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He looked at me. “I would have called. Carly put me in the time out corner for five minutes. I had some time to kill.”
“To be fair, when I left this morning, neither of us knew you were going to be a very bad boy,” I teased.
He laughed softly. “I knew.” His finger trailed along my collar bone, making me shiver. “At least, I hoped.”
Mmm. If he kept doing that, I would be ready for round two in no time. I gave him a playful shove. “Why did Carly put you in time out?”
“She had a thought that their white cat should be brown and the way to do that was with peanut butter. I gave her a firm no. She didn’t like that and sent me to time out to think about how I could be a better uncle. That child is a menace.” But the affection in his voice told me he didn’t really mind.
Oh. My insides melted, much to my disgust. I didn’t want to know this about him, that he was so great with kids.Sex, I reminded myself sternly.This is just sex. But still, I couldn’t resist probing deeper into his life.
“You’re a good brother. A good uncle.” I paused, not wanting to intrude too far where I might not be welcome. “It must have been hard for you to be away from them for so long.”
“It sucked not seeing Suzie and her kids. I missed my parents. I missed Sam. But it was necessary. My ex was here and I needed to…not see her for a while.”
“Oh.” I mulled that over. That must have been one hell of a painful divorce to keep him away from his family for so long. “Where is she now?”
“Still here in Hart’s Ridge.”
“But you came back.”
“Well, yeah. It’s been three years. I’m over it.” He took a lock of my hair and twisted it around his finger. “And my dad needs me. My mom needs me.”
I wondered if he had run into his ex yet. The first time was always the worst.
“Any more questions, kitten?” he asked.
A strange feeling settled over me.Calm.Like no matter what I asked, he would answer, no problem. Which was weird. I didn’t know what to do with it.
But I had pried into his personal life more than enough already. Sometimes it was better not to know. I switched gears. “What’s up with the nickname?”
“Kitten?” He grinned. “I think you know.”
A hot flush stole up my neck as I remembered what he had said this morning. How I had snuggled against him, purring like a goddamn kitten. I groaned, burying my face in my hands.
He laughed. “It was cute. I liked it.”
“Noooo.” My voice was muffled.
“Okay, well, I have a question for you,” he said. “Why did you freak out this morning? It wasn’t just because you were worried I wouldn’t call, was it?”
Which proved how different we were, because I was not going to answer that. Nor should I have to. What was the point in having short-term relationships if you had to spill your guts and insecurities? Flings should be fun, and there was nothing fun about that. I had already told him why I hadn’t shared my number, and that was enough. I had officially reached my limit on post-coital heart-to-hearts.
“This isn’t fair,” I complained, feeling persecuted. “You’re only here for a few months. We’re supposed to be having sex, not talking.”
He paused. “Well,” he said thoughtfully. “I could go again. But I have to warn you, I’m pretty tired. You’re going to have to put in a lot more effort this time.”
“There’s no time. We wasted it with talking.” The regret was real.
He burst out laughing. “I don’t know whether I’m flattered or insulted.”
“Flattered. You’re definitely feeling flattered.” I sighed and got to my feet. “I should go. I have a lot of work to catch up on.” Not to mention I had just had wall sex with Suzie’s brother. And the wall was Suzie’s. Suzie had given her blessing when it was all hypothetical, but who knew how she would feel when it was reality.
She didn’t need to know about the wall, though.
I shook out my skirt, grabbed my purse, and headed for the door.
“Um, Nora? Aren’t you forgetting something?”
