Page 42 of River
“Do you find me handsome?”
“Mhmm.”
“That’s quite a compliment coming from you when I know how much you care about people’s appearance.”
“Are you the type to fall hard when you fall in love?” I asked him.
He pulled at his lips with a thoughtful expression. “I’d say so. I’m very loyal to the women I’m with if that’s what you mean.”
“Why did you say that in plural? How many women are you with?”
“Oh, usually no more than three at a time.” There it was again, the humor and electricity buzzing between us.
“And do you tell them about each other?”
“Sure, I’ve never met a woman who wasn’t cool with sharing. Women are generous like that.” He chuckled in his delicious low sexy voice.
“You’re lucky then. I’ve had men get very upset when they discovered other men were interested in me.”
“Give me an example.”
“Do you know Bruce Lannister?”
“Who?”
“He’s a race driver.”
Noah’s eyes widened. “You mean Lannister who’s in Formula One?”
“Yes. He and I dated for a few months and the first time he came to my house a large bouquet of roses was delivered to my door from another man. It made him sulk for hours.”
“Why would another man send you flowers if you were dating Bruce?”
“I didn’t ask for the flowers, and I can’t control what men send to me.”
“But were you flirting with other men?” Noah wasn’t smiling anymore but moved his beer away when the waiter brought out a large pizza for us to share. His half of the pizza had meat on it while mine was a Margarita with only tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, and sea salt.
“Did you?” he asked again. “Flirt with other men?”
“Define flirting.”
“Did you text with other men?”
“I text with friends all the time.”
“You know what I mean. Any sexting?”
“No.” I sighed. “Look, my point is that I wasn’t dating anyone but Bruce and he got jealous about a stupid bunch of flowers.”
“Huh. What if the situation was reversed? He’s a celebrity and on the road with his Formula One during the season. I bet there’s a lot of women throwing themselves at a man like him. Wouldn’t that bother you?”
“No.” My answer was immediate and honest. “I’ve never been jealous while in a relationship.”
“Then they must not have mattered to you. Jealousy is natural.”
“Are you the jealous type?”
“No. But I sure as hell wouldn’t like for the woman I date to receive flowers from other men either.”
