She sent him an arch look. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Not at all. Y’all are my two favorite women on the planet.”
Her laugh was sputtering. “Cut it out. What about your sisters?”
He shook his head. “I mean, I love them to pieces. But they’re too much of a pain in my ass to make them my favorites.”
“Didn’t you tell meI’ma pain in your ass?” Her eyes narrowed. “I could’ve sworn that was you.”
“When?” he demanded. He rememberedthinkingthat. More than a time or two. But he didn’t recall actually saying it out loud.
“When you were trying to convince me I’d be able to lengthen my dive times if I practiced Tai Chi with you in the mornings. AndItoldyouthat unless your name is Google, you should stop acting like you know everything.” She screwed up her face. “If memory serves, your exact response was, ‘Lord, Christina, you are such a pain in my ass.’”
“Ah, yes.” Now he remembered that little tête-à-tête. Recalled how much he’d wanted to grab her and kiss the snarky words right out of her mouth. “Well, youarea pain in my ass. But you’re a different sort of pain in my ass than my sisters.”
“How so?” She lifted an eyebrow.
“They can’t seem to stop drownin’ me in rug rats. And you won’t even countenance the idea that we should have a whole passel of our own.”
The instant the words left his mouth, he knew he’d said too much. Her expression turned unreadable. Her eyes went hooded.
“Is that what you want?” Her voice was a whisper. “A whole passel of kids?”
“Well, maybe not a whole passel. How much is evenina passel anyway?” When she ignored his attempt at levity, he continued. “But like you, I’ve always thought four sounds about right. I reckon it’s enough without bein’ too much.”
She stared at him intently.Toointently. Then she opened her mouth, but he stopped her with a raised hand. “And I know what you’re goin’ to say. You’re goin’ to say I onlythinkthat’s what I want. That the truth is I’m not the kind of guy who’ll be happy with anormal life.” He made air quotes. “You think I’m not the settlin’ down sort.”
She was quiet for a moment and he feared he’d gone and screwed things up by bringing the subject back around. She’d agreed to friends with benefits. And he’d decided to let her plan play out.
So shut the hell up, you idiot!
But he couldn’t. Especially when she asked, “And you claim you’re the settling down sort, but not the settling sort. What did you mean by that?”
“I meant I won’t settle for anything less than everything. You don’t want that heady rush of fallin’ in love? I do. You don’t want that out of control, ass over teakettle tumble into romantic bliss? I do. I want a woman who is as nuts for me as I am for her.”
Her expression turned trepidatious. “Wolf, I—”
“Nope.” He shook his head. “That doesn’t mean anything has changed. We can still do this your way. If this thing I’m feelin’isn’tbuilt to last, if we scratch this itch and it goes away like you think it will, then you’ll have been right. And I’ll have learned a valuable lesson.”
She narrowed her eyes. “And what lesson is that?”
“That fallin’ in love is nothin’ but a flight of fancy. And that, in the future, I should choose my romantic partners with my head and not my heart.”
When she scowled fiercely, his chin jerked back. “What? I thought that would make you happy.”
“I don’t like the thought that I’ll be the reason you become cynical about love.”
“Oh, for the love of—” He slapped his palm against his forehead. “You are the most confoundin’ woman on the planet. You realize that, right?”
“No. But only because I doubt you’ve met every woman on the planet. Wolf, I don’t want this thing between us to hurt you or…or…” She searched for a word and came up with, “diminish you in any way. If I thought this friends with benefits thing would—”
“Let me stop you right there before you go throwin’ a monkey wrench into works we’ve already agreed on. In case it has escaped your notice, I’m a grown-ass man completely capable of makin’ my own grown-ass decisions that may or may not make my grown-ass cynical all on my grown-ass own.”
As he’d hoped, that made a hint of a smile twitch her lips.
Deciding the matter was closed, he warned her, “Now hold onto your hat. I’m goin’ to redress your wound.”
He could tell she still had something to say, but thought better of it. Nodding, she indicated he should begin by blowing out a fortifying breath.
