Page 31 of Fighting His Fate
“Never?”
She looked out her window. “You’re not making this any easier.”
“I mean, you never felt it for John, or you never felt it ever, like in your whole life, ever?”
Her eyes followed a big truck past the parking lot. “Can we go, please? Can we just get back on the road now?”
He seemed to be moving in slow motion as he put the car back in drive and made his way out of the parking lot. “Ever,” he said quietly.
She smirked despite herself. “I hate you so much right now.”
They drove through the tollbooth and sped up the ramp. “Not ever? I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
She growled, exasperated.
“But you’ve had sex, right?”
Her mouth dropped open. “Of course, you idiot!” She huffed.The gall of this man!“Now this conversation is over. I’m going to read Joni’s research articles. See if I can find out exactly what she was working on.” Turning away, she curled her legs beneath her on the seat and stared unseeing into the distance, her reflection coming into focus in the glass. Her heart was racing, her stomach in knots.
Turned out, she could still lie—if the stakes were high enough.
17
Brett drovealong in silence after that, the dotted yellow line flashing in his peripheral vision as his thoughts veered horribly off course. Grace had never experienced that spark, the electrical energy of physical attraction. Not with her minister boyfriend. Not with anyone but him.
He shifted in his seat, the blood flow that had been diverted to his groin in the wake of her revelation making him decidedly uncomfortable. He’d been attracted to her for a long time. That he could have dealt with, easily. He was dealing with it. But the idea of being her most intense sexual desire to date was fucking with his imagination.
It’s not like she’s a virgin.
God, that would have pushed him over the edge, lighting up his brain like it was on fire. Not that he would do anything about it if she were. He’d have to be one hell of a jackass to take a woman’s virginity when he wasn’t planning to stay in her life.
No. After all this was over and the twins were living with their grandmother, Grace would still be next door. If he slept with her, he would not be able to avoid her afterwards, and the thought was just what he needed to quell the insistent rise of his cock.
“I’m bored,” she proclaimed. “Tell me about your family.”
“Why?”
“I’m making conversation. I told you about my family, now you tell me about yours.”
“Not much to tell. My mom lives in Southern California with my stepdad. My real father died when I was ten.”
“I’m sorry.”
“The men in my family are not known for living past the ripe old age of fifty.”
“Why’s that?”
“Just seems to be the way things happen. Never the same cause, so it’s not like it’s hereditary or anything. We’ve got ordinary heart attacks, cancer, that sort of thing. But we’ve also got a drowning, a freak skiing accident, and an autoimmune disease. I, myself, am planning on going down in a blaze of glory.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-seven.”
“You’d better get busy. Pick your poison. Is it motorcycles, drag racing, cliff jumping, extreme sports?”
“All of the above, except drag racing. I should try that.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
