“So I ended up saving you rather than you saving me,” Reed said in his truck on the way back to Albany.
“Maybe,” she said, grinning at him.
“You were being hit on; no one approached me at all.”
“Are you upset over that? That you felt you had this all planned out so your sister and all these women who wanted a piece of you would think you were with someone else and leave you alone. Did you think that maybe your plan worked?” She had been approached by two women, not to mention getting some sly looks that she’d caught when Reed was schmoozing with potential clients.
“I didn’t think of it that way. Sweet. Then you can be my wingman more often,” he said.
She didn’t want him to think that at all. First off, she didn’t have the flexibility in her schedule, or her life, as he might think. Second of all, she wasn’t sure she wanted to spend too much time with him.
The night had started out well. They got along better than she thought they would, considering how cocky he was. Really, how much cockier could he get than the fact he wanted her there so other women and his sister would leave him alone?
Those two hours had turned into so much more though. Not just in time, but in her emotional well-being.
He really was one handsome man. Tall and built. Not like a bodybuilder, but like someone who worked with his hands and knew what he was about. Muscles developed over time were sexier to her than those created in a gym.
Then there was the five o’clock shadow that he was wearing so well when he picked her up earlier.
His dark hair was slightly messy but in a good way. Stormy eyes always looking around and trying to assess his surroundings. Maybe reading her more than she’d felt comfortable with.
He knew what he was about and he didn’t hold back the fact he was aware.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” she said.
“Why?” he asked. “You’re not seeing anyone, right? You said you didn’t want anything to do with a relationship either.”
“No, I’m not seeing anyone.” She wouldn’t tell him about Angie. “But maybe I’ve got a life. Besides, I did intercept a few passes and maybe I don’t want to be doing that all the time. I’m out of practice and don’t feel like dressing up for a game all the time.”
“Really?” he asked, taking his eyes off the road and looking over at her. “Tell me about those passes you intercepted for me.”
She could tell he was enjoying this, probably loved the attention even when he said he didn’t. She also noticed he didn’t address her comment about not wanting to dress up for a game. “I won’t bore you with the looks I got most of the day while you were wandering around. The sly looks your way that you were oblivious to.”
“I noticed them,” he said. “But I’m good at deflecting or ignoring them when I want to.”
She was sure he was. “The first woman was someone you dated a few years ago. I believe her name was Natasha.”
“Tall brunette with big teeth?”
The fact he didn’t know her by name alone said something about him, reminding her to sharpen her radar and stop softening or falling for his good looks. “That’s her.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he said quickly.
“Like the fact you can’t put a name and face together?” she asked. Might as well be blunt.
“I can if I need to.”
So maybe Natasha was pulling her leg. Only one way to find out. “Your ex, or so she called herself, said you two dated for a few months about three years ago.”
“I haven’t dated anyone in over three years. So far she is already exaggerating things.”
“Some women have a different threshold for dating qualifications than others.”
“Tell me about it,” he said dryly.
She chose to ignore his tone. “She wasn’t happy with the way things ended and wanted to warn me.”
“How exactly did she say this make-believe relationship we had ended?” he asked.
This was a side of him she hadn’t expected. Short and annoyed. So far he’d been open and friendly, flirty and teasing, even sweet a time or two. It didn’t matter that he wanted her with him for false pretenses; he was still slightly adorable and cocky when he approached her. She’d yet to see any signs of him being anything other than someone you could have a good time with regardless of his feelings on relationships. But she’d grown up and known she couldn’t get involved in anything like that again. She had too much riding on her shoulders now.
“She just said that you stopped calling her out of the blue. That she’d tried to reach you a few times and you never returned her calls.”
“Based on the timeline she’s giving, it might have happened like she’d said.”
“So you did date?” she asked.
“Maybe a few times. Three years ago I wasn’t in a good place.”
She figured as much based on what Wendy had said. She could relate, as three years ago she was wondering what the hell was happening in her life. Pregnant and her asshole of an ex was states away and had no intention of even calling her back let alone acknowledging the child he seeded. Part of those funds she’d laid out on the line was to get a paternity test done.
She might have met Jack at a club and had a bit too much to drink that night and several of the times they were together, but she wasn’t a slut and didn’t sleep around. She’d thought what she and Jack had was the start of a budding relationship.
She was right. It was a relationship. Just a shitty one that was going to tie him to the rest of her life.
