We’d sparked some kind of connection last night and if I wanted to be honest, I’d come clean and tell him my dreams had been filled with our little encounter going a hell of a lot farther. He was looking at me as if I’d captured his undivided attention, like he was seeing me for the very first time. A shiver ran down my spine and a sudden want pooled low in my belly. I really needed to get laid more often. That’s all this was, had to be. It was pent-up lust and nothing more.
“Such a charmer,” I said, “and I bet you had no trouble charming Phoebe down a few bucks at the floral shop. She’s such a sucker for romance.”
“Wow. Am I really that transparent?” he asked and reached out a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers lingered on my ear, trailing down my neck before they fell away.
“What do you want? Are you going to propose to me again? Are you going to suggest that we take all the boring formality out of dating and just skip straight to the good stuff by hooking up on our honeymoon?”
“Hey, that’s not a half-bad idea.”
I playfully smacked him. “Charlie...”
“You think I’m a player.”
I chuckled. “Think? Honey, I know. Everybody knows. Your picture’s next to the word in the damn dictionary. The whole damn town knows and half of them have personal experience with it.”
“C’mon, Jaime.”
“You hung out with those two billionaires and were all over the tabloids for a few years.”
“Nick and James. They were great friends of mine.”
“Can’t you get money from them?”
“I’m not going to ask my friends for money.”
“But you did me...all those years ago.”
“I’m a different person now. And I’m not going to beg my friends for money. No matter how rich they are.”
“But it’s okay to marry someone to get the money. Seems like asking your friends would be a whole lot simpler.”
“I’m not letting my father’s legacy go to some sleazy lawyer.”
“Maybe it’s not the lawyer who’s sleazy.”
“You shouldn’t base everything on an old reputation,” he argued and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Maybe I’ve changed. It’s been a dozen years since you last saw me. A lot can happen in that time.”
I raised my brows. “It hasn’t been quite twelve years, but it feels like it. But I still remember everything like it was yesterday. Do you remember the things you told me?”
“I remember confiding in you. You always gave me your advice, but you never judged.”
“Maybe I should’ve. You had three girlfriends at the same time for well over a month! Who does that?”
He had the decency to look sheepish for a moment as he shrugged his muscular shoulders, straining his t-shirt even tighter over his chest. “Okay, I admit I was a little wild, but—”
“A little? Charlie, rabbits were envious of you.”
“Fine. I’ll accept that, because I guess it was true about me then, but I really have changed.”
“Prove it. What’s been your longest relationship since you left Blue Ridge?”
He opened and closed his mouth quickly before he pulled out his fingers and counted under his breath. I worried for a minute that he actually had a relationship last a few years until he said, “A few months, but that’s not the point. I never stayed in one place long enough.”
“See? That proves nothing except that you’re still not ready to commit, even to a fake marriage. Two years is a long time to stick with something.”
“I can hack it. The question is, can you?”
“Why would I want to?” I asked.