“Ah shit,” Gray said as he dissolved into laughter. “I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall.”
“It was pretty funny,” Faith admitted. “She was velcroed to Micah the entire evening. They spent most of it on the dance floor with her hands glued to his ass and her lips wherever she could plant them. I thought Micah was going to kill Nathan the next morning.”
Gray chuckled and shook his head. “Those two are pretty funny.”
“Yeah, they’re great.”
“So you think bald is sexy, huh.”
She raised her head in surprise. “Uh, well, on him it looks good.”
His eyes twinkled. “Do I need to shave my head so you’ll drool over me that way?”
To her never-ending irritation, she blushed again. “So uh…” She scrambled to direct the focus from her bemusement. “We’ve talked enough about me. What about you?”
“What about me?” he asked.
“Got a girlfriend? Someone back in Dallas you see?”
He shook his head. “Nope.”
She frowned. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“You’re too damn good-looking not to have at least one woman in the wings,” she muttered.
He grinned. “Well, I’m glad you think so, but there’s no woman. Scout’s honor. Truth is, I haven’t really gotten around to looking for a woman yet.”
“And what are you going to be looking for when you do?” Faith asked softly.
He looked surprised by her forward approach. He shifted forward in his chair and rested his elbow on the bar. Then he turned to look at her, his expression pensive, as if deciding whether or not he wanted to tell her.
“Soft and feminine. Not too soft, but not harsh.” His lips curled upward in a rueful smile. “Someone who doesn’t feel her femininity is a strike against her.”
She cupped her cheek in her palm and leaned her elbow on the bar as she stared at him. “Given this a lot of thought, haven’t you?”
He shrugged. “Not really. I just know what I want.”
That makes two of us. She wanted someone strong, unyielding, someone who could take care of her, someone not afraid to make decisions. Could he be that person?
She looked down at the napkin under her drink and played with the ends. Natural power radiated from Gray. Like a second skin he was comfortable wearing.
“Want to hear my other deep, dark secret?” he asked.
She grinned. “Of course.”
“I want a woman willing to let me call the shots.”
She stared at him in shock, unable to formulate a response. The seconds ticked by as silence settled between them.
Gray cleared his throat. “I’ve shocked you. It’s hard to make a statement like that and not come across as a knuckles-dragging-the-ground Neanderthal.” He shrugged again. “I don’t see a lot of women lining up for a guy like me.”
“That depends.” Her fingers gripped her drink, pressing into the damp glass until her fingertips were white.
“On what?”
“On what you’re willing to give a woman in return.”
Their gazes locked. She could see the flickers of interest in his eyes. If she gave him any sort of encouragement, they’d no doubt go back to her apartment and have sex. She licked her lips again.
“And what do you think a woman would want in return?” he asked silkily.
“More women wouldn’t mind a man being the proverbial man of the house if he didn’t abdicate his responsibility. If he took that responsibility seriously,” she said and immediately cringed at how preachy she sounded.
He nodded slowly. “That makes sense.”
Unable to stop herself, she continued on. “When a man isn’t willing to accept responsibility, a woman has no choice but to step up to the plate. Many times she has children to think about. Herself. Her family. As a result, women have figured out that they are not only capable, but oftentimes more adept at running the household than a man.”
“You make it sound like men as a species have dropped the ball entirely,” Gray said dryly.
“Women have done their fair share of fucking up,” Faith muttered.
God, she needed to just shut up before Gray tucked tail and ran as fast and as far away as he could. She sounded like a starchy man hater. Nothing could be further from the truth. But she was only just now sorting out her feelings when it came to relationships. She was on the cusp of a strange new world where she was trying to reach out and grab what she wanted. She felt edgy and impatient, and worse, she felt doomed to failure.
“I’m making a mess of this,” she muttered. “I should have just kept my mouth shut. I sound like a preachy, man-hating piranha, when in fact what I really want—” She broke off, mortified that she’d almost blurted out just what it was she did want.