Page 48 of Love It or List It
Nope, nope, nope.Joe wasn’t thinking about that—not analyzing the slight drop in his stomach at the thought of how lonely that sounded.“Touché.Let me guess.You’re into back rooms or their place, never your own.”
“Obviously.”Austin tilted his head.“Andyouare a control freak.”
“How is that supposed to work?I thought I was a pillow princess?”Joe didn’t want to admit that the second accusation was closer to the mark.Maybe because “control freak” made him sound unreasonable, or maybe just because he didn’t want to lose this weird game.
“You’re a complicated guy,” Austin said with a shrug.A stray curl fell out of his ponytail and across his forehead.His lips were stained red from the wine, and Joe should really have remembered before now that red wine always hit him like this.
“And I guess you like it simple?Hand jobs in bathrooms?Back-seat blowjobs?Fucking in alleyways?”
Color rose further in Austin’s cheeks, and he defiantly met Joe’s gaze.“I’m not telling you which of those is right.”
“Cheater,” Joe said for the third time.How could he win if Austin wasn’t honest?
“Usually a guy at least buys me a drink before I reveal this sort of information.”
Joe pointedly looked at the wine bottle, then back at Austin.
Austin’s flush deepened.It looked unfairly good on him.“You know that’s not what I meant.”
“Uh-huh.So what, you saying I gotta buy you something fancier—or maybe it’s trashier?—for you to be honest?Rude.”
“You wouldn’t tell me either,” Austin pointed out, cheeks still rosy.“You neither confirmed nor denied anything.”
“Yeah, well.I didn’t want to get too far into it in case I couldn’t get back out again.”
Fuck, he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.
Austin blinked at him, tilting his head.A teasing smile lifted the edges of his lips.“You have trouble pulling out?”
God damn it.Joe groaned, slouching on the couch.“Give me a break.”
“I mean, that would explain how you ended up with four kids—”
Joe flipped him off.“Don’t make fun of me.It feels like it’s been that long since I got laid.”
Austin hooted.“God, and I thought fixing up the house was putting a crimp in my sex life.How long’s it been for you?I’m guessing eighteen years is a stretch.”
“I don’t wanna do the math.It’s depressing.Spring sometime, I think.”Lastspring, but Austin didn’t need to know that.
Austin made a noise of disbelief.“Youthink?”He looked aghast.
Joe groaned again.“We gotta talk about something else,” he complained.“Fucking red wine.Disaster.”
A glance into the wineglass, then back at Joe.An eyebrow went up.“I’m not making the connection.”
Fuck, Joe was going to have to say it out loud?He sighed.“I forgot red wine makes me horny.”
“Are you sure it’s not just the dry spell?”
Joe rubbed his fingers against his thigh in an attempt to distract himself, uncomfortably aware of the fact that the subject had had a predictable effect that was probably visible in his jeans.
“Although….”
Something in Austin’s tone made Joe look over.He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.“What?”
“I was just thinking the wine would explain my problem too.”
Joe’s heart thudded in his ears.Was Austin suggesting…?“Oh?”
