Page 47 of Love In Hiding

“Probably a little of both.”

He saw her lift an eyebrow and then turn to glance at him before shifting her gaze back to the road. “Then talk while I drive. You seem to enjoy hearing your own voice.”

A snarl clawed up his throat that he barely choked back. She was the only person who could drag that reaction out of him.

“Doesn’t seem I’m the only one,” he said, his voice low. “I’m surprised you still have a voice after today.”

She shot him a glare while keeping the car steady. “I had questions. That’s my job. Sorry if yours is to babysit me.”

It felt as if that was more of what he’d done today. There were times she was working on the audit and walkthrough of the plant while he was dealing with other issues on different projects.

Did he look through policies and procedures that were in place and not being followed? Yep, he did. He made his notes and when London was done with her work, he’d look it over again to ensure it followed the letter of the law.

“I’ve needed time to think about last night.”

“And,” she said after five seconds. “What did you think?”

“I think I shouldn’t have let you bait me.”

“You think I baited you?” she asked, the sarcasmdripping like melted ice cream on a hundred degree day. “I asked a question. You didn’t answer me.”

“You asked if I wanted to kiss you. I replied it didn’t matter what I wanted. I should have answered yes or no.”

“Since you kissed me, the answer would have been yes.”

He sighed. “I wouldn’t have said that though.”

“So you like to lie?”

There was no winning here. He wasn’t sure why he was even trying.

“I don’t lie,” he said, his voice rising enough that it might have come off as if he snapped.

“No, you just evade. But your actions spoke for you,” she said cheerfully, as if she was thrilled she got the reaction out of him she was hoping for. “Just like this morning when you stayed silent. So we got it out of the way. We said it’d be our secret and it will stay that way. It’s done and over with.”

“That’s it? You can just move on as if it didn’t happen?”

“It was akiss, Spencer.” If she were looking at him instead of watching the road he’d be willing to bet she’d just rolled her eyes. Guess it didn’t mean as much to her as it had him. “Didn’t you kiss a lot of girls in school and move on from it? Or even as an adult. Gone on one date, gave a kiss and never called her back?”

“No. If I go on a date with someone and I’m not feeling it, the last thing I do is end it with a kiss.”

“Not even on the cheek?” she asked. He wasn’t sure why she was acting so surprised over that.

“Why lead someone on? If I have no intention of seeing them again, the most I’ll do is give a hug, only if they initiate it. But it’s obvious you’re a little freer with your lips than me.”

She burst out laughing as if he’d just cracked the best one-liner around. “That’s funny.”

“How is that?”

“I’ve not kissed a man in over a year. And sex...man, that doesn’t bear thinking of. It’d be too depressing to know how long it’s been.”

“So you were horny?” he asked before he could dial the words back from slipping.

The laughter this time filled the cabin of the vehicle, almost echoing off the windows. He was glad she found so much humor in this.

“Well, yeah. You took your shirt off in front of me. I’ve got to admit you’ve got a much nicer body on you than I thought.”

He replayed the conversation in his head, trying to pinpoint the exact second he’d lost control of it because it had slipped fast. Too fast.