Two of a Kind (Fool's Gold #11)(32)

“I walk into a room and I’m looking for exits.”

She nodded slowly. “You’re right. I know you are. I didn’t mean it like that.”

He shook his head. “Don’t. I know what you meant, Felicia. I was being a jerk.”

Mostly because he was still pissed about her wanting Denise to pick her for Ford. Although if he actually listened to what she was saying instead of reacting to her words, he understood her point.

“You fit in,” he told her.

“Not like everyone else. I do want to belong. I like it here and I want to stay. I want to get married and be part of a family.” She stared at him. “I want us to date.”

His head snapped to the right, and he calculated how far it was to the door.

She giggled. “I didn’t mean for those two thoughts to sound related. You don’t have to panic.”

He turned to her. “I didn’t panic.”

“You went pale and looked like you were going to run from incoming fire.” Her humor faded. “You warned me before about what you want and don’t want. I had decided that dating you didn’t help me achieve my goal, but I’m less sure of that now. You understand how to fit in.”

He didn’t like where this was going. “Felicia,” he began, then stopped, not sure what to say.

“I want to learn from you,” she said firmly. “Well, from ‘us.’ I just want to go out, like a regular couple. Show me what people do on dates, how they act. I want to be like everyone else.”

He didn’t have the heart to tell her that was never going to happen. She was too special. But she wouldn’t understand the compliment, and he didn’t want to upset her.

She smiled. “In return, we’ll have sex. You have to admit our sexual chemistry together is excellent.”

He was willing to put a check mark in the yes column for that one. “Sex is dangerous.”

“I don’t think so. We’ll use protection, and as long as we keep the locations relatively safe then we should be able to...” Her brows rose. “Oh, you’re talking about the potential for emotional connection. You don’t want me to fall in love with you.”

“You’d get hurt.”

“I appreciate your concern. You have no worries for yourself?”

He hesitated, not wanting to hurt her feelings. “I’m not capable of loving anybody.” There wasn’t enough of him left inside.

“I think you’re very capable,” she told him, “but I understand what you’re telling me.”

“Saying.”

“What?”

“I understand what you’re saying.”

“Why wouldn’t you? I’m using very plain language.”

He chuckled. “No. Don’t use the phrase ‘I understand what you’re telling me.’ It’s too formal.”

Her eyebrows drew together, then she nodded. “I see your point.” She smiled. “Was that your way of agreeing to date me and help me learn to be like everyone else?”

He knew all the reasons he shouldn’t. The odds of this ending badly were greater than he liked. But how was he supposed to resist a commitment-free sexual relationship with a beautiful woman? More important, time with Felicia, both in and out of bed. He couldn’t be what she wanted or deserved, but that didn’t mean he could resist her.

“Yes,” he said.

She laughed, then stood. “Did you want to start with us having sex here at the radio station?”

He swore under his breath. In the time it took him to process her statement, he was already hard.

“You don’t have to pay in advance,” he told her.

Her smile widened. “I don’t consider physical intimacy with you payment. I enjoy it very much.”

He groaned. “You’re killing me, you know that, right?”

She circled the console and walked toward him. When they were close enough, she hugged him, pressing her curvy body against his.

“Thank you,” she murmured. “I really appreciate this.”

“You’re welcome.”

He allowed himself to put his hands on her waist, with the idea he and the woman in his arms weren’t going to do anything tonight. If they were dating, then he would follow the appropriate rules. No matter how much he wanted her.

She stepped back. “We should plan our first date.” She paused. “Although technically we had that already, so this would be our second date.”

“I’ll take you to dinner,” he said quickly, knowing if she showed up at his house, there wouldn’t be any eating, or dating. There would just be him and her and how they made each other feel.

She beamed at him. “I’d like that.” She kissed him lightly on the mouth, then waved and left.

He stood rooted in place until he heard the front door close. Then he sank onto his chair and sucked in a breath.

This was dangerous—possibly for both of them. But Felicia wanted to learn how to be like everyone else and he... Well, he wanted to pretend, even for a couple of weeks, that he was still close to an actual person.

He flipped through his CDs until he found the one he wanted, then put it into the slot. He put on his headphones and cranked up the volume. It was a night for the Rolling Stones. As they reminded him, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” but with Felicia, he could get damn close.