Page 55 of Here & Now

“It’s just breakfast,” he said, repeating what he’d told himself earlier.

“That’s not what I’m referring to.”

He dragged his hands through his hair, which was still disheveled from drying it with the towel. In doing so, the towel slipped down, and her gaze followed it. He hadn’t done it purposely, but he didn’t mind her reaction. She was obviously having trouble focusing on their conversation. He didn’t feel sorry for her, though. If she was canceling on him, he deserved to know why.

“What happened between last night and this morning that made you change your mind?”

“I… I’m only here for a little while.”

“I know that. So?”

“So, what’s the point of this?” She motioned between them.

He punched his hands on his hips. “Friendship, companionship, fun.”

“I didn’t come here for that.”

“Why are you punishing yourself like this?”

She frowned at him. “Punishing myself?”

“It’s like you think you don’t deserve to enjoy life, to have some fun.”

She shoved back the stool and stood. “I don’t have to sit here and listen to this.” She stalked off, and he followed.

“Bree, wait.”

“No.”

“Bree!”

As she turned to face him, her chest was heaving, and her cheeks were flushed.

“Please don’t go.”

“I’m not like you, Zane. I don’t have an easy-breezy attitude about life, and I don’t do casual sex.”

Now they were getting somewhere. “Is that what this is about, sex?”

She dragged in a breath. “Maybe. Sort of.”

He moved closer until she was within reach, but he kept his hands to himself. “We don’t have to have sex, Bree.”

She gazed at him with disbelief.

“I said we don’t have to, not that I don’t want to.”

Her tongue flicked out, and she licked her lips, but he kept still.

“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

She cocked her head. “But look at you.”

He glanced down at his bare chest, the towel slung low on his hips, and his bare feet on the tile floor. “It’s not my fault you came over before I got dressed,” he teased.

Finally, she cracked a smile, and relief flowed through him. In the background, the coffee pot clicked off.

“Why don’t you stay and have some coffee while I get dressed?”