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“Also,” he added, “I work out. Something you seemed to appreciate on the balcony.”
Only Cory could talk about his own physique and only amuse her rather than make her think he was a conceited ass. Okay, so he was a conceited ass, but she liked him that way.
A lot.
“I appreciated it at the yoga studio too,” she reminded him.
He stared straight ahead and gripped the wheel with more force. Soon his knuckles would crack. “Other times I chat online,” he said, evidently deciding he’d rather discuss his free-time exploits with her over ones of a sexual nature, including those she’d been party to. No matter. She’d work with whatever material he gave her.
“Oooh, porn?”
“Right.” He sniffed at her. “Astronomy porn.”
“Really?” She made her voice smoky. “Now you have my attention. Do tell.”
“Nothing to tell. There’s a local astronomy group, Celestia, that convenes online. They have a chat room.” He shrugged. “It’s better than watching bad movies on TV.”
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“You know, some people do other things when they can’t sleep at night,” she teased, elbowing him. “You could always give me a call.”
Just like that, he lapsed into silence again.
Sighing, she laced her fingers together, hating the huge gulf that had opened up between them. Even when they’d spent years fighting over petty shit, it had felt natural to gripe at him. This did not. He’d offered her a couple moments of normalcy followed by an arctic blast meant to stonewall her until she gave up trying. As if.
So she decided to blast right through the wall.
“Do you throw yourself at women in gyms often or was I just lucky?”
He didn’t spare her a glance. “You got lucky.”
“That part I knew. I was there, remember? I just meant it seemed so untamed for someone as controlled as you. Did you up your intake of Metamucil or something?”
His quick grin shocked the hell out of her. “I know what you’re doing.”
Do you? Because I sure don’t. “What’s that?”
“You’re trying to get me to forget what we’re about to do.” He reached over to grip her hand. “I appreciate it.”
“Actually, no, I was trying to work my way around to apologizing for missing our meeting Friday, but this works, too.” She swallowed thickly, fixated on the sight of his big hand holding hers. If holding hands made butterflies whirl in her belly, what it would be like to have his arms around her? “I sort of lied about having a headache. I just wasn’t ready to see you, in case things were weird. I know that’s totally unprofessional of me, and it won’t happen again. I just thought I should be honest. Since we’re kind of friends and all.” She risked a look at him. He stared straight ahead. “Aren’t we?”
“Yes,” he said gruffly. He didn’t seem terribly enthused about the idea, but his agreeing at all was progress. “Which is exactly why I don’t want to ruin what we have.”
“We have something?” She hated how unsure she sounded.
“Don’t we?”
“We work together. And we have great sex together.” She rubbed her thumb over his knuckles and marveled that he didn’t tug his hand away. “Something I think we could perfect if given the chance.”
“With my schedule right now, I can’t—”
“I know,” she said quietly.
God, did she ever know. Already those old fears about ending up like her brokenhearted dad after her mom left home were trying to poke their way through. So much for thinking she’d dealt with all her abandonment issues. And she’d thought getting into a sexual relationship with a workaholic was a good idea, why?
Oh yeah, right. She hadn’t thought. She’d just gone for it. Now she had to deal.
“Then you understand why I have to keep this platonic. It’s less messy.”
