He smirked. “Oh yeah? How?”
“I might have to hold you here against your will.” The sun was dipping lower, so I pushed my sunglasses up on my head as I took a sip of wine, carefully avoiding his eyes. I was afraid if I looked at him, he’d be able to read my mind. “To feed me. Protect me. And satisfy my insatiable sexual appetite.”
He laughed. “That sounds like torture.”
“I know, right?” We shared a smile and I knew it was time for a little truth. “Seriously, I can’t thank you enough for putting your life on hold to help me like this. I know you didn’t owe me a damn thing, after the way I’ve treated you. But the fact that you were willing to look past that and do this for me means a lot.”It means everything.
“It was my pleasure.” He bit his lip as he flipped the steaks. “Truth be told, it’s been kind of nice.”
I held my breath before my curiosity got the best of me. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He closed the lid on the grill and reached for his wine. “Living alone gets lonely. It’s been kind of nice having someone to talk to, eat with—”
“You can’t tell me regular sex didn’t sweeten the pot,” I stage-whispered. “We both know you’re as voracious as I am.”
“Maybe it’syouI’m addicted to,” he whispered, touching the tip of my nose. “Ever think of that?”
Every time he said stuff like that the hold he had on my heart intensified just a little, making it tough to breathe sometimes. What the hell was happening to me? “There are worse things you could be addicted to,” I said, trying to make light of his comment. “I’m not bad for your teeth. I won’t give you heart disease or lung cancer, cirrhosis of the liver—”
“No, but you could break my heart.”
Oh, boy.Just when I thought I had a foothold, he made a comment like that and I lost it.
“Little old me? Don’t be silly.” Rhett was ex-military and a serious bad-ass. He was flirting with the billionaires’ club. And he was hot as hell. No way could an average Jane like me wreak havoc on his heart.
“You don’t give yourself enough credit.” He lifted the lid and plated the food before carrying it to the teak table in the middle of my small deck.
We dug into our food, letting the silence stretch on while we both processed our thoughts. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I asked, “So, your phone must have been blowing up, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“Those women you’ve beenseeing…” All of whom had moved to the top of my hit list without even realizing it. “How did they react when they found out you were engaged?”
He shook his head, a smirk on his face as he cut into his steak. “I made it clear I’ve known you a long time. We have a lot of history.”
“And?” I knew I had no right to ask for details, but I was dying to know whether his booty calls had pitched a fit over our fake engagement.
He leaned back in his chair, his full lips twitching with amusement. “There may have been some tears, accusations hurled, cursing that would have made my sweet mother blush.”
My jaw dropped. If they’d reacted that way they must have been heavily invested in theircasualrelationship. “Are you sure they knew you guys weren’t exclusive?”
He shrugged before returning to his meal. “I’m always upfront about my expectations, Briar. The last thing I’d want to be accused of is leading a woman on.”
I didn’t doubt that, since I’d always known Rhett to be a straight-shooter. But I couldn’t blame those poor women for falling for him… for foolishly believing they might be the lucky one to change his mind about commitment. I’d had a few of those asinine thoughts myself and I wasn’t even looking for love.
“How many were there?” We’d touched on this before, but the more time we spent together the more curious I was about the women who’d come before me. “You told me about the lawyer, but—”
“A few that I dated regularly.” He brought the fork to his lips, a teasing glint in his eye. “Why? Are you jealous?”
I tried to laugh but it came out as more of an exasperated huff. “In your dreams. Why would I care who you date? Or sleep with?” Ugh! Why did I have to draw on that visual when I still had to choke down half a steak?
“If you say so,” he said, shaking his head.
“What?” I sat up a little straighter, trying to tone down the defensive screech by clearing my throat. “You think I want you?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I think you’ve had me.”
And that’s what made it so hard to let him go. Damn him. “Right. So, by the time we call an end to this ruse, we should have had our fill of each other, don’t you think?”
