Page 44 of Steele

“Have you slept with any of the other girls I met tonight?”

“No.” His answer was instant, and I felt the truth in the finality of it. And he seemed to exhale tension as his shoulders relaxed and the hard clench of his jaw lessened. “We can talk about sexual histories, but it doesn’t matter to me.”

I raised a brow. “I assume that means you’ve got a high body count.”

He chuckled as he dipped his head and grazed his lips along my jaw. “I can’t give you an exact number.”

“This is a good distraction,” I said, tilting my head and giving him my neck. “But I’m good at multi-tasking. What’s the estimate?”

He inched back. “In high school, I fucked around. A lot.”

“I’ve had two. You being one. Jeff being the other. I’d rather you estimate high, so I’ll know it’s less than.”

“I like you going all math teacher on me.” His dimple creased his face as a mischievous smile found his lips. “Less than thirty.”

“Thirty,” I whispered.

“But I was young and dumb. Once I was married, I was only with my wife until we separated and had filed for divorce.”

He took my hand and pulled me toward the bed. This man, holding my hand and calling me baby, were hitting different in a way that made me want to ignore the red warning sirens going off in my head.

“I hooked up with Clover after Natalie had already moved on with Henri.” He sat on the bed and tugged me onto his lap. “There was zero chance of reconciliation.”

“But Clover is a kitten.”

“I wasn’t looking for anything serious. It worked for both of us.”

Working being the right word. “How much did you have to pay her?”

He laughed. “Nah. It’s not like that between us. Baby, she’s a friend. Nothing more.”

“How long has it been since you slept with her?”

“Not that long.”

Not that I could be mad, but it still sucked to hear. I’d only known—really known him—for a couple days. Seeing him at the school a couple months ago didn’t count. Although, even then, I’d thought about him. I’d rationalized it was because of Lili. She talked incessantly about him.

Maybe Lili had talked about me when she was with him. Maybe that’s why this felt comfortable.

God, he was still staring at me, and I was having a full conversation in my head. I could hardly act territorial over him. This wasn’t even dating. We’d accidentally encountered each other twice.

I could hear Holly in my head telling me this was fate. Like Tuesday, tonight, I needed him.

I still didn’t like to think I was just another kitten in his bed. Not that I was a whore. Or maybe I was, at least in the way McKelle referred to herself as one, but then, she had two boyfriends.

Brett wasn’t my boyfriend, but I did want this. Him. Me. Even if we were a secret, I wanted him. I wanted him inside me again. I wanted to be his lover even if I couldn’t offer him more. I couldn’t take the risk. And he couldn’t either. But I didn’t want him in bed with anyone else.

“Not long ago,” I repeated. “Was it yesterday?” Because I’d seen him Tuesday and Wednesday.

“No.” He pulled a pin from my hair.

I glanced at the bed. “Have you washed the sheets?”

“Fuck, baby. Lili was supposed to be with me tonight.” He pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “The sheets are clean,” he said and lowered his voice. “But I don’t want you thinking about the women I’ve had in my bed. I’m with you. I’m not thinking of anyone else.”

“Are you still going to sleep with her? I just want to know. I…I’ve only been married. I don’t know how to be casual. She’s just a friend, but I don’t know what we are or what you want.” Were we just friends? Were we even friends at all?

“I know we need to be careful. Natalie is out to fuck me over. And one day, you’ll tell me about the legal troubles you’re facing. I’m not here to fuck up your life. Whatever this is feels really good. Maybe we just see how things go.”