A Perfect Storm
Page 7

Appearing cautious, he said, “What?”
Holding one hand in a circle and extending the first finger of her other hand, Arizona created a crude simulation of sex.
His expression tightened. “That’s enough.”
“Is it?” She leaned on the counter. “You were gone long enough.”
“Five minutes? I don’t think so.”
That stymied her for a moment, but what did she know of his sexual habits? Maybe he struggled. Maybe it took him longer. “Whatever you say.”
He drew out a chair. “Jealous much?”
“No!”
“Then what do you care?”
Her molars clenched. “I don’t.” But her heart started thumping in a very strange way.
“You refused to kiss me,” he reminded her.
Oh, surely he didn’t think… “Damn right I refused!”
“Then it doesn’t matter if I kiss her, does it?”
Her hand twitched with the need to zing the remaining coffee cup at his handsome face, but that would never do. It’d give away too much—and leave her with another mess to clean up.
Besides, he now blocked the exit from the kitchen to the front door, and she wasn’t reckless enough to infuriate him when getting out the back would hinder her escape and make it possible for him to catch her—
“I will not hurt you, damn it!”
She almost jumped out of her skin with that deep, loud shout. But he looked more offended than threatening, alleviating her concern. “Sheesh. Stop my heart, why don’t you?” At least his outburst had brought her back around, helping her to shake off those odd sensations of worry and…hurt.
He literally fumed. “You’re standing there configuring escape routes.”
“No way.” How could he know that?
“I saw it in your eyes, Arizona. You have an expressive face.”
“Seriously?” And here she’d thought just the opposite. Many, many times she’d hidden her emotions from others. Her sadness. Her fear. Her yearning. No one else had so easily picked up on her thoughts.
“Very expressive.” He drew a deep breath, ran both hands through his hair. “But there’s no need. Marla’s a friend, that’s all.”
“A friend that you f**k?”
His teeth sawed together. “Occasionally. By mutual agreement.”
Ah, God, why did that hurt so much? It shouldn’t. It had nothing to do with her. “I interrupted a little nookie time for you, didn’t I?” The sarcasm came through loud and clear. She shook her head in pity. “I am soooo sorry.”
“No, you’re not, so don’t lie about it.”
No, she wasn’t sorry. Just the opposite, she was glad she’d kept him from boinking the blonde. “Marla, huh? She was sort of…full-figured, wasn’t she?”
“She’s got a lot of curves. So what?”
“You’re a chubby chaser?”
He rubbed his face in exasperation. “Most men like a woman with some meat on her bones.”
Unable to stop herself, Arizona glanced down at her trim limbs. No one would call her chubby. She had her own curves, but if he preferred—
“Stop it, Arizona.”
“Stop what?”
“Comparing.” His gaze went all over her, fast but thorough. He glanced away as he said, “You’re incredibly sexy.”
“Incredibly?” Okay, so she knew that men found her appealing. Usually it creeped her out.
Now…not so much.
“There are a lot of different body types, but most women are beautiful in their own way.”
“Wow.” Could he really believe that nonsense? “That sounded almost poetic.”
“You know men find you attractive.”
“I know they see…me.” Her throat tightened, especially with the speculative way Spencer watched her. She flagged a hand and tried to sound negligent. “They look at me and they know things. That’s all.”
“What things?”
“Who I am, what I’ve done.”
“No.” His gaze darkened, softened. “They look at you and see an extremely exotic, beautiful woman. That’s all.”
If he wanted to believe that, fine. She knew the truth: her ugly past clung to her like a wet shirt.
He dropped into the seat. “Let’s get back to the bet, okay?”
She’d rather not. “What did you tell her about me?” It still rankled, seeing the way that woman had looked at her, all long-faced and sad-sacked.
Spencer sighed. “Does it really matter?”
“To me, yeah.” She nudged her chin at him. “C’mon. Fess up. What’d you say?”
He worked his jaw. “I told her you were a one-night stand who didn’t understand the concept.”
Un-freaking-believable. “She bought that?”
“That you and I would have sex?” With a sardonic glare, he said, “Yeah, she bought it.”
“No, I mean that I would track you down here and act all stalkerish and clingy and shit?”
His expression didn’t change. “She bought it.”
“Huh. That makes me sound really…dysfunctional. And maybe dangerous.” She thought about it and grinned. “Not bad. I can live with that.”
He rolled his eyes. “The bet?”
It wouldn’t hurt to clean up her language. She’d always meant to anyway, but when she got annoyed, stuff just came out of her mouth. “I dunno. What do I get when I win?”