Barenaked Jane. Deanna Lee

counter. There were a lot of hours between me and Monday morning. Those hours seemed too short and too long all in the same moment. My body still hummed with pleasure, and I was torn between wanting it to end and wanting to never see it end.

      Indecision isn’t something that I’m comfortable with, but I’ve never been above ignoring a problem. I took the bottled water back to the bedroom and found him resting against the headboard of the bed with the television on.

      “I have some DVDs in the living room.”

      He picked up the remote and turned it off. “I didn’t know how long you’d be gone.”

      I handed him one of the bottles and sat down on the bed. “Oh really?”

      “Yeah, you looked like you were ready to run.”

      “I don’t run from men.” And if I did, I sure as hell wouldn’t admit it to the one sitting in front of me.

      “No.” He laughed. “Not even ones that might be criminals.”

      “Fuck you.”

      “You just did.” He tipped the bottle back and drank deeply. “Very well, I might add.”

      “I’m good at everything I do or I don’t do it.” I lifted my chin.

      “Is that so?”

      “It is.”

      He put his bottle down on the nightstand on his side of the bed and looked me over. “I like being naked with you.”

      “Yeah?” I liked being naked with him too. Beyond the sexual energy, something else lingered. Something comfortable and familiar.

      “It’s interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about being naked with a woman outside of a sexual encounter.”

      “We’ve had several of those this morning,” I murmured.

      He was very close to expressing something that would make me uncomfortable and I knew it. The fact that we were so at ease with one another had me pondering fate and the like. The last thing I needed was for him to be pondering it too.

      “But it’s different. It’s a level of comfortable that’s rather foreign to me. I mean, I wasn’t raised to be ashamed of my body, so I don’t have any hang-ups in that area.”

      “Well, you have nothing to be ashamed of.”

      “Good genes.” He reached out and tugged me from my place so that I rested next to him. “We fit well.”

      I glanced downward before I could help myself. “Yes.”

      He laughed. “Well, yes, in that way too—but I meant that it’s comfortable to hold you. Some women can’t get relaxed enough to be comfortable.”

      I rested my head on his chest and looked around my room, bright with the sun. Yet again, I was struck by my circumstances. Had I really just met him hours before? It seemed like so much longer than that. “We need to talk about the gallery.”

      “We can discuss the gallery on Monday. I have to submit a bid to Brooks by the afternoon. There will be plenty of time for you to brush me off and pretend for the world that you didn’t spend the whole weekend fucking me.”

      Since that was exactly what I had already planned to do, I could hardly get mad at him for voicing it. Though hearing him say it did make it sound cruel and heartless. “I have a reputation with the gallery to consider. There are plenty of places that need mending because of my foolishness last night. I can’t very well prove that I’m reliable and trustworthy if it’s well known that I spent the weekend having freaky sex with a stranger.”

      “We’re going to have freaky sex?”

      “Yeah, I figured we might.”

      “Want me to spank you?”

      I jerked my gaze to him and laughed softly at the grin he shot me. “I actually had a guy that wanted to do that to me.”

      “Did you let him?”

      “Hell no. But I did offer to beat the shit out of him.”

      “Very generous of you.” He rolled to his side and propped his head on his hand. “Have you ever been in love?”

      “No. At least I don’t think so. I had crushes when I was younger. I remember being desperate to see this boy in the fifth grade. He didn’t even know I existed. What about you?” Directing the question his way gave me a few seconds to consider how much his simple question had hurt. Even Clark, to whom I’d been insanely attracted, hadn’t inspired anything beyond an unknown sexual thing.

      “I thought so once. But then I realized that it was just lust, and lust fades.”

      “Yes.” Just like his attraction to me. There would be a day in the future when he would look at me and his blood wouldn’t quicken. He wouldn’t have the urge to take off my clothes and bury his cock in me.

      “But I believe in love. I know that there is someone out there that will always have my attention and thoughts.”

      “Okay. What kind of woman will she be?”

      “When I was younger I dated a series of women that were exactly the same, but now that I’m older I find that I’m over that. Now I look for things beyond the physical in the women I get involved with. I appreciate beauty, as I’ve already said. But these days I have to be able to talk to a woman or I don’t waste my time on her. What about you?”

      “I promised myself when I was twenty-five that I would never marry a man who didn’t eat pussy. He also has to have a really big dick.” I grinned when he laughed. “Sex is important.”

      “Yes, it is. So beyond your sexual needs, what other things should this man have?”

      “I don’t know.” Shrugging, I wondered why I’d lied to him. I had a list dedicated to the perfect man. I knew exactly what I was looking for. Maybe I didn’t want to ruin the mood.

      I leaned back in my bathtub and blew at the bubbles covering me. He lounged at the other end. “You’re going to smell all girlie after this.”

      “There was a time when that would’ve been horrifying. But somewhere along the way I realized that an excellent way of getting a woman naked was asking to bathe with her.”

      “You already had me naked.”

      “I did, indeed, but I figured you needed a soak in a warm bath.”

      I certainly couldn’t argue with that. Pleasantly sore probably described me very well. His hand ran down my leg, soap sliding along with it. “So this bathing thing works for you?”

      “Yes, it has in the past. It’s intimate, and women dig that.”

      Laughing, I shook my head. “You’re such a player.”

      “Look at it this way, no man will ever be able to manage you again. I’ll tell you all my secrets if you tell me yours.”

      “Oh yeah?” I asked, amused. I figured there wasn’t much a man could get past me anyway.

      “Yep.”

      “Like what?”

      “What’s your tell? How do you tell a man that you want to have sex with him?”

      “It depends on the man. If I’ve been dating him a while I’ll just ask him to take me to his place. If he’s a new guy…and I’m rather impatient for him to make a move, well, I might just ask him outright for sex.”

      “See, women have it so easy.”

      “No way.”

      “Yes way. Women always know when they are going to get laid.”

      I paused and considered his words. “Okay, that may be true. But that’s only because men are so easy. A