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From here, her vanilla fragrance was overlaid by his fabric softener, which should not be attractive, but it was. They’d been having a pleasant enough time. Now he’d soothe her feelings, be the bigger person. “I know what you were thinking back in the laundry room.”
Calista blinked her green eyes, and her gaze swiveled to her folded clothes. “You do?”
His shirts were there, two of them. They’d serve as an ice breaker. “You can keep the t-shirts, if you like.”
Calista stayed quiet.
“You were in the laundry room a while,” Ronan prompted lightly.
Calista folded her laptop down between her thigh and the window. She leaned back, and with a few sentences, described her ideas for a more efficient accessible dryer.
Her mechanically focused words blew away every preconceived notion he’d had that she was thinking of Bria and him. He didn’t know Calista at all, and he found himself really wanting to. How could he reconcile his need for distance and his interest? He gripped his hands together, fighting her appeal, struggling to find a way to get them back on a clear, professional path.
Calista blushed, and the flush went from her face, down to her chest, and under the V-neck. “There’s more to what I was thinking in there, to be honest.”
Intrigued, Ronan smiled, because he wanted to know, had to know. Ronan shook her feet covered in pink socks. “Yeah?”
Calista grinned at his hand. “Piper kicks my feet when she wants me to talk.”
He’d been right, not that he should know this about her. He couldn’t help being pleased that he’d deciphered a piece of what made her tick, because he liked what he learned. That didn’t always happen when layers were peeled back. “You have an innovative way of thinking.” He wasn’t a guy put off by smart women. He wanted a well-rounded family. Ronan shoved that thought down. He was thinking in the abstract, not about wanting kids with her in particular, little blond ones who destroyed the house.
Calista shrugged her shoulder. “I get wrapped up in my own head, Piper found a way to pull me out. Piper’s right about most things.”
“Is she?”
Calista moved her light green gaze to his. “Piper thinks I should get out more, be social in a different way. I’ve been mostly resisting.” She opened her palms. “I love hockey, working on mechanical puzzles, my friends, and my family. That’s enough, right?”
Sounded good to him, plus sex. Who didn’t want sex? “Only you can answer that.”
Calista flushed harder. “I need to improve my romantic life.”
Whoa, Ronan was following and knew he should shut this topic down. They’d gone from zero to deeply personal within a heartbeat. Derailing this conversation would be easy. Rise and turn on the TV. Heck, show her to the door, tell her they’d speak at the office. He couldn’t make himself move. “Do you need more?”
Calista looked at him helplessly and nodded. “I told her that when I met the right guy, I’d put in the effort. She pushes anyway. Now, I think she’s right.”
Don’t ask. Shut this down.He was going three hundred miles an hour toward the wall. That wasn’t how he played his game. “Why is she right?”
Calista shrugged.
“You can tell me.”
Calista looked at him with big honest eyes, so open his chest hurt. “I was in the laundry room, and I had other thoughts too.” She pointed to a pair of blue cotton panties atop her pile of clean clothes.
Snowers blue. He swallowed and rubbed his jaw. She was so sweetly consistent.
“Those are the type of undies in my gym bag.” Calista opened her palm. “I know you’re not a guy.”
“I’m a guy.” Ronan said that with absolute certainty. If he weren’t, he would be able to rise and step away from her while she described her panties.
Calista looked out the window. “I know, I mean one who is into me. Guys aren’t into me as a woman, they don’t get me, they’re into women like Bria.” She pointed to her undies. “Not women who wear comfy blue cotton instead of lacy thongs.”
Ronan said nothing, but his heart pounded harder. Not going there. Not doing it.
Calista tilted her chin. “I have been out with guys before.”
Not going there. Not doing it.His lips tightened. He went there. Of course she dated, of course guys were interested. Look at her, enticing and gorgeous. Why had she brought that up? He wasn’t tracking, or she wasn’t speaking in a linear pattern. “Yeah?”
“My love relationships never work out. I can’t get past a few dates.” Calista tapped her temple. “I’m a lot.”
