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“No. No. Nothing like that. We haven’t even… I just didn’t know how to take it when he said something.”
“Okay. Here’s the deal. He can be rough for one of two reasons. If it’s anger at you or women in general, he’s mean, and you run like hell.”
I shook my head, though she couldn’t see me. “He’s not like that.”
“Good… Hard, rough sex can also be a primal, dominant-male thing—him letting his passion loose. Here’s the question for you: The dominant lion or wolf will fight to the death to protect his mate. Do you want that one, or the one that runs from a fight with his tail between his legs?”
When she put it like that, it sounded like there was only one possible answer.
“You think it’s that simple?”
“If you’re too scared to try, you don’t deserve to run with the leader of the pack. Instead you should settle for the runt of the litter. Me, I’ll take the passion of Randy Rough over Milton Milquetoast any day. You can’t fight evolution. Give in to your inner cavewoman.”
“I’m just not sure…”
“How will you know until you try it? For my money, any woman who hasn’t enjoyed an occasional rough doggy session hasn’t been properly mounted.”
I thought for a moment. The wordroughscared me, andmountedsounded more like elk rutting than bedroom sex.
“Who is this guy anyway?” she asked.
No way was I going there. “Just a guy I met.”
“Good for you. It’s about time you loosened up a little and met a real man.”
After we finished talking, the lesson between the lines became clear. In Serena’s terms, I didn’t know what I was missing, because I’d never dated arealman.
Chapter 15
Adam
The next day,it was almost lunchtime when Boxer picked up his desk phone. “Sure. Send ’em up.”
He turned to me. “They’re here. Let’s do the dog-and-pony show in three.” Conference room three was small and set up for video on the screen.
A few minutes later, the two west coast agents arrived, looking for Neil and towing roller bags behind them.
He settled them in the conference room while I made a pit stop in the head.
When I returned, Neil was gathering up files from his desk. “A heads up, we’re waiting for a family member—due at noon.”
I shrugged. It was unusual, but not unheard of. Sitting down, I resigned myself to more bank reality TV watching. After another half hour on the video treadmill, I went to refresh my coffee.
Neil waved me over when I returned. “The relative is here. Let’s get this over with.”
I followed Neil into the conference room. I realized immediately that I’d been wrong to assume the Phoenix Bensons were separate from the LA Bensons—Dennis Benson was in the room. The scene knocked the wind out of me for a second. But fuck it, I could handle anything he could dish out. He was on my turf now. He had his daddy behind him, but I had the Bureau.
Neil and I exchanged cards with special agents Parsons and Newsom.
“Special Agent Adam Cartwright,” I said as I handed my card to my nemesis, Dennis Benson.
After my ACL injury in the fight with him, my knee was never the same. I couldn’t play my senior year, and any prospect of professional football evaporated.
He handed me his card with a phony smile. “It’s been a while.”
“It has,” I replied.
Parsons’ eyes narrowed as she took in our exchange. “Neil, why don’t you run us through what you have?”
