He laughed as he realized that the unflusterable Staci Rowland was uncomfortable talking about sex. She was flirty as hell and took what she wanted when they were intimate but there was a part of her that was shy when it came to the words.
“I can’t believe you don’t have fantasies,” he said.
“Of course I do,” she said. “Everyone does, but that doesn’t mean I want to talk about them.”
“I do.”
“I’m not surprised. Despite what your father told you about sonnets you are still a man. Why is it men like to hear women talk like that?” she asked.
“It’s sexy,” he said. “And it’s not every woman’s fantasies I’m interested in.”
She turned away again to glance out at the sea. He wondered, despite the fact that they were together here for six weeks, whether he’d ever really get to know all of her secrets. The core of Staci was very private. Would he be able to find out more about her through her cooking and her dishes? He doubted it. It felt to him like she was hiding herself away not only from him but from the world. She let him see what she thought he wanted to see.
The shyness with talking about sex was probably one of the first real things he’d been able to find out about her. She was all boldness and nerve but underneath there was a vulnerable woman.
He was being honest when he said that he wanted her and it had nothing to do with the competition but he saw now that that very fact made their relationship complicated. Did she even want to give him a chance?
“How do you feel about getting to know each other during the competition?” he asked. “I’m not trying to manipulate you.”
She turned back to him her gray eyes as stormy as the Gulf of Mexico when a hurricane was blowing. “I don’t know. I want to say no. I’m here to prove something to myself and to win. And I know it’s the same for you.”
“That’s right. We both are cooking for our futures,” he said. “I think everyone here is.”
He noticed that she hadn’t answered his question. Notreally. He had the feeling that if he let her she’d never answer it. “I’m not going to ignore us, cupcake girl. I want you, but more than that I want to get to know you.”
“I get it, but I’m not sure what to say. It doesn’t matter if I say no and ask you to leave me alone. You’re already under my skin. Dammit, I shouldn’t have said that.”
He laughed and tugged her off balance and into his arms, leaning down he kissed her with all the pent-up frustration he’d been feeling all day. When he lifted his head and stepped back her lips were swollen and her eyes half-closed. He wanted to carry her someplace private and make love to her. But he knew the next time he and Staci made love it would change things between them and there would be no going back.
“There’s something between us,” he said.
“I know. I wish it was just cooking,” she admitted. “I have always had bad taste in men.”
“Maybe your taste is changing,” he said reluctant to let her lump him in with the other men who’d come before him.
I hope so, she thought. “I’ve been hurt in the past and I don’t want to make the same mistake again, but then I always was a slow learner.”
“What mistake?”
She shook her head. “That’s not a story I’m willing to tell you.”
“Just give me the Twitter version.”
“A hundred and forty characters?” she asked, but she smiled at him.
“Yup.”
“Thought that fairytales could come true and believed every word he said at hash tag shouldhaveknownbetter.”
“What kind of fairytale?” Remy asked.
“That there is one guy out there for me. One man who could make me complete and give me my happily-ever-after.But that’s not realistic. I can’t ignore the truth about the Rowland women.
“What truth is that?”
“We live alone,” she said.
“What about your dad?”
