Reaching out, I take his hand and hold back the gasp at the electricity shooting up my arm. I really need to get laid. “That’s because it was right.”
“I know,” he says, his eyes now staring at my hand holding his. “It’s a shift in my world, that’s for sure. But it’s time. I have to move on.”
“Find yourself a rebound and have fun,” I say, taking my hand back and squeezing my legs together.
The temp feels like it’s gone up ten degrees, and I’m melting. I’m so hot that I almost look around for a silent fire burning bright around us, but I know it’s just me. My desire.
“There’s really no need for a rebound. I haven’t been a monk, keeping it in my pants until she comes knocking. Sometimes it’s a week between visits, while others are a couple of months.”
“You’ve been sleeping with other women while sleeping with her?”
“A man has needs. And if she’s engaged to another man, I’m not committed to her.”
“Do you sleep around when you are committed?”
I don’t know where the question came from, and the moment it slips from between my lips, I wish I could take it back. There is no reason I need to ask this, let alone know the answer.
But I’m dying to know.
The fire in Zep’s brown eyes makes me bite my lower lip involuntarily. “When I’m with someone, I’m with them.”
“You’ve never strayed?”
He shakes his head, his eyes locked on mine. “If I’m in a position where I want to, and the urge is greater than walking away, I’d end the relationship. I’ve only had three notable relationships, and when I couldn’t turn Chanel away, I ended them.”
“So, a new relationship is only as long as it takes for Chanel to capture your attention again?”
Swallowing, he looks down at the table, and I miss his gaze. There’s something about being looked at so intently by Zeppelin Molloy that makes me ache.
“I’m done with her, Misty. I have to be.”
“Why?”
“Because she can’t give me what I want, and it’s time I find someone who can.”
“And what is it you want, Zep?”
I feel like I’m on a date. Asking the hard questions of a date you want to see beyond just the next morning.
“Great sex.”
I snort. “You don’t need commitment for that.”
“Great sex with one person.”
God, sex with Zeppelin Molloy must be great. I mean, his engaged ex kept coming back for more. “Well, you’re one of a few men who feels that way these days, it seems.”
“What do you want, Misty?”
“Great sex,” I blurt out. My hand clasps over my mouth as I laugh. “I mean, that’s… yeah. That’s what I mean.”
His eyebrows rise, and he gapes at me. “Really?”
“Okay, look. I’m a monk or nun or whatever you call someone who’s celibate for fifty-one weeks out of the year. I’ve never really dated that much because it’s too difficult being a single mom. It gets complicated, but one week every year, she goes to her grandparents’ house, and I use that week to get my fill.”
“Of dick?”
We both burst into laughter. It sounds absurd. “Uh, yeah. Pretty much. Bernie’s going with her grandma after school tomorrow for spring break, and I have a date. If things go according to plan, I’ll be a very relaxed mother when she returns.”
