“Don’t men want friends?”
“Not the women ones,” he said drily.
She laughed, and reached for a newspaper clipping. “Hey, I think I found the perfect thing for more of my twenty-first-century dating indoctrination. It’s called a cuddle party.”
Ian’s eyes widened in alarm. “Have you ever been to one? It’s supposed to be great. Hugging and touching. Perfect to shake off any intimacy issues.”
“I’m fine with my intimacy issues just the way they are.”
“You’re in a strange mood today.”
His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. An odd smile passed across his lips. “You’re right.” He stood and stretched his legs. “I’m sorry. Miriam emailed me and asked for a rush on the last chapter. I stayed up late to finish the manuscript.”
“I can’t wait to see it, and give you my final decision,” she said with a smile. But Ian didn’t return her grin at the mention of their inside joke.
“I’ll go back to the hotel and print it off.”
She glanced down at the case he used to carry his laptop. “Why not print it off here? You can use mine.”
Ian shook his head. “I need to call my sister, too.”
She rolled to her feet. “In that case, I’ll walk you to the door.”
He turned toward her, his expression suddenly intense. “Let me take you out to celebrate. Champagne, the works.”
“That would be nice.”
He kissed her cheek, and shut the door behind him.
Something was wrong, and she had a good idea what it was. The book was complete. A dozen questions swirled around them. The one foremost in her mind…what happened next?
THE PHONE RANG JUST as Jeremy had scooped Miriam against his side. He loved holding her that way. With a reluctant kiss, she slipped out of bed.
She’d been receiving a lot of calls lately, mostly from work. She’d gone in this morning, but had taken the rest of the afternoon off, although a lot of calls were still being diverted her way.
“Hey, Ian.”
Jeremy recognized the name. Ian was her brother. The only family she spoke of. He watched as she tucked the phone between her head and shoulder and tugged on a robe. Her long, dark hair looked mussed, and curled down her back. All he could think about was the feel of her hair on his skin.
The soft arousing tickle as it trailed down his stomach as her mouth moved closer to his penis.
He hated that she’d stayed cooped up in her apartment for so long because of him. Miriam was a popular woman. He’d gathered that by the number of phone calls, and the lack of any real substantive food in her kitchen.
“No, I’m not doing anything at all.” Her voice carried into the bedroom. Well, they had just finished.
He watched as Miriam rolled her head from side to side. “Just a boring weekend at home alone.”
Just a boring weekend?
Alone?
His mouth went dry. Something dark and bitter broke free in him. No, when had he become so paranoid? So Miriam wasn’t ready to share the news about them with her friends and family. No problem. This was all new to him, too. Except he wanted to shout from the rooftops that Miriam chose to be by his side.
Jeremy thrust the sheets away from his body and swung his legs to the floor. He pulled on his jeans and grabbed his T-shirt. Hating what he was thinking of Miriam.
She said goodbye to her brother and returned to him. “Good news, my brother and the doc finished the book, and if that last chapter is as good as what I’ve already read, it’s going to be great.”
He knew how much of her company’s resources she’d put behind that book, and its success meant a lot to her both professionally and personally. “Let’s go out, Miriam, go to a restaurant and cut loose. Maybe we could invite your friends.”
She dropped her hand so fast from around his waist, she almost left skid marks on his back. “No, Jeremy. We can’t.”
“Can’t? What do you mean can’t?”
“Going out to a restaurant would be too much like a date. I can’t have a relationship with you. Date you. You probably think dating is going to the Taco Barn with change you found between the cushions of your couch. Or on the floorboard of your car.”
Jeremy made a face. “That would mean I’d actually have to clean. You’re serious? You really don’t want to go out? Get to know each other’s friends?”
She nodded, her face looking tortured. “Don’t you see? I’m over fifteen years older than you, Jeremy. Believe me when I say I can’t pass for twenty. Hell, sometimes I can’t pass for thirty.”
“No one’s asking you to pass for anything.”
“Do you realize what people will say? They’ll take one look at us together and make assumptions. They’ll call you my boy toy. I’d look pathetic.”
“That’s easily fixed. You just stare down anyone who’s stupid enough to tell you that and say, ‘Screw you.’”
She stalked into the dining room and huffed, “Oh, that’s really mature.”
“Then that fits, because apparently I’m low in adult behavior skills.”
Miriam twisted her hands together. “Would you stop acting like that?”
He turned a surprised gaze to her. “Like what?”
“Like you’re all broken up about this.”
The silence between them stretched taut.
She reached for his hand, caught his fingers between hers. “Jeremy, I never meant to hurt you. I didn’t ask you to come here. You did that all on your own. I never even returned your phone calls.”
His hands dropped to his sides, and he took a step back. He could accept a woman not interested in him. He was a guy who could bow out gracefully. But with Miriam, he’d planned to at least put up a fight. A fight she apparently didn’t want him to make.
“If you’d turned me down right from the beginning, offered to play hostess to me being tourist, instead of us winding up in bed—I would have walked on. That would have been the end of it.”
Her brown eyes didn’t soften.
“But the minute you fell into my arms, the second your lips touched mine, I knew what that kick in the stomach was all about. What I’d been missing since you left Oklahoma.”
Miriam refused to meet his eyes.
“A fire burns between us.” He grabbed her shoulders. “If this were no more than a second one-night stand, it would have been through by the weekend. You wouldn’t have extended it into this week. It’s hotter than it was before.”
“Think of this as just getting lucky. You’re twenty. You should be into easy lays.”
He shook his head. “Don’t make this into that…”
“I did. Our time—”
“Our time was all about you and me. It’s been there all along. And for the record, I could afford to take you someplace other than Taco Barn. I have a good job back home.”
Her eyes narrowed, finally meeting his gaze. “One that allows you to take off and leave for weeks at a time?” she asked. Her voice skeptical.
“As a matter of fact, yes. I own my own business. I flip houses. I buy them cheap, fix them up and sell them at a nice profit. The housing market is usually slower in February. That’s when I normally book my vacation. And don’t worry, even if I should lose a job, I can always find another. People are always looking for someone who can fix things. I can go anywhere I want. Men who can work with their hands, cabinetry, plumbing, we’re a dying breed.”
“OH,” MIRIAM SAID, suddenly feeling deflated. She’d insulted Jeremy. “I’m sor…”
Her words trailed off as he brushed a stray lock of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, though. You spent this time with me because you love me.”
She jerked away. “Jeremy, don’t make this into something it’s not. I know you expect to have what your parents had. To fall instantly in love and live happily forever. But they were lucky. It doesn’t work like that for everyone. For most people.”