Page 38 of The Talk Around Town

She had to make her brain connect with her body and realise this.

Surely it couldn’t be because of a lack of sex. Lust had never been a part of her make-up. She’d always been too busy to worry about chasing down men for one-night flings. Sex with Alex had always been good, until she found out what he’d done, but it had never been a priority. She’d never thought she was the lusty type.

Maybe she was wrong.

Why did it have to be Gabe who’d awakened her instincts like this? Ryan would’ve been a far wiser choice. No strings, no consequences. Just fun. With someone like Ryan you knew what you were getting.

She had baggage and, from all indications, so did Gabe. Starting something with him wasn’t a good idea from any standpoint. Not when she knew she would want more than one hot night between the sheets if it was as good as she’d dreamed. She wasn’t a one-night stand kind of girl. Gabe was an amazing man. She would start to care, and she didn’t want that. It would put her right back where she didn’t want to be. It simply couldn’t happen.

Wouldn’thappen.

Emma grabbed three beers, slammed the fridge door and banged them down on her counter, anger at her body’s stupid reactions washing over her. She scraped a shaking hand through her fringe and into her hair, swearing under her breath when her fingers caught in her hairband.

“If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say you’re not happy with me.”

Ryan’s smooth voice had her spinning around to face him.

“Why would you think that?”

He raised an eyebrow and leaned on the doorjamb. “Because I interrupted something out there and now you’re all flustered.”

Emma handed him his beer and stepped back to the relative safety near her island counter, twisting the top off hers.

“You must have imagined it. I’m flustered because it’s hot.” She gestured to his semi-dressed state. “As you realise.”

Ryan took a long, cooling drink and watched her. He tapped a finger against the condensation appearing on the side of his bottle, then wiped a line down through it, rubbing the resulting moisture between his fingers.

“You know, Gabe said something similar. Him I can understand being cautious and guarded. He went through a particularly nasty episode a while back. But you? What’s holding you back from accepting any advances? You’re easy to talk to. Friendly. You’re not attached. And you’re sure as hell good to look at.” He shoved off the doorjamb and moved purposely toward her. She stepped back, feeling slightly vulnerable. “What is it, Emma? What are you scared of?”

Dread washed all heat from her body, running icy fingers over her skin and into her heart. A ragged breath pulled into her lungs as she scrambled for an answer he would believe.

A simple internet search would tell him all he needed to know. She had to give him something that sounded plausible. Something convincing.

Something to stop him from searching for an answer.

Pete.

She pasted as bright a smile on her mouth as she could and took a sip of her beer. It tasted like acid in her mouth, but she forced herself to swallow it.

So Gabe had a messed-up relationship behind him. What she was concealing was far worse than that. She liked it here, liked the people. She didn’t want to lose what little progress she’d made. If they found out it would be like North Beach all over again. The looks would start, the under-the-breath comments. Then the accusations.

“You’ll be pleased to know I’m quite normal. Besides the fact that I don’tneeda reason, you want to know why I haven’t encouragedanyone? I’m new here. I haven’t been here long enough to warrant getting involved. As for not accepting any advances, what advances? Some guys, including you, have been really nice to me. Friendly. But no one has asked me out or wanted to spend time with me. At least, not until the other day.”

Ryan’s eyes widened. So, he hadn’t heard about the date. Amusement bubbled up and dispersed the anxiety. Emma bit her bottom lip to stop a grin. That was interesting. She thought Gabe would’ve said something.

“I’ve accepted a dinner date.”

He blinked. His mouth fell open in shock. “No way. When?”

“Sunday morning.”

Ryan turned his head as Gabe walked into the kitchen. His dark hair gleamed with moisture from the shower.

“Emma has a date.”

Gabe scratched at his jaw, the beginnings of stubble rasping under his hand. “I know.”

The glare Ryan sent Gabe made Emma bite her lip. Ryan wasn’t impressed. Ryan looked back at her and took another swallow from his drink.

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