“Make me a love-drunk fool.”Who doesn’t deserve you.
“Yeah, right.” Averting her eyes, she lifts her drink again. “Why are you looking down at me like that?”
“Physics, darling,” I answer smoothly. “I’m simply taller.”
“Right.”
Wrong. I’m looking down at her like a lover, remembering what it’s like to be drunk on her.“I wouldloveto know what’s keeping your breasts in that dress.”
“Hey!” She presses her hand to her chest, her laughter a sudden bark around the word.
“Careful.” I catch her by the elbow when it looks as though she might topple back. “One wrong move, and the patrons of this bar will get an eyeful, and I’ll be forced to fight the lot of them.”
“To protect my honor? Again?”
“Plain old jealousy, I’m afraid. If I can’t look, no one can.”
“There will be no nip slips in this dress.” Leaning closer, she flicks her finger against my chest. “Womanly trade secrets. Don’t ask. I can’t tell.”
“What is the probability of finding an enormous pair of knickers under that dress later?” I slant her a narrowed look. “The kind made from trampoline skins.”
“I suggest you remove your head from my undergarments,” she says with mock primness. “You won’t find anything under this dress—”
“Daring.”
“—because when we get back later, we’ll be parting at our respective bedroom doors.”
“Ah, yes. I forgot. My apologies.”
“Sorry, my ass.”
“Your arse should be sorry. For making me stare at it.”
“Favorite color,” she demands suddenly.
“No one is going to ask you my favorite color. They’re more likely to ask you what I’m like in bed.”
“Oliver.”
“I had a nanny once who used to say my name like that.” Her expression softens. “Hadbeing the operative word.”
She rolls her eyes, unimpressed. “Siblings?”
“One. A sister. Younger. And you?”
She gives her head a quick shake. “Stepsiblings. We don’t maintain contact.”
“Your parents are divorced?”
“My dad passed, and my mom has been divorced twice.” This she says without inflection but not without some hurt.
“Yet you believe in marriage?”
“If you’d met my parents, you’d know they aren’t exactly the role model types. But I’ve seen happiness, love, and fidelity. I know it’s out there. What about you?”
I sigh, indifferent to the whole concept. “I’m on the fence, which is probably odd for a man of my age.”
“See? I don’t even know how old you are.”
