Page 10 of Nothing to No One

Rolling onto her back, she tossed a bear into her mouth, chewing as she talked. “I thought there might be something between us in the elevator.” She shrugged. “You have an energy about you… I’d be upset if you judged me for experiencing it, please don’t judge her…” She pulled the pins from her hair one at a time. “You must be used to it. It can’t be new.”

Once all the pins were out, she straightened her arm to lay them on the bed. Something warm touched her knee. It ascended in a tingle that put a smile on her face. His fingertips. Getting higher. Higher. She clamped her thighs together, stopping his tickling in its tracks.

Tucking her chin down, she crooked a brow in question. “What happened to three or four dates?”

“We had a drink, that’s one. We’re eating, so that’s our second.”

She sat up without freeing his hand, though he didn’t seem to mind being so close when she rose to the optimum position to be checked out.

“You have access to some of the most beautiful women in the world, don’t you? Women who’llcomefor you on call.” His lips stayed shut. “Women who’d do anything to please you… I’m not one of those women, Mr. Lowe.”

She flopped onto her back without loosening her legs.

“You don’t prefer direct?”

“There’s only one man I’d be on sexual call for: one committed to me. A man committed to our relationship.”

“Fidelity’s a prerequisite?”

When she relaxed her legs, he dropped an elbow to the mattress, holding his head on his palm, only the gummy bears between them.

“You think that’s how to take the small town out of the girl?” she asked. “Promiscuity?”

He picked out the rest of the red ones to add them to her pile, eating the white ones as he went along. “You’ve got to do what makes you happy.”

“What if I don’t know what that is?” she asked. “Is that too deep for a third date?”

A smile quirked his lips and he rolled away to retrieve something. When he flipped back to face her, he showed her the marshmallows. “Third is the dessert date.”

“You have a routine? A tried and tested route to seduction?” she asked. “I bet you’ve done this a thousand times.”

“Found myself locked in an isolated corner of a hotel with a beautiful woman? This is my first time.”

“It’s drama though, isn’t it? I bet your whole life is like a movie… Wild parties, jetting all over the world. Beautiful women on yachts in the Mediterranean, the Bahamas, the South Pacific… You must have lived some life.”

“Don’t count me out yet, Fawn. I plan to keep going another few years.”

“On your show,” she said. “Is that how you plan your future? Contract to contract? How many seasons are you tied in for?”

Damn, if only she could remember the show’s full name.

“Leads ofUndercover Ops? Four.”

Phew, he’d clued her in without need for the question. “You have another four years… Do you love it?”

“Working on the show?” He shrugged. “It’s work.”

“I would think you’d have to love it.”

“Do you love what you do?”

“Not yet,” she said, shifting to get more comfortable. “I’ve only been doing it a few weeks. I haven’t signed a four-year contract either. If I don’t grow to love it, I can always move on. It’s not like what you do. You have a whole cast and crew depending on you… and legions of fans you can’t disappoint.”

“What I do has its moments.”

“You’ve been doing it a long time.”

He opened the marshmallows and plucked one out for her. “You ever had a one-night stand?”

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