Page 160 of Split or Swallow

Leo raised an eyebrow at her. Some of his usual attitude returned.

“Good thing I’ve always liked a challenge.”

Tem rolled her eyes.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. If you’re expecting to fuck me tonight, you can forget it.”

He laughed softly.

“I wouldn’t dream of expecting that.”

She shot him a look, but he only smiled wider.

“What I expect and what I want are two different things, Tem.”

The words were familiar: he’d said them during the Frisky Sixty, when she’d refused to undress for him. How simple life had been back then.

“You’re not sleeping in my bed either,” Tem said bluntly.

Leo smirked. “A bed isn’t required for what I want to do.”

She glared at him.

“You can spend the night in the kitchen. The chairs are hard as rocks.”

His smile widened. “Delightful. I look forward to it.”

Tem didn’t have anything to say to that, so she said nothing. It was obvious Leo was enjoying himself. To Tem’s utter surprise, she was enjoying herself too. She wasn’t exactly…having fun—too many emotional things had occurred tonight for that to be the case. But there was something satisfying about her back and forth with Leo: their banter felt natural, like she was competing against a worthy opponent. But she didn’t know what Leo wanted. And she doubted Leo did either. The wound with Evelyn was clearly still fresh. And yet, here he was, in her kitchen, and Tem knew she didn’t want him to leave.

Tem downed the rest of her drink, and Leo downed the rest of his.

“We’ve established that I’m not going to fuck you,” he said. “But are you going to let me kiss you?”

Tem crossed her arms.

“Will you stop that?”

He frowned. “Stop what?”

“Flirting with me.”

She expected Leo to have an immediate comeback, but instead he tilted his head.

“Does it really bother you?” he asked quietly.

Tem’s answer came against her will:

“No.”

Leo shifted closer. The walls of the kitchen seemed to shrink.

“Then why would you want me to stop?”

“Because when you flirt with me, I flirt back.”

“That’s the idea.”

“And when I flirt back, I feel like I’m betraying…myself.”