Page 103 of He Loves Me Knot

“Playthings, not girlfriends.” He set his arms behind his head. “And if we’re being completely honest, I haven’t gone on a date in months. The sheer boredom of it has made it less appealing recently.”

She choked out a guffaw. “I’m not sure I can sleep in a bed with any self-respecting man that calls a woman a plaything.”

He shrugged. “I never claimed to be self-respecting. Or decent. You keep making assumptions about me, and I keep telling you I’m no good.”

She shifted closer to him. Whatever body wash he’d used was intoxicating.Sort of like him.“You know, if we’re going to continue to pretend to date for the next few days, we should probably learn some basics about each other—things our families would be surprised our significant other didn’t know.”

“Like your love of penguins and smut?”

Reaching over, she flicked his ear.

“Ow.It’s true, you know.”

“And you like . . .?” She prodded, but he didn’t answer, so she continued, “What do you read?”

“History books.”

“What era?”

“I’m boring. World War II.”

“And your favorite animal?”

“Sloths, actually.”

“They are pretty cute. Maybe I should change my favorite to sloths.”

“Not unless you want me to tease you for lack of originality.”

His weight shifted on the bed, and his thigh brushed against her, sending a shiver up her skin. “Did you just scoot closer to me? Knowing two things about me isn’t that much, Romeo.”

“I’m falling off the damned bed, Liddy.” He released a long sigh. “But anyway, I never cared for the industry standard of ‘what’s your favorite movie/song/color?’ We’re beyond that.”

“Still, it would be useful information. Also, it would beSaving Private Ryan,Daydream Believer,and turquoise.”

“Stop feeding me answers you think will make me fall in love with you. No woman lovesSaving Private Ryan.”

She poked him in the ribs. “I do. It was the first movie my dad and I watched together, just the two of us. And I love it because of that. What are yours?”

He shook his head, then rolled onto his side, propping his head up with his hand. “I have no idea. I can’t remember the last time I watchedanymovie with my dad. If I ever did. Also, those questions wouldn’t be what I’d ask you on a date.”

She didn’t dare turn to look at him even though he was clearly staring at her in the darkness.Thank God for the dark.He would be able to see her blush traveling into her face with his nearness. She was incredibly aware of that—and the fact that he was still shirtless. She kept her hands at her sides, breathing shallowly.

He doesn’t need to know how much he turns me on.

“What would you ask me?”

“I’d ask . . . what’s the one thing on your bucket list you could doright now,and what’s stopping you from doing it?”

She liked that. Liked that his question was deeper. With his talk of “playthings” and being clearly anti-relationship, it worried her that maybe he was just as shallow as he claimed, and she was trying to fool herself. She stared at the ceiling, then smiled. “I think. . .I’d say skinny-dipping and. . .what’s stopping me is the fact that I just got in bed after being cold and wet, and I don’t really want to get wet again.”

“Are you telling me that skinny-dipping is actually on your bucket list?”

She tried to poke him again, but he caught her hand this time. “It’smybucket list. You can’t make fun of it. And yes. You’ll find my list is probably more normal stuff. What’s on yours? Ménage à trois? Climbing Mount Everest?”

“Ménages à trois are overrated. And not Everest—I have zero interest in spending an ungodly amount of money for a sherpa to do most of the work.” He pushed back the covers and cooler air hit her. “But come on, get up. Let’s go.”

She leaned down and reached for the covers, but he held them back. “What are you doing?”

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