Page 58 of Mine

She wrinkled her nose. “We can’t date.”

“Why not?” I asked. “I could take you on a real date, you know. I know a good brunch spot with mimosas.”

She sighed. “You have a meeting with Tommy on Friday. Salt, I’m going to be honest, we want you. I want to own your music.”

And I want to own your heart.

“I don’t even know if I want that,” I said. “I haven’t decided. I’m going to hear him out, and that’s it.”

She frowned. “Regardless, we can’t keep doing this.”

“We could keep it a secret,” I said. “No one has to know. I’ll sign a NDA if that’s what it takes for you to trust me.”

“It’s not just that. I’m obligated to inform my company that I’m seeing a client if… If we continue. I have to tell them. Why don’t you go out with someone else?”

I groaned dramatically. “Who do you think I am?”

“Well—”

“Truly,” I said. “What do you imagine I do every day?”

“Post selfies, play music, and brood.”

“Brood?” I scoffed. Although she wasn’t wrong.

“You’re ridiculously handsome,” she said. “You’re talented. And you apparently build sex furniture. Why aren’t you in a serious relationship?”

Because I’m damaged and any one who gets close to me discovers that and leaves.

“Maybe I’m a lone wolf,” I said lightly.

She laughed. “No one chooses to be alone wolf. Ask me how I know.”

“How do you know?”

Pepper rolled her eyes. “I’m too old for that kind of ploy. You can’t distract me when I want to know something. It’s your turn to feel uncomfortable,” she teased.

I gave her a dirty look, but she had a point. “I’ll tell you one thing, and you can tell me one thing.”

“Fine. Go on.”

“I’ve dated,” I said. “Most of my relationships are casual hookups. I’ve attempted to date people more seriously over the years. But, usually, we would hit the three-month point and things would implode.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Usually my fault,” I said. “I’d get too serious too fast. Or my sexual appetite was too much.”

“I doubt that.”

I raised a brow. “Sex every single day? Sometimes a few times a day?”

“Sounds like heaven to me.”

“And yet you’ve been resisting mesooohard.”

“Okay,well, I have reasons for that. Reasons that make a whole lot of sense given the context.”

“You’re not wrong, but I still stand by what I said earlier. Which is that we can make this work.”

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