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“We’ll see.” He winked.
“Do you even date?” I demanded.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked in mock exasperation.
“Never mind.”
“Notnever mind. Say what you mean.”
“Do you date? Or do you have a girl in every port?”
“I’m not a sailor.”
“No, but you’re a Nomad, who doesn’t belong to one chapter. Your words, not mine. I assume that means you find female companionship every now and again?”
Jealousy blossomed when I thought of Slash with another woman. Several other women. I wanted to claw their eyes out when I thought of him doing to them what he’d done to me. The thought of him wanting someone the way he had wanted me was fuel to a fire I didn’t know was burning.
“I haven’t lived like a monk,” he said softly. “Have you lived like a nun?”
I sighed. “Touché.”
“And though you haven’t asked, I’ll tell you. I’m not married. I’m not divorced. And I haven’t got any other children.”
“That you know about,” I muttered.
“No. I know. I might not have lived like a monk, but I wasn’t reckless either.”
“Reckless likeweweren’t reckless?” I asked with a roll of my eyes.
“You’re feisty. I like that. A lot. Besides, we weren’t reckless. We used protection. It failed, but we tried.”
Silence descended between us as we devoured the appetizers. It was strangely comfortable, being here with this man, even under these circumstances. My body hummed with awareness at his proximity.
Jazz’s words kept floating back to me, but every time they did, I shoved them away.
I wanted to ask him more questions about himself. I was curious about him. Naturally.
“Do you have any siblings?” I asked finally.
He tore open a small packet that had a hand wipe inside and gave it to me so I could clean my fingers from the spicy wings.
“No, no siblings. You?”
I shook my head.
He reached out and wiped the corner of my mouth. “Sauce,” he said with a grin.
I blushed. His touch was so familiar, and yet we were still nearly strangers.
“Where are you staying?” I asked suddenly. “I mean, while you’re in town?”
“The clubhouse. They have spare rooms.”
“Oh. Good.” I bit my lip and looked at the table. “Slash?”
“Yeah?”
“Why didn’t you bail?” I forced myself to look at him. “When you found out the truth, why didn’t you bolt? Especially after I let you off the hook. It’s what I expected, you know?”
