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“Shane?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for coming to check on me.”
“No problem. Just be sure to tell people when you’re heading into the hills, all right? We were worried.”
She got quiet again, and despite the beauty around them, the running water and deep shadows and dancing Aspen leaves, Shane couldn’t take the quiet. He’d gotten used to her voice.
“You okay, Merry?”
“Sure.”
He stopped and pulled her around to look at him. “I feel like I should say something about last night. So you’ll know it wasn’t…”
“I know! I know it wasn’t some big declaration. I’m not your girlfriend. And I’m good with that. I swear. I needed that. Big time.”
He answered her smile, but that hadn’t been what he’d meant. He’d wanted to say… Well, fuck, he’d wanted to say it had meant something, that it hadn’t been just some attempt to get laid. But how could he tell her it had been meaningful without implying that he’d want something more?
“I don’t think I can do the friends with benefits thing if you’re dating around,” she said. “That’s too much for me. But last night? With you? That was so good, Shane.”
“I’m not dating around,” he growled, strangely angry that she might think that. “Look, I’m not the settling down type, but I’m not a player. I’m not sleeping with anyone else.”
“Oh, good!” she said brightly, then a blush climbed her cheeks. “Maybe we could…”
He raised his eyebrows, wondering what she was about to say.
Merry covered her face and took a deep breath, then seemed to brace herself and stand straighter. “Maybe we could do it again? Just once more? Or more than that? I don’t know how these things work. Would that make me a booty call?”
“What? No!” He shook his head and then saw the way her face fell. “I mean, yes we can do it again. Christ, Merry.”
She crossed her arms. “What?”
“You’re not a booty call, all right? I want to sleep with you again, but not like that.”
“Okay,” she said cautiously.
“It’s just that you’re nice. I like you. And I don’t know how to say that I want to sleep with you, but I don’t want any…”
“More?” she offered softly.
Jesus. How could he even answer that? What kind of man was he? “It’s not that I wouldn’t want more. You’re a great girl. I like you.”
“I get it,” she said and flashed him a comforting smile. “I feel the same way.”
Her voice wasn’t quite convincing. He studied her carefully.
She covered her eyes. “Stop looking at me. I want to have sex with you, okay? Can we stop talking about this?”
Well, fuck, he couldn’t argue with that. “Okay,” he finally said.
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She dropped her hand and smiled. “Just don’t tell Grace.”
“I value my male anatomy way too much for that.”
“Hey, me, too!”
