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He looked at her. Was she serious? “How many men have you been with?”
“What?”
He let out an oath and took another step back. “Don’t tell me you’re a virgin.”
Landry looked horrified and Willa wanted to defend virgins all over the world. Instead, she kept her mouth shut, her face flushing and giving her away.
He let out another curse. “How old are you anyway?”
“Twenty-five, and you’re wrong. I’ve been with plenty of men.” She groaned inwardly. Why had she said that?
He started to laugh, shaking his head as he stared at her. “Twenty-five? Aren’t there any able-bodied men in South Dakota?”
“No, there’s only sheep,” she snapped. “Of course there are men, and I told you, I’ve been with my share.” Her chin went up.
“Then all the men are with the sheep,” he said with a laugh.
“That isn’t funny.” Her voice broke.
He stopped laughing. “Sorry.”
“Could we just concentrate on finding the painting and you stop ruining my life?”
He nodded solemnly. “I haven’t ruined your life. At least I hope not.” He took another step back.
“Would you stop treating me like I have some communicable disease?”
“Sorry. It’s just that you’re an attractive woman and I don’t want to be the one who deflowers you.”
She groaned. Deflower? Could she be any more mortified? “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like I would want you anyway.”
“You’re right. The first time should be with someone you love. Someone who respects you and wants your first time to be something wonderful.”
“Could you please stop?” His words were getting to her. How could he sound so sensitive when she knew he was just the opposite? And he was still looking at her as if she was a freak of nature.
Was it possible that she could hate Landry Jones any more? Obviously it was. She glared at him, wanting to convince him he was wrong about her, but at the same time knowing she would be wasting her breath.
“The storage unit is in Everglades City,” she burst out.
He blinked at her.
“Let’s go,” she said, and started for the door.
“Hold on,” he said, grabbing her arm and then quickly letting go of it. “Sorry, forgot the ground rules,” he said, acting as if she’d burned him.
She narrowed her gaze at him. It wasn’t the ground rules that had made him behave the way he had. Men like Landry Jones didn’t obey rules. The man was probably a killer, a dirty cop; he certainly was no gentleman. So why was he acting as if she had the plague because he thought she was a virgin? She’d bet he’d taken his share of virgins. So why draw the line with her? She felt insulted.
“We have to wait until everyone goes to bed around here,” he said. “We can’t just take off. Not unless we want to be followed by whoever tried to kill you earlier.”
She hadn’t thought of that. She’d been too angry with Landry. “Fine.”
“In the meantime I think we should take Odell up on his offer of a steak.”
“You have to be kidding.” Having dinner with someone who wanted to kill her was the last thing on her mind.
“I would think a woman from South Dakota would eat beef.”
She glared at him, still too angry with him to be civil. “Lamb and mutton, remember, all those sheep.”
