“Sure they’re hot, but at the end of the day they’re not the person I want—the person I care about. Some things are more important than getting off. And honestly, sex like that isn’t much different than masturbating at the end of the day—it’s all soulless and empty.”
“Huh.” I hadn’t expected him to be so open and surprisingly honest.
It was nice.
And so freaking hot.
He lifted an eyebrow and then his water glass. “Never have I ever read a smutty romance book.”
I picked up my glass and drank.
“I knew it!” Mal crowed, pointing a finger at me.
I flushed and looked away. I knew it was nothing to be ashamed about, but it wasn’t exactly something I liked to talk about either. Especially with a hot guy.
Then Mal took a drink, keeping his eyes on mine.
“Wait…are you thirsty or have you—”
He waggled his eyebrows.
“Seriously?” I squealed.
He shrugged. “I was teasing my assistant because she left one in my office once. So the next time she came over, I had it open and was reading it in front of her. It started as a joke, but I gotta admit, I got into it. They had all the music industry stuff wrong, but the relationship and the sex scenes were enthralling. I might’ve finished it before I gave it back to her.”
“Wait, so your assistant left a rock star romance book—a paperback—in your office?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. Like I said, it was good.”
And he didn’t see that as a blatant advance? Didn’t get that she was clearly interested in him? Wow.
I wanted to probe deeper, but I didn’t want to sour the mood, so I continued the game and blurted out the first question that came to mind. “Never have I ever…been arrested.”
He took a sip. Then another. Then another.
“Okay, okay.” I waved at him. “You can stop. But seriously? How many times?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Does a juvie record count?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Then…five, no, six times. Twice as a teen for vandalism—our neighbor was an asshole. Twice for disorderly conduct, aka bar brawls, when we were first on the tour circuit. Once in the UK for assault. Kinda got into it with our opening act, but in my defense I was high. And of course, most recently for possession around…a little over nine-ish years ago.”
“That’s… That’s a lot.”
“It is.” He stared at me over our long, cold dinner and gave me a sad smile. “That’s also life with an addict. Regretting your choices yet?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Wow.” He laughed incredulously. “Really thought I scared you off with that last one.”
I lifted a shoulder. “The night’s still young.”
“It is.” He surveyed me over the rim of his glass. “And so are you.”
“Are me and my zero arrests making you aware of our age difference?”
“No, I’m pretty sure your endless optimism is doing it for me.”
