Page 33 of Keeping the Single Dad
She tried to dodge past me to the door. I grabbed her elbow gently, holding her still. “Wait. I need to know that you’re okay. I didn’t go too hard, did I?”
“Of course not.”
“You’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes.” Her eyes held a burning, faraway look. Was she regretting what we just did? How had I let that happen? She was upset. She’d said she wanted this, but I should have tried harder to get her to talk.
“I’m taking you for lunch and you’re going to tell me what brought you in here like a hurricane looking for that.”
She smoothed a stray hair back into place. “No, thanks. I’m good.”
“It wasn’t a request. I’m not letting you walk away after that. I want to know what’s wrong.”
Her eyes flashed as though we were playing a game and I’d just changed the rules. “You might be Daddy when you’ve got me bent over a table, but don’t think you get to tell me what to do when we’re fully dressed.”
A scratchy sensation gnawed at my gut. Was that it? She’d come in here for sex, and now she was out of here? How could she be so casual about it all? When I was young, you saw someone you fancied in a bar and brought them a drink. The dating world was so different these days. I hardly understood it. Were all young people this direct and casual?
“Is that it? You’re done with me?”
She paused with her hand around the door handle. “Fun and done. That’s the deal.”
“We didn’t make a deal.”
She folded her arms tight across her chest. “In the hotel room.”
“Don’t you think things have changed since then?”
“We’ve hooked-up twice. It’s nothing.”
Nothing.
This was the first woman I’d been intimate with since Evelyn. I hadn’t cared to admit it to myself because it was so weird that she was so young, but all of this was a big deal. A huge deal.
I wet a cloth at the sink and set to work cleaning the massage table. “Things have changed. We were strangers the first time. Now, we know each other.”
Her eyes filled with belligerence. “You don’t know me. Don’t kid yourself.”
An unwelcome tension stretched tight between us. Had any man ever taken the time to get to know her, or had all her relationships been like this? No strings sex. She snorted but there was something else flickering in the depths of her bright eyes. What was that? Panic?
“What if I want to know you?”
A bright mockery invaded her stare. “Why?”
?“Because sometimes you look sad and like you need a friend. I want to be your friend.”
The awful soothing music grew loud and needled my brain. I fiddled with the stereo until silence rang out. She snorted incredulously but her breath came in shallow gasps as if she was holding some raw emotion in check.
She shrugged, but a faint thread of sadness tinged her voice. “I’m fine. I have enough friends.”
She tossed her ponytail over her shoulder, unlocked the door, and left without another word.
Chapter 17
Lana
Ipressedmyforeheadto the locker in the changing room. My skin flashed hot from the shower, and my jersey hung to my clammy body. Despite scrubbing my hair, the scent of balsam oil clung to me. Memories of Alex’s deep voice crackling over my skin filled my mind. Big Mac was good. Even better, the second time round. Still, there couldn’t be a third time. I’d been weak. The meeting with Claire and Gabe had sent me into a meltdown. I’d needed to stop the roaring in my head, and Alex always seemed to be there at the right moment as a pleasant distraction.
“Benched? What the fuck, Lana?” Skylar’s exasperated voice startled me out of my reverie.
