AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Roman tell you that?”
“I guessed, but he confirmed it. I already know you’ve taught yourself to cook like a chef. Degree, or no degree, you’re a renaissance man, Max. And for the record? I’ve known more academics than most people. A university degree does not decree instant compatibility, nor does the lack of one mean two people cannot find and maintain common ground. You may not have my brain, but you’re a long way from stupid.” She smiled up at him. “Unless you really refuse to take me up on my offer. Then I’m going to revise my opinion of your I.Q.”
“Brat.”
“Matej calls me that sometimes, but it sounds different coming from you.”
“I sure as hell hope so.” The temptation to kiss her was so strong, he had to step back.
Only his hands refused to let go, so the distance between them was limited and not real effective.
“Five,” she said in a breathy voice that revealed he wasn’t the only one affected by their nearness. “You said there were five reasons and you’ve only given me four so far.”
“You’re six years younger than me.”
She gave him a considering look. “You know, for a man not in the market for a relationship, an awful lot of your excuses are based on your perception of long-term compatibility.”
He didn’t have an answer for that, or at least one that would make sense—to either of them.
“But six years? Really?” she went on, when he didn’t say anything to her observation. “Sixteen might worry me, twenty-six would give me some doubt, but six? Please. When we were teenagers, those six years would have mattered, but we’re both adults now and they just don’t.”
“I’m thirty and I should have enough self-control to keep my hands off you.”
“But you don’t?” she asked hopefully.
He found himself grinning as the inevitability of what was going to happen between them washed over him. “I don’t.”
And if she wasn’t convinced by his reasons, he wasn’t going to hang on to them like a sulky child. She was right, this was just sex and if she wasn’t pushing for more, who was he to insist she should?
“Seriously?” she asked.
“Oh, yeah.”
“Now?”
He shook his head. “You have work to do today.”
“It’s the weekend, I can take some time off,” she said suggestively.
“I’m teaching a class this morning. Advanced techniques in hand-to-hand combat. I need to be there in forty minutes, but I’ll be done by three,” he said quickly when her face fell.
He could call in and cancel class, but he wanted her to have some time without him around to think about what he’d said and change her mind if she was going to.
“Hmm . . . not feeling like working. Maybe I’ll get a massage.”
“I guarantee you’ll get plenty of touching when I come back.”
“That’s what I’m hoping, but to maximize the experience, I should work on getting relaxed.” He couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.
Scientists didn’t think like normal people. Roman might be more soldier than scientist now, but the man still proved the rule.
Then he realized why she was so tense. “The break-in threw you, didn’t it?”
“It scared me, yes.”
He should have realized, but she’d done that thing with him that she clearly did with her family. Pretended to be okay when she was frightened and facing the unknown. He wasn’t going to fall for it again. “Why didn’t you go stay with family?”
“Everyone but Roman is in a fairly new relationship. They don’t need me horning in on their privacy.”
