Real Men Don't Break Hearts(28)

She caught her breath and bristled. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“What?” He blinked at her, slowly realizing he’d put his foot in it.

“You want to pay me money so I’ll spend the day in bed with you instead of working!”

“I said ‘lend,’ not ‘pay.’”

“I’m not some floozy.” She stomped toward the front door, her face flushed and angry.

“You’re taking this the wrong way. I’m trying to help you here.”

“Trying to help yourself, more like.”

Before she could reach the door, he hooked her by the elbow and forced her to face him. “Why’re you being so prickly? Did I do something wrong last night?”

“No.” Her chest heaved as she fought her emotions. Eventually she said more calmly, “Last night was crazy good, but still crazy…”

His ribs tightened around his lungs. “So you’re regretting it?”

“Not at all. But…it doesn’t change anything between us.”

“Why would it?”

She frowned, lips tightening. “Yes, well, that’s what I want to make clear right here and now. You don’t have to go treating me differently just because of last night. I know the score.”

It was his turn to frown. “The score?”

She tilted up her chin and brushed the hair away from her eyes to give him a cool blue stare. “Nate, you don’t do relationships; I know that. It’s just sex, and I’m fine with that. Don’t think you have to give me special treatment. I don’t need it, and I don’t want it.”

“I see. And what about more sex? Are you fine with that, too?”

A faint trace of color bloomed on her cheeks. Her eyelashes fluttered down. “S-Sure. When it suits me.” She bit her lip as her blush deepened. “And you too, of course. But we’re just, um, friends.”

Friends with benefits. He’d had a few of those arrangements before, but this time it left a sour taste in his mouth. Ally wasn’t the kind of woman you made booty calls to. So why was she selling herself short?

Because that was all she wanted from him? Sex whenever it was convenient for both of them? Maybe she was right. After all, that was the message he’d been giving her all this time, that any woman who got involved with him couldn’t expect anything more than a blistering good time in bed. Call it playing to his strengths. When it came to sex, he knew everything there was to know, but relationships, that was a whole different ballgame. He’d never had a proper one, didn’t even know if he had it in him to sustain one. He rubbed his abdomen, vaguely aware of a cramp deep in his gut.

“Yeah, that suits me.”

“Fine. I’ll see you around, then.” She opened the door and almost bolted down the path.

He started after her but stopped at the bottom of the porch and watched as she hurried into her car and drove off, the gears grinding in protest. With a muttered curse, he leaned against the porch railing. This wasn’t at all the way he’d envisaged this morning.

“Just like your brother, eh?” A morose chuckle accompanied Mrs. Bennett’s head rising above the fence. Her gray hair was twisted around pink plastic curlers, giving her a bizarrely malevolent look. “Robbie was always kicking them out the morning after. Treat ’em mean, keep ’em keen. Looks like he taught you well.”

Fury thudded through Nate’s veins. Curling his hands into fists, he stomped up the porch stairs. “No wonder no one ever bothers to visit you, you interfering old busybody.”

Mrs. Bennett gasped and started to sputter, but he’d already slammed the door behind him.





Chapter Eleven

“Where were you last night?” Jess asked over the phone.

Ally fidgeted with the pens on her shop counter, glad her sister couldn’t see her. As soon as she’d gotten back from Nate’s place and opened the shop, she’d rung to check up on Jess. Her sister was fine. She was taking things easy for the next few days, and Brian had taken the twins out, which meant she had plenty of time to quiz Ally.

“I rang your mobile and your apartment at about nine last night,” Jess continued, “but you didn’t pick up.”

Ally remembered she’d left her mobile phone behind in her apartment when she’d gone out. She hadn’t even taken her purse, she’d been that agitated.

“I was so tired last night I fell asleep really early. I must have just slept through your calls.” Glancing at a mirror on the wall, she saw her cheeks growing pink. Why was she such a terrible liar?

“Oh, gee. Sorry for putting you through all that yesterday.”

