Will. Family is what you make of it, isn’t it?”
“It is.” If he spent one more second seeing her smile he’d kiss her. So he hurried out of the bedroom, heading downstairs. “You ready for ice cream again?”
“I, ah, sure.”
* * *
