Page 69 of Tell Me Something

“Well, now, that could be a challenge.” He chuckled.

My face split in a grin. “I’ll need to ensure I don’t look at that spot when I come in. I should probably get some Clorox wipes or something.”

He shook his head. “I can still smell you right here, and I’d like to keep it that way, at least until they clean tonight.”

He made me want to hop up there and go at him all over again. “Oh,” was all I could manage.

“Come here,” he commanded softly.

I walked slowly around to him and was not prepared when he dragged me down into his lap and inhaled the scent of my hair.

“Do you trust me?”

“I want to, and so far I haven’t had a reason not to. Are you going to tell me who the blonde was?”

He leaned back so that we could see eye to eye. “She’s a colleague’s daughter and in town for a week. I took her out last night, and today she came to meet me for lunch.”

“I guess she decided to make you the meal,” I offered sarcastically.

“She kissed me, and I broke it off. She isn’t used to taking no for an answer.”

“I bet.” He hadn’t ended the kiss fast enough for my taste, but now wasn’t the time to be petty. “And does our exclusivity include kissing?”

Nodding, he claimed my lips, kissing me slowly. “When I told you that we’d be sexually exclusive, I meant it, Haylee.”

“So you didn’t want to sleep with her?”

I realized he was trying to figure out whether to be truthful or not.

“You can be honest,” I coaxed, meaning it.

“You know my history when it comes to sex.”

I did, and it made me hot and bothered when I thought about the first time he had tied my hands up. “Yes, but now that you can, I didn’t know if you maybe want to make up for lost time.”

He chuckled. “I’m having more sex now than I’ve had in the last five years. And, yes, if you’re doing the math, that does include the last year of my marriage. So between work and keeping up with you, I think it’s fair to say that I wouldn’t have the time or energy to sleep with anyone else.”

He hadn’t really answered the question.

“But…” I hedged.

“But obviously part of me is curious if I’m, you know, able to. The thought of losing you isn’t worth the curiosity, though, and that’s all it is. Curiosity. I have social obligations that dictate I have a date, and I don’t want to hash out the details each and every time. If I was interested in taking another woman to bed, I wouldn’t have bothered telling you that we were exclusive.”

It troubled me that he seemed to have all of the decision-making power in this process. And I’d given it to him on a silver platter. If I was being honest with myself, it wasn’t the kiss that was upsetting me the most, considering he had stopped it. It was the fact that he’d chosen to spend his time with her over me when I’d sat at home last night waiting for a phone call or knock. Sighing, I recognized it was time to change that scenario. “So to clarify, you’re going to date other women, so I can date others, as well?”

He frowned. “I’m going out with other women from time to time, but we wouldn’t be dating, just—”

“Going on dates?” I supplied cynically and heard his teeth grind.

“Do you want to date other guys?” he snapped.

I snapped back. “I want to go out to dinner and go to a show with someone instead of by myself, so I guess the answer is yes. And if what you’re saying is you have to go out from time to time, and it can’t be with me, then I’m assuming the same goes for my plans that can’t include you.”

“Well, I don’t want to go out, so that’s the difference.”

“Are you planning to see her again?”

“Haylee.”