Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
“Oh come on, there must be something. When was the last time you had a date?”
He shook his head.
He did not want to be having this conversation. But my need to have it was stronger than his resistance. The man had me curious.
“Was it a week ago? A month ago? Seven years?”
He sighed. “I don’t know. A few weeks ago. Right before you vandalized my car.”
“What was her name?”
“Jessica.”
“Jessica what?”
“I don’t know. Something with an S, I think.”
“So I guess you only went out with her once since you don’t even know her last name?”
A guilty smirk dimpled his handsome face. “Actually, I went out with her a few times. I’m just bad with names.”
“Really? What’s my last name?”
He answered without missing a beat. “Pain in the ass.”
I ignored that. “So you went out with Jessica S. a few times. Why did it end?”
He shrugged. “It never really began. We just got along and…were compatible.”
“So you were compatible, yet it only lasted a few dates. Why is that?”
“I didn’t mean we were compatible for anything long term.”
It took me a minute to catch on. “You mean compatible as in you were compatible in the bedroom?”
“It is what it is.”
“So you’re saying it was a sexual thing only.”
“We went out to dinner a few times. Enjoyed each other’s company. I just like keeping things simple.”
“Really? Why is that?”
“I like my life better without unnecessary complications.”
“So you see women as complications, then?”
“Most women are complicated, yes.”
I pondered that for a moment. “So how does it work? You meet a woman and ask her if she’s interested in a night of sex only?”
Bennett chuckled. “It’s not quite that simple.”
I teased. “But if it’s not that simple, it would be complicated. And you don’t do complicated.”
He mumbled something under his breath about me being a pain the ass and shook his head—something he did frequently when I spoke.
“No, seriously,” I said. “I’m interested. How does it work? Do you use a dating service or something?”
Bennett glanced to me and back to the road a few times. Seeming to realize I had no intention of letting the subject go, he sighed. “It’s less sterile than that. If I take a woman out, at some point the conversation inevitably turns to what both of us are looking for in a relationship. I’m honest and say I want to keep things casual. But it’s not hard to tell what a woman is looking for before you get to that point. So I avoid the ones that are…complicated.”
“You’re saying you can tell whether a woman might be interested in a sex-only relationship by just, what, talking to her for a few minutes?”
“Usually.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
He shrugged. “Seems to have worked out for me so far.”
I looked out the window, lost in thought for a minute, then asked my next question while watching him in the reflection. “What about me?”
Bennett’s eyes completely left the road and his head swung toward me after that. “What about you?”
“You’ve spent some time with me now. Tell me, would I be interested in a sexual relationship only, or am I too complicated?”
I turned back to look at him and watched as he raised a hand to his chin and rubbed. A wide smile spread across his face when he stopped pretending to deliberate over his answer.
“You’re as complicated as they come, sweetheart.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then shut it, then opened it. “I am not.”
He flashed me a look that said bullshit.
“I’m not!”
“You’ve been on a break with that moron for what, three, four months now? How many men have you gone out with during that time?”
My lips pursed.
“So I take that as a none, then?”
“I needed a break.”
“From sex?”
“From men.” I frowned. “Andrew really hurt me.”
“Sorry. But that just proves my point. You could have gone out and had sex if you wanted—a physical release. But you associate that with a relationship.”
I guess he was right. I’d had a one-night stand my first year in college and hated the way I felt the next day. I suppose I was complicated.
Now I was the one who wanted to change the subject.
“Have you ever had a girlfriend?” I asked.
“Define girlfriend?”
“A person you dated exclusively.”
“Sure. I told you, I’m not big on sharing when I’m seeing someone.”
“How long was your longest relationship?”
“I don’t know, a few months. Maybe six.”
“Have you ever been in love?”
Bennett’s jaw tightened. Clearly that question caused some hurt.
He cleared his throat. “You said you owe me one, right?”
I nodded.
“Let’s change the subject to talking about business, and we’ll call it even.”
Chapter 17
* * *
Bennett
“Annalise? So great to see you.”
The guy who had just walked into the room to join the meeting came around and hugged Annalise. I watched his hand travel to just above the crack of her ass as he wrapped his arms around her—debatable whether that would be considered appropriate for a colleague.