it is safe but brothers best friend so they knew each other before and she has a bad sexual past
1
“Being here has me thinking about Lauralee Knot for the first time in years, probably since my best friend married my little sister. I have plenty of women to occupy my thoughts in New York and even more to bury my past in what’s beneath me on any chosen night of the week. No expectations. No obligations. I have the freedom to do as I please at any time, which is more often than I should be proud to admit.”
2
“I’ve had boyfriends, but nothing that got to the living together stage.”
3
“Since there seems to be no embarrassment attached, I ask, “Why haven’t you come?”
She doesn’t avoid eye contact, but I only receive it here and there as she keeps redirecting her attention outside the vehicle. “I don’t know . . .” She readjusts in her seat and then says, “Truth?”
“Absolute.”
“I’ve been struggling in that area, which I’ve mentioned before, but I think you’ve tainted me.” A playful shove to my arm is followed by a nervous laugh. “I shouldn’t have admitted that.”
“It’s okay,” I say, not laughing at all. “I feel the same about you.”
“You do?”
I nod, but then I remember a few times. “Well, almost.”
“Almost?” she asks, her voice pitching.
“Don’t worry, baby, I haven’t been with any other women. But I didn’t have trouble getting off to the memory of you and me together.”
4
What’s happened between us has been fast. I mean, look at you. You obviously don’t have trouble getting women, and I’m no exception. But I want you to know that although I see you as a sexy piece of meat—” His mouth falls open, making me laugh. “Kidding. I’m kidding.” When our laughter dies down, I say, “You are very handsome, like ridiculously so, but that’s not what I like most.”
“What do you like most?”
There’s such a boyish charm about him in the moment, like he’s not some model of a man loose in Manhattan who’s given compliments all the time. We both know that’s not true. Women trip over themselves to catch his eyes, but I caught them.