Wait, what?she thought.
But before she could ask what on earth he was talking about,he sighed. He shot her a sheepish look. “Listen, kid, I know that I messed up, okay? I get that I was very weird, and said some odd things, and then freaked out. Honestly, I think it was just that I had a little too much to drink.”
She couldn’t accept that, however.
And not just because it absolved her entirely.
“But you only drank milk all night, Jack.”
“Right. Right. Yeah, that’s correct. But see, uh… I kind of react badly to dairy.”
“So, wait. You mean your stomach was upset. That’s what you’re saying.”
“Exactly. Which also explains why I ran to the bathroom. Case closed.”
He drew a line through the air with both hands.
And it was ridiculous, it was. But she couldn’t keep the relief out of her voice when she answered him. “Case closed? It wasn’t a murder mystery. I didn’t think you’d killed anyone. It was just, you know, one of those things. That I’m very glad I didn’t cause by doing anything you didn’t want me to do.”
“Oh jeez, no. No. Not at all.”
“Because if I did, you could say.”
“I don’t want to say; there isn’t anything remotely like that in my head,” he said, and so convincingly that she couldn’t help letting out a littlephew. Much to his consternation. “Wait. Has that been inyourhead? It hasn’t, has it? You’ve been bothered by it, haven’t you? Okay, lemme just be clear—everything you did and said was allextremelyhelpful to me. I was very happy that you gave me that advice, and anytime you wanna… anytime you would like to…adviseme again, you can.”
Was that a euphemism?she thought.
But as they’d just gotten past this hump, she really didn’t wantto add another into the mix. They were still buds. He was cuddling her dog.Proceed with caution, she told herself.
“So you still want more lessons, then?” she asked, then stamped down her heart when his face lit up.
“Absolutely I do. In fact, I’d be ready for them right now, if you were willing. Especially when it comes to, you know, things that mean kissing. Codes that say I want to… do whatever you… I mean people… might want to do. And how to maybe brace for them. If that makes sense.”
Not really, she thought.
“Of course it does,” she said. And thankfully, she did have a way of going about it that might provide a little more distance.Books, she told herself.Use books, and lessons, and the fantasy of what these things should be like.Because, sure, they said a lot of horny things. They drew attention to horny things she liked.
But they’d stepped through an actually horny door now.
Or at least she had. And so really what she needed to do was go back through it, and close it up. Keep everything far away and almost studious, she thought as she bustled around the store, gathering up romance novels that artfully illustrated modern ways people went about getting each other into the sack.
Seduction 101, as she tried to think of it.
But somehow it didn’t feel good when she did. It felt like she was leading herself to her own doom. And doubly so when she turned, with a stack of books in her arms, and saw where he’d decided to sit. Not in the armchair at the front of the store, where people passing by would serve as a sharp reminder that no funny business should go on. But in the back, in the book nook.
The tiny window seat, between two overflowing shelves, with the frosted glass in gold, red, and brown–fringed light, and the cushions that made it all cozy, and the intense lack of space for morethan a rather small person. And of course he was not a rather small person.
His thighs practically filled the entire bench.
“What does it say if I suggest you sitting on my knee?” he asked, half laughing. But even a half laugh died down fast, as it seemed to sink in what that would be like. Very uncomfortable for anyone trying to keep a respectful, practical distance between things.
And she suspected that was now his goal, too.
He said it had been the dairy.
But who knew, really? Who knew anything, in a situation like this. All she really understood was that she could not, under any circumstances, sit on his knee. Or even all that close to his knee. Instead, she tried to squeeze the books between her leg and his legs as she sat down.
Like a weird filling in a sweltering, sexy sandwich.