“Needless to say,” she said, “she wasn’t happy and wanted to know what my status was with you.”
He laughed. “She used those words?”
“Not exactly.” No reason to tell Reed that Natasha was eying her like she could swat her away with a slip of her finger. That she’d even said she could have Reed back if she wanted to, but she didn’t. That Taylor was welcome to him. Words from a woman scorned.
“So what else did she say, then?”
“Do you have a birthmark on your left cheek?” she asked him quickly to see his reaction.
He turned his head. “Does it look like I do?”
She grinned. “Your other left cheek.”
He winked at her. “I might have one there.”
“Which means some of what Natasha was saying was true,” she said matter of factly.
“I’m not denying we’ve slept together. You didn’t ask me that. I didn’t date her though.”
“Excuse me for misunderstanding,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
“Like I told you, it was a bad point in my life.”
“So noted. You aren’t the only one that has gone through something in their life, but not everyone uses and disregards women.”
“I see you want to believe everything you’ve heard after all,” he said.
She hadn’t meant to say that to him at all and regretted it. So far they’d been getting along just fine and there was no reason to be pissy. It’s not like they were in a real relationship.
Not like she didn’t love the feel of his hands on her waist as he held her tightly when they were dancing under the rising moon.
Or his warm breath on her neck when he was whispering in her ear.
The way her body wanted to involuntary sway into his and grind against him.
Yeah, it’d been way too long since she’d been held, let alone felt a strong male against her. She hadn’t realized how horny she was right now.
It was no wonder the two women that approached her tonight didn’t believe they were just friends. If she’d had a mirror to see them swaying together with Reed’s hand gliding up and down her back, his fingers trailing on her arms, she might think there was more going on too.
“I’m sorry. That was completely wrong of me to say that. As much as I find this whole thing funny, I understand your reasoning too. You’ve been upfront and honest with me and it was uncalled for what I’d just said.”
“No worries,” he said “That’s why you’re perfect for this. You’re not afraid to say what is on your mind. I can’t tell you how refreshing that is for me.”
“Women aren’t upfront with you?”
“Nope,” he said. “They all say they’re good with casual, but when it comes down to it, they all want that big diamond on their finger. Hell, I had one woman tell me it didn’t have to be a diamond, just a gold band would do.”
She burst out laughing. “Seriously?”
“Yep. When I told her that wasn’t happening, but thanked her for the good time we’d had for a few weeks, she slapped my face and called me a nasty name.”
“Were you honest with her about what you were looking for when you first met?” she asked, assuming he was.
“Of course.”
“Then you can’t win, can you?”
“Nope. Which is why I need a wingman. So you said women, not woman. What else happened?”
Since he’d said she was upfront and honest, she was going to be again. “When I was in the bathroom before we left, someone pulled me aside and said they’d heard from Rachel we were just friends and she wanted to know if that was true.”
“Who asked you that?”
“I didn’t get her name. I didn’t think it mattered. Either way, she’d been watching you. I saw her. Enough that she wanted to know what was going on with us and approached your sister. You’d have to ask Rachel who it is if you really want to know.”
“Nope, don’t care,” he said. She believed that too. “So you told her we were friends?”
“I did. Then she asked if I would introduce the two of you.”
“Since you didn’t, I’m going to assume you said no.”
“Isn’t that part of my job for today?” she asked, grinning. If the urge to snap at the woman to get a life and leave Reed alone had been present in the bathroom, Taylor wasn’t admitting because then it’d come off as if she was jealous, and why would she be when she was just doing a favor for Reed?
“It sure is. So then what happened? You came out of the bathroom without a hair out of place, so I’m assuming there wasn’t a cat fight.”
“You’d probably eat it right up if there was a cat fight in your honor.”
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” he admitted.
Figures it’d happened before. “I told her no. She wanted to know why and I said because I didn’t like her dress.”
This time he laughed so hard he started to cough. “You didn’t?”
“I did. It was ugly. If you were going to go out with someone they should have better fashion sense. It’s as simple as that.”
He turned and looked at her, his eyes soft, lingering on hers, then traveling the length of her dress that was spread out on the seat around her in the truck, all the way down, Reed leaning over to check out the heeled sandals she’d had on. “Yeah. She should look more like you,” he said softly.
If her heart started to race with that comment, she wasn’t admitting that either.