“Hey, I’m just glad you and the baby are fine. You gave us quite a scare.”

“I hope it wasn’t too uncomfortable for you delivering those flowers to the Kerrigans?”

Ally grew still. Seth and Paige’s wedding. She hadn’t thought about that at all, not once ever since she’d left the Kerrigans’ mansion with Nate following behind her. She wasn’t even curious to know how the wedding went. A few weeks ago she’d thought Seth’s wedding would be a sour day for her, but the events of yesterday confirmed even more that she’d purged Seth from her system.

“Honestly, sis, it didn’t bother me. I had other things to worry about.”

“But I heard Crystal Kerrigan gave you a hard time. She rang Brian and complained about you and the centerpieces.”

“Oh, that.” Ally heaved a sigh. “I’m afraid I messed things up for you.” She quickly explained what had happened to rouse Crystal Kerrigan’s ire. “I’m sorry, Jess. I might have ruined your future business prospects with her.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll deal with her when I’m back on my feet,” Jess grimly said before her voice altered dramatically. “But forget about the Kerrigans. Nana tells me Nate Hardy brought you back to the house and stayed with you until Brian called.”

Ally fiddled with the pens again. “Yeah, I bumped into him at the Kerrigan place, and I was upset about you, so I told him. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Never mind that. Why did he sit with you? I didn’t know you two were so friendly. I thought you couldn’t stand him.”

“I’ve bumped into him a few times,” Ally found herself saying casually. “He’s not so bad once you get to know him.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. He’s starting up a landscaping business. Did you know that? Actually, it used to be his brother’s business, and now he’s re-launching it. A lot different from his old finance job, but he wants a change.” She was babbling, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “And he’s changed, too. He’s not the old Nate Hardy we used to know.” She forced herself to shut up. Silence lengthened between them.

“Oh my God.” Jess breathed out slowly. “Don’t tell me you were with him last night. Is that why I couldn’t get a hold of you?”

Ally clasped the bunch of pens tight in her fist. “Um, well…”

“Oh, no. Don’t tell me you slept with him?”

Excuses and evasions leapt instinctively to Ally’s lips, but she pushed them away. She was old enough to decide whom she slept with. “Yes,” she blurted out, “as a matter of fact I did. I spent the whole night with Nate, and—and it was pretty damn good.”

“Oh, sis.” Jess uttered a deep groan. “I don’t like the sound of this at all. Why on earth would you want to get involved with Nate Hardy?”

The front door jingled as a group of women entered, looking keen to buy something.

“Can’t talk now. I’ve got customers in the shop.” Ally nodded and smiled at the women coming in.

“But we have to discuss this.”

“Later.” Much later, if Ally had anything to do with it. She’d blabbed about her night with Nate in a fit of bravado, but she really didn’t want the third degree from her older sister.

“But Ally—”

Ally pressed the off button and turned gladly to her customers.



Later that afternoon, Ally was doing some bookkeeping when Nate called her. When she saw the caller ID on the screen, she had to take a few deep breaths before she could muster up the appropriately calm voice to answer.

“I’m picking up some Thai takeaway tonight,” he said as soon as she’d said hello. “Why don’t you come over?”

The sound of his caramel fudge voice instantly started to melt her cool. She hadn’t eaten much all day. Now, her stomach knotted and she started to salivate. Not from hunger, but from the thought of seeing Nate again. It wasn’t food she craved, that was for sure.

She cleared her throat. “That depends. What are you ordering?”

“Thai beef salad. Does that sound good?”

Or maybe he could run his fingers slowly down her spine. That sounded good, too. Or nibble on her neck just below her earlobe, or brush his stubbled jaw against her inner thigh, or touch her just about anywhere he pleased. Yum.

“Ally?”

She closed her moistening mouth and fanned her flushed cheeks with a bunch of invoices. “Oh, yeah. Thai beef salad. That’s great.”

“I’ll see you at seven, then. I hope you like it hot and spicy.” He hung up.