Page 35 of Fierce-Baker

KEEP IT LIGHT

“Are you ready to talk now?” he asked when their dinner was done.

She stopped picking up his plate. “We’ve been talking.”

He stood next to her and took his plate out of her hand. He didn’t need her cleaning up after him even if she washed his shorts.

“About this wild thing that came up thirty minutes ago?”

“Oh that. Sure, we can talk. You go first.”

Figured she’d say that.

But if she had enough courage to start it, he could not be a wimp and continue.

“Are you still thinking you want to try it?”

“I’ve got nothing to lose if we keep it light.”

He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. That she might think this was just casual.

But wasn’t that what he wanted anyway?

What he had been doing for years?

Talk about a mind fuck going on.

“Good point. I just need to know if I’m a tool for you or not.”

She spun at the sink, the water she was rinsing her plates off with splashing onto the floor. “A tool?”

He bent with the paper towel to wipe it up. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re just horny.”

Might as well put that out there too.

If it were just sex, he could get behind that. It’d be better that way for him since it was the world he’d lived in for almost a decade.

The look in her eyes said she didn’t appreciate his comment.

“Too much?” he asked when he was greeted with silence. “You should know this is how I am. I say it the way it is. I thought you were the same.”

He didn’t think he was that wrong about her.

“I do. I’m trying to decide what way to answer.”

“How about truthfully?”

“Then yes, I am, but that doesn’t mean I’m jumping in bed with you anytime soon. We don’t even know if we’ve got any chemistry.”

He burst out laughing. “Honey, if we didn’t have chemistry I wouldn’t be standing here cleaning your kitchen with you. I would have fixed your tire and then been on my way.”

She dramatically rolled her eyes. “Fine. I think you’re handsome.”

He leaned against her counter, his ankles crossed, his arms matching it. “Only handsome?”

Her fingers came up in a pinch. “With a touch of smoking. Totally not the type I’ve been with before.”

“And how is that working out for you?”