“That was…” She sighed, leaving off the end of the sentence.
“Yeah.”
He didn’t know whether to smile or to run. Because he had a feeling that when a person was sitting on the floor of one’s casual hookup’s entryway, wearing a suit jacket and tie but no pants, drunk with pleasure, a person might have somewhat of a problem.
Chapter Fourteen
A week later, just as she was about to leave work to go pick up Lin for their second outing, Dax appeared in her office.
“We’ll take my car this time.”
She didn’t know whether to slap him or kiss him. The competing urges were equally strong. He thought he could just waltz in a week after they’d had the most mind-blowing sex in the history of humankind, after not communicating with her all week, causing her to turn into a big pile of neuroses worthy of starring in her own Woody Allen movie, and act like everything was completely normal?
Apparently he could, because she was following him out to the elevator and watching as he hit the button for the garage. And she had to admit, they’d both agreed, that day in the canoe, that they were keeping things casual, so who was she to complain that things were unfolding as advertised?
There was also the part when they entered the dark garage, where she wanted to shove him inside his ginormous SUV and demand a repeat performance of last week.
Sighing, she buckled her seat belt and resigned herself to her fate. Which was tromping around a new development in Markham with quivering loins. Honest to God quivering loins. A month ago, she would have said that loins only quivered in romance novels. She shot Dax a glance. No investors today, apparently, because he was wearing dark jeans and a white oxford that made his olive skin pop.
He must have felt her watching him because he turned to her as the car was disgorged onto the street. As the dim light of the garage gave way to the sunny day, it was like heaven had aimed a sunbeam down on him, lighting up all the little lines at the corners of his eyes and the wash of a five-o’clock shadow along his jaw.
Quivering loins and hearts skipping beats. Apparently both those things were real.
“How’s Tinder?”
She blinked, resisting the urge to rear back as if he’d slapped her. How could he think she was still on Tinder when they were…well, what were they doing? “I haven’t been on Tinder for a while.”
He smirked. “Too busy?”
“Something like that.”
“I’m just wondering how it’s going, now that you’re really post-Mason.”
“Are you calling me a slut?” It was funny how it only took a second for them to fall into their old patterns of fighting, from before they were…whatever they were.
“No!” One hand left the steering wheel in a “hands up” gesture, as if he were surrendering. “Not at all! You know I have a history of endorsing the casual relationship. I may have my faults, but misogynistic double standards aren’t among them.”
She performed an exaggerated smirk. “So if anyone’s a slut here, it’s you, is that what you’re saying?”
He laughed. “I’m just saying I’m glad you seem to have Mason out of your system.”
She considered the statement. She didn’t really miss Mason per se. It was a little startling actually, how quickly she’d grieved him. But in truth, she wasn’t really comfortable with all the upheaval in her life, the uncertainty. Where was she going to live when the house sold? How long should she wait until she started looking for a serious relationship again? She was supposed to be back from her honeymoon now, pregnant with baby number one, and it was proving difficult to fully let go of the…certainty she’d had. That was the only way she could think to put it, but that sounded stupid. But you didn’t have those kinds of conversations with your frenemy-with-benefits. So she just said, “I think you might be right.”
“So where are we taking my mom today?” he asked as they left the skyscrapers of the financial district behind and started making their way east.
“Markham. There’s this development going up of small houses targeted at active retirees. But they’re in a condo corp, so all the exterior maintenance and landscaping is taken care of. And you can buy into a plan that covers interior repairs and upkeep, too.”
“Sounds promising. The house itself wouldn’t be that much different than what they have now.”
“Yeah, except it’s newly built with the idea of aging in place. So there are railings in the shower, and the counters are slightly lower than is standard and have an overhang so a wheelchair could be accommodated if need be.”