Page 40 of River
“You use a lot more make-up and care about your style in a way that I’m not used to.”
“I’m sure Norwegian women care about fashion too.”
“Yes, but I’ve never been with a fashion expert. My last girlfriend was an officer like me. She didn’t use make-up.”
“How long were you with her?”
“Three years.”
“When did it end?”
“Almost two years ago. She moved, and it died out.” Noah shrugged.
“Do you miss her?”
“Sometimes.”
“You’re supposed to say no.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“Because no one wants to be with a man who’s still hung up on another woman.”
His lips lifted in a smile. “I don’t want to be in a relationship with Leah again, but I think back on our time together with joy. We were happy. For a while.”
I pushed away from him a little. “How many women have you had?”
“What do you mean? Girlfriends or sexual partners?”
“Both.”
Looking up, he counted. “I had my first real girlfriend when I was sixteen, and since then, there have been five serious relationships. I was with Leah the longest.”
“And how many women have you slept with?”
“Hmm… probably more than I should have.”
“More than twenty?”
“Yup.”
“More than thirty?”
“I haven’t counted, but my guess is somewhere around forty.”
“You’ve slept with forty women?”
“Don’t look so shocked. I’m a healthy man with a strong sexual appetite traveling the world alone.”
For some reason, I hated the fact that more than forty women had given Noah something that would be really hard for me to give him.
“Did you at least use condoms?”
Noah caressed my cheek with a glint of humor in his eyes. “Thank you for your concern, but I assure you that I’ve been cautious. My father told me often enough that I was a mistake, and I’m determined to only have a child when I’m with the right woman.”
“Your father told you that you were a mistake?” Sympathy swelled in my chest.
“Yes. He was my mother’s thirty-one-year-older boss, and it was only supposed to be an affair. Growing up, I didn’t see him much.”
