‘Better?’ he asked, smiling at her.
She nodded.
‘Do you want to tell me about your lousy day?’
‘Maybe later.’
He sighed, pulling her into his side and stroking her arm. ‘We’re going to have to work on your communication skills.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You have a hard time saying what you want. You need to work on being more vocal, telling me what you need, so I don’t fuck up like I did just now.’
‘I told you, it’s not your fault.’
‘I should have picked up on the signals. I thought there was something off when you came in. But it’s not always easy to tell what you want. For instance, right now I don’t know if you want me here or if you’d rather be left alone.’
‘No, I want you here,’ she said, wrapping her arms tighter around him. ‘If you don’t mind, that is.’ It suddenly occurred to her that maybe he’d like a night off. He could have easy, uncomplicated sex with a normal girl who wouldn’t freak out about taking her clothes off in front of him. ‘I mean, it’s Saturday night. You’d usually be out, wouldn’t you?’
‘Yeah, out on the prowl,’ he said, making wolfish eyes at her.
‘Well, if you want to do that, I could go.’
‘I don’t need to go out picking up women when I’ve got you,’ he said, giving her a squeeze. ‘I told you – I like sex, Idon’t want a girlfriend. This arrangement suits me just fine.’
She smiled, nestling closer, hugely relieved that he wasn’t going to ditch her. How strange that Luca should be the first person not to let her down today. She’d never expected him to be sonicewhen they’d started this – so kind.
‘You probably think you’re transparent, but you’re not,’ he said. ‘And you can’t always expect a guy to read your mind. You need to be able to say what you want. Like tonight, you didn’t want sex and that’s cool. But you weren’t able to communicate that to me. If I’d known, I’d never have?—’
‘But I did.’
‘Did what, sweetheart?’
‘I did… want sex,’ she said, in a small voice. ‘Just not – not like that. Before, you always?—’
‘I took your clothes off. I initiated everything.’
‘Yeah.’
‘I thought we could move forward. But it was too soon. I shouldn’t have rushed you. You weren’t ready, and I’m sorry.’
She sighed contentedly, revelling in the comfort of his arms around her, the warmth of his body next to hers.
‘So you wanted to have sex tonight?’
‘Yes. But I wanted you to…’
‘Tell me,’ he urged.
‘I like it when you take my clothes off,’ she murmured, looking up at him from under her lashes.
‘And Ilovedoing it,’ he said, with a grin. ‘So you wanted me to undress you. What else?’
‘I wanted you to kiss me.’
He bent down and gave her a soft, wet kiss, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth. ‘What else?’
‘Well… I wanted to have sex.’
