Burn for Me(16)

Chapter Six

His jaw hung open.

His brain was a pinball machine, lights and noises whirring in overdrive. He was half thrilled and half annoyed. Half turned on and half frustrated. This woman was throwing him off his game.

“Shit, I thought you were gonna be pissed at me forever for saying filthy things.”

“No,” she said, laughing, then she dropped her voice further. “I don’t even swear, but I can’t begin to tell you how hot it was when you said all those things to me. I like that dirty mouth of yours. Go figure, and I would love to have more of it.”

He tried to suppress a wicked grin, but he had no luck. Hell, this was good news on the one hand. He’d been so worried he’d ruined everything after getting physical with her, he was terrified their friendship was history. But knowing she liked it the same way was a huge turn-on. The only trouble was she still didn’t want to go out with him. She didn’t want to date him. She only wanted to sleep with him. “But if you liked it so much then why not give us a go?”

“Because I do like you as a friend, and I want to stay that way. And I also don’t want to be one more name on a list of women you’ve dated. I mean, Lisa was all over you at the party. And then there’s Cara, and she’s super sweet, but still, you used to date her. And even when I was at my sister’s I drove past Melody Olsen’s house, and you used to go out with her too. There are reminders everywhere that you date a lot of women and never for more than a few months, or weeks, really.”

Damn, that list sounded long when she rattled off the names. He was never serious with any of them, and evidently that was the big fat fucking hurdle in the way of him having a relationship with Jamie. But he wasn’t some sort of career playboy who needed or wanted a woman in every port. He simply hadn’t met the right woman. “I’m not going to lie to you and act like I’m some goody-goody choir boy. I’m not. I’m not a monk,” he said. “But I’m not going to pretend you aren’t 100 percent special to me either. I like you a lot. I have a good time with you. I laugh with you. Hell, we’ve gone bowling together for a couple years now, and I just think that’s gotta count for something,” he said, and shot her what he hoped was a sexy grin that might melt her.

“See, that’s the other thing. I don’t want to be a ‘count for something’ kind of thing. I don’t want to be a ‘why not’ woman—”

He cut her off. “I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t mean to imply let’s go out because there’s nothing better. You’re not a ‘why not’ kind of woman. I swear. That’s why I want to take you out and spend time with you. You can even invite me over to your sister’s house for your dinners and I’ll happily go. I want more.”

Her eyes widened with shock at the suggestion. She looked mortified that he’d want to have dinner with her family. She lowered her voice and motioned for him to come closer. “I know I wasn’t up-front when I ran out the other night, but I’m going to be blunt now. That was the best sex of my life,” she said, and pride burst through him with the compliment. She continued, “Plus, you’re funny, and you’re sweet, and you make me laugh, and I care deeply for you as a friend, and that’s why I want to be friends with benefits for a week,” she said, then raised her eyebrows playfully. “You like the benefits part, don’t you?”

He gritted his teeth and felt his shoulders tighten with frustration. She was calling him out but yet she still wanted to sleep with him?

Then it hit him. She wanted to sleep with him. She wanted to have sex with him, no-strings attached, for a week. He could work with that. She said he was the best sex of her life, and if he was going to have to use sex to win her heart, then dammit, he’d do that. Play to his strengths. Make her feel everything, and in doing so, make her fall for the rest of him. Rather than be offended with her proposition, he was going to run with it and ensure at the end of the week, she would want all of him.

He would have to prove himself to her, and that was part and parcel of what was so damn attractive about her. He was used to getting what he wanted. He wasn’t being cocky, just honest. He had friends, he had steady work, he had good health, and he had women when he wanted them. But there was something about having to step outside of his comfort zone that he now craved, and Jamie was the first who’d called him on his ways. He had to shed his defenses for her. Not always his first choice, but it was the only choice with her, and it was one he was willing to make.