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She opened her eyes and met his gaze. “What?”

“Are you seeing other men?”

“I’ve spent the last two nights with you. I haven’t had time to see anyone else.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“To be honest, I haven’t thought about it.”

His jaw jumped as if he were grinding his teeth together, a pulse of frustration beneath his skin. “I’m not asking to bring this out of hiding. With that column you write…”

She felt a sudden shock of horror. He knew about the column? How? She imagined him reading it and—

“If you could respect my privacy. Not mention me by name.”

“Of course!” she said quickly.

“Everything in my life, everything I do and I am…it’s for my family. My siblings. My father. My name.”

“I understand. I’d never put your name out there.”

“It’s not that I’m embarrassed by you, Beth. You’re amazing. I just… I don’t know what this is. What we’re doing. But I need it. For me. Just for myself. And maybe that’s why I like that no one knows. Does that make any sense?”

She didn’t know why, but it did make sense. It felt…safe this way. She nodded.

Eric cleared his throat. “And I guess what I want is to know that when you’re with me, it’s just me. That it’s private. That you’re not seeing anyone else. For however long. A few days. Whatever it is.”

That was what he wanted? Privacy and exclusivity? As if she needed anyone else’s attention after spending the night with him. As if she had the least bit of interest in another man’s hands on her.

“If that’s not your style, that’s fine, but I can’t read that column and wonder if—”

“Of course,” she interrupted. “Of course I won’t see anyone else right now.”

His shoulders relaxed a little. “Yeah? I don’t want to try to change anything for you.”

“I never see more than one person at a time,” she said with complete honesty.

He arched a startled look over his shoulder. “Never?”

She shook her head, frowning at the disbelief in his voice.

“Okay,” he said.

“And you can call me,” Beth whispered. “You can call and it can still be secret.”

He was quiet for a long time, and since he was facing away from her, she couldn’t read his expression. Was he angry? Offended? Finally he took a deep breath and said, “I’d like that.”

God, so would she. She nodded as he turned toward her. He touched her cheek, then brushed a quick kiss across her mouth before he stood. Her heart made a slow turn in her chest as he left.

She just sat there holding her breath until she heard her front door close.

What the hell was she doing? She didn’t trust him. He didn’t want anyone to know they were lovers. It was all wrong, and yet she felt infatuated.

Was it just the sex? Or was his secrecy the thing she liked?

She had to be at work before eleven, but Beth let herself curl back beneath the covers anyway. They were crisp and cool and she stretched her limbs out, reveling in the feel of her naked body against the cotton.

The sex was reason enough to feel giddy, but maybe it was his reticence that she liked. After all, her heart had been broken by a man who hadn’t been able to keep his mouth shut. No, actually, her heart had been mashed into unusable pieces by a man who’d never even intended to keep his mouth shut.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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