Page 60 of No More Heartbreakers

I felt a sudden urge to protect Hale’s manly reputation in the face of another guy’s scrutiny.

“He grew up very religious, and he has a difficult family situation that kept him from dating much before me. I think that’s probably why he was content with, you know… and well, he’s a gentleman. He was pretty good at reading my signs. Maybe that’s why we lasted so long.”

I looked up to meet Aric’s eyes. He held my gaze, patiently waiting for me to continue.

“Before I dated Hale, there was a guy freshman year in college… at Brown.”

“So then you were agoodgirl in high school,” Aric said in a lightly teasing tone.

“I guess so. I dated, but I was planning on waiting until I got married to, you know, get serious, to go all the way. I wanted my husband to be the first and only.”

My neck and face grew warm, and it wasn’t an effect of the fire. “Sounds old-fashioned I know, but, well, I guess it seemed really romantic to me at the time.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. Itisromantic. So… you were planning to wait, but then you met this guy freshman year, and what—he swept you off your feet?”

Aric dipped his head and craned around to see my face.

“Pretty much.”

Unable to look at him, I turned my gaze toward the trees at the edge of the firelight.

“I see. So what happened to him?”

“We had… irreconcilable differences. I thought he was my destiny, and he thought it was fun to go around putting his penis into other women.”

Aric barked out a laugh, startling Thor, who’d found a nice napping spot on the other side of the fire pit.

The dog raised his furry head to look at us then, realizing his services weren’t needed, rested his muzzle on his front paws again.

“Sorry. You caught me off-guard. He sounds like a complete tool.”

“Understatement of the century.”

That was the short version of the story. I’d die before telling Aric all the gory details. It had been humiliating enough to share them with Mara, much less with a guy I hoped would find me something other than pathetic.

“So what made you thinkIwas a womanizer?”

“Well, usually when a guy looks like you…” I left it at that, giving Aric an apologetic raised-brow look.

He adopted a tone of mock-offense. “You’re judging me based on my appearance? That’s not very fair. I thought you were a journalist. You’re supposed to be unbiased, get both sides of the story, right?” he teased. “And if we were going strictly on looks, morals aside, I’d say your number would be… hmmm… in the thousands, at least.”

“Aric.” I laughed and pushed at him, but instead of removing my hand, I left it there on his arm for some reason.

His bicep flexed under my fingers, letting me know he was just as aware as I was of the physical contact.

Eyes narrowed, lips curving into a sexy smile, he dared me to admit my attraction to him. His voice lowered into a soft tone he’d never used with me before.

“So then… I guess all the unfair, judgmental stereotyping means youlikethe way I look?”

“Aric.”

My tone had changed, too, taking on a pleading note. I inhaled deeply and let the breath out.

“I should go.”

I started to get up, but he wrapped a hand around my wrist and gently pulled me back down next to him.

“Will you, pretty please with Cool Whip and rainbow sprinkles on top, stop running away from me? Do you still not trust me?”

---