I leaned down so I was looking her directly in the eye. “Ash, nothing happened with her. Nothing ever could, not after what you and I did last night. There is no other woman in the world I want to be with, other than you.”
CHAPTER 40
Ash
But I did feel like an idiot. I was standing in front of him wearing red underwear with shaved lady parts I knew would start itching in a few days’ time.
“Nothing happened?” I asked.
He shook his head. “There’s no way I could do anything with someone else, especially when you’re standing there looking like that.”
“Like what?”
He looked me up and down and despite the fact I think I hated him a little bit right now, I shivered.
“Like a goddess in red lace,” he said.
“Aaargh!” I pulled my hands out of his grip and took a step back. “Why are you doing this to me? Why arewedoing this? There has been this weird, constant, push-pull sexual vibe between us, even before we saw each other, via email even, and it’s making my head spin and making me wear red lacy things. God, I let you . . .that, in a broom closet full of spiderwebs. You know I pulled spiderwebs out of my hair last night?”
“We clearly have some unfinished business,” he said.
“Sex?”
“Sex.” He repeated it like a fact. Some irrefutable fact.Sex!We were meant to have sex!Fact!
He walked away from me contemplatively, and then sat on my bed. The image of him sitting on my bed made me want to sit down next to him,or on top of him. I fought that urge.
“Well, that’s no longer an option. That is totally off the cards now.”
He looked up at me and smiled, sexy and—
“Oh no!” I pointed at him. “You better stop all that.”
“Stop what?” He acted innocent now.
“Oh, please. You drip sex. Sex oozes from your pores. Your entireDNAis sex and sexiness and steamy flirting. Your smiles, your whispers, your come-hither eyes.”
“You think I have come-hither eyes?” He deliberately turned his gaze on me, and like laser beams of come-hitherness, they melted me.
“You are doing it now.” I folded my arms. “But it is not going to work. I’m back on a detox.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“I relapsed. Had a little cheat meal, and now I’m back on track.”
He laughed. “I’ve never heard myself being referred to as a cheat meal. But fair enough.” He stood up slowly and put his hands on his hips. “Far be it from me to keep you from your health goals. I would never want to derail that.”
“You wouldn’t?” Hang on. Was I a little disappointed by that?
“No. I respect your detox, Ash.”
“Oh. Oh.” I looked at him, surprised. “You’re not going to try and talk me out of it?”
“No.”
“Not like all the other times you’ve tried to talk me out of it?”
He straightened up and suddenly looked serious. “I haven’t talked you out of anything this whole time. I would never do that. Never push you into anything you weren’t sure you wanted. The ball has been in your court. It’s always your choice.”
