Page 98 of Just for Tonight

“Good point. We do not.” His words are clipped and precise.

I sigh. “Then bear on demand is out of the question.”

“But…”

“I’ll just have to keep taking my chances.” I’m deliberately pushing him. A thing with Jake Cavendish is exactly what I want, which means I have to spell that out for him – even change his mind. He’s been straight about his expectations being purely physical. But the fact is that Jake is a guy I can count on. He’s the one I want to be with, and now that I’ve realized as much, I’d like to have agreement and move forward into a thing.

And he knows it. “I’m not going there, Mackenzie.”

“I never expected you to,” I say. It’s true. He’s never misled me. If I have hopes, that’s me changing the rules. “You’re the one who started this conversation.”

He would love to have a sharp comeback, but I see that he has nothing. He frowns when he realizes the same. “We were in agreement, right from the start.”

“We were. But I like you. A lot. So, I’d like to review the rules and maybe modify them.”

“No,” he says flatly and turns away.

I’m encouraged, despite this. So long as there’s any potential for a relationship with this man, I’ll give him the time and space he needs.

“The thing is, Jake, that you’re wrong. You could be a hero, but only if you decided it was what you wanted to do.”

“And otherwise?”

“I guess you’ll remain alone and an asshole.”

He looks at me hard, then his eyes narrow. “I’ll stick with what works,” he says curtly.

I keep my voice cheerful. “If you know any good candidates for bear on demand, maybe you could introduce me.”

Jake’s eyes blaze. I think he’s going to breathe fire, but he stops himself with visible effort. He nods once, pivots and marches back into the bedroom. By the time I finish in the bathroom, he’s dressed and waiting at the door, tossing his keys with impatience.

I stop to give him a kiss before I leave the house, and I make sure it’s a kiss to remember.

I’m not afraid to use anything I’ve got to change Jake’s mind.

By the way he kisses me back, I have to think he’s already halfway convinced.

27

Jake

Despite the evening’s celebratory activities, I’m feeling quite bear-ish when I get back to the house after taking Mackenzie home. I’m grumpy. Growly.

Alone and not liking it one bit.

A thing. She wants to have a thing. She left no doubt of that, and the problem is that I’m tempted.

Very tempted.

I have never ever been this tempted, and that bites.

She says I could be a hero. Not on your life.

But she’s right about one thing. If I chose that path, I could make it happen.

I remind myself of my limits. I recite the advantages of being solitary and of being an asshole. I pace the kitchen so many times that I could wear out the linoleum if it wasn’t already worn. My own arguments sound thin, even to me, and that’s a very bad sign.

I should never have come back to Empire.