Connor didn’t argue. He silently gestured to the waiter that they wanted the check. He gave him his credit card, murmuring that it was all on him. He didn’t press her for an answer, and he didn’t ask any other questions.
Because she’d told him to stop. He respected her decision. He wasn’t insensitive, he simply didn’t assume responsibility for other people’s feelings and decisions. A sinking feeling began to settle in her stomach, and as she studied his profile, she got the feeling that Connor Stone was a man who, while he liked to provoke, challenging others with every look and word…would never cross a line she set. And for a moment, all she could think about was what this man would do if she didn’t give him any lines at all. If she told him to do whatever the hell he wanted with her…
The night air had cooled by the time they left Galette. Or perhaps her skin was simply more heated than she wanted to admit. The wind blew and rustled the leaves of the surrounding palm trees, but it failed to clear her head or calm her stomach.
They stood before the restaurant’s plate-glass window, near a narrow alley that perhaps led to the back entrance of the building. It smelled of the sea and... Connor.
She looked at him from the side and studied him: his large, capable hands, the tight shirt, his strong neck, and his rough jaw.
Everything about him was attractive. Everything about him made her think of sex. His long fingers tapping his thigh. His thin lips, whether ridiculous things were being said or not. His sheer size and strength. How could a man’s body be so attractive while his personality aggravated her?
“Rachel.”
His voice alone gave her goosebumps. “Yes?”
“Did I make you angry? With my questions?”
“No,” she murmured, surprised at herself.
“Then why do you look angry?”
“I…” She swallowed and looked down. “I’m annoyed that the date went badly.”
“Because the guy wasn’t the love of your life?”
“No, because I could have used a fucking orgasm.”
The words were out of her mouth before she could consider that she’d only wanted to say that in her head.
Shit. It was Connor’s fault! His stupid shoulders, his voice, his looks…
She gritted her teeth and glanced up at him abruptly. “I didn’t mean…I didn’t mean…”
She fell silent because Connor was looking at her, his eyes an infinitely dark brown in the night, barely distinguishable from his pupils. His gaze slid over her face almost hungrily before he murmured, “As if that guy could have made you come.”
Heat filled her stomach. She didn’t know why she was saying what she was saying…she only knew that maybe he was right, that she didn’t want a quiet life. Not today. “I would have helped myself,” she said softly, licking her lips. “I know exactly how to make myself come. But four hands are better than two.”
She saw him swallow. Watched his Adam’s apple rise and fall. His gaze slid down to her hands, his pupils dilated.
Her cheeks burned. She knew she was provoking him. That she was deliberately turning him on just to see if she could. She couldn’t help herself. “Are you imagining me helping myself?”
He looked away, his hands clenched at his sides. “For someone who said on the questionnaire that good conversation is more important than sex, you sure do think about it a lot.”
“Just because other things are more important to me doesn’t mean I don’t like sex.”
“Really? Because it did seem that way. You were saying that a relationship can survive without sex.”
“Yes.”
He laughed dryly. “Do you honestly believe that? That sex is so unimportant for intimacy in a relationship?”
“It’s not that relevant.”
“Is that why you listed your sexual preferences asnormal?”
She swallowed hard. “You read thoroughly.”
Connor turned to her and looked her straight in the eyes. Only after she met his gaze did he whisper, “I’m thorough ineverythingI do, Rachel.”
