Page 43 of Pleasure Control

“Hey, J-man,” she said softly.

He slanted his head and smirked. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for tonight.”

His smile warmed her heart.

“Thank you,” he said. “It was fun.”

“I really enjoyed meeting your family.”

“They enjoyed meeting you, too.”

She reached out and touched his hand. “I always have fun when I’m with you.”

He arched a brow and squeezed her fingers. “Oh yeah? Even when I bowled you over at the ball game?”

Laura chuckled. “Well, I guess there are a few exceptions.”

She tapped the brown paper bag that Isabella had generously filled with containers of fresh pasta and sauce. “Thanks for teaching me how to make pasta. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to eat it, though.” She rubbed her stomach. “I’m full from the pizza.” God, how she loved sitting there chatting with him. Their easy conversations always tugged at her insides.

Darkness blanketed the parking lot as he pulled his car into his assigned space. As she played over the events of the evening, her thoughts returned to Isabella.

She twisted sideways in her seat to face Jay. “Jay, what did Isabella mean when she said you weren’t just another ‘Cold-Hearted Cutler’?”

He got quiet for a moment, and then frowned in concentration. “My father and the rest of the men in the Cutler family had never had a lasting relationship. They were all playboys and were emotionally unavailable. After my father left us, my mother nicknamed them all ‘Cold-Hearted Cutlers.’” He glanced at her as though gauging her reaction.

She nodded, prodding him on. He drew a breath and continued. “And I was always told I wouldn’t amount to anything different.”

Her heart went out to him. She lowered her voice, appreciating his honesty. She wanted to be honest with him, too. She crinkled her nose and said in the nicest possible way, “Your track record hasn’t been great so far.”

Emotions passed over his eyes. A muscle in his jaw clenched. “I know.”

“It sounds like Isabella and Tony always had faith in you. Believed you’d be different.”

He rolled his shoulders. “They did, but when you hear something often enough, that you’d never turn out any different than your father, you begin to live up to those expectations.”

She nodded in understanding. “So what would it take for you to prove to yourself that you’re not just another ‘Cold-Hearted Cutler’?”

His head came up slowly. “The right woman,” he replied, his dark eyes brimming with emotion.

When he glanced in her eyes, her breath stalled. He gave her a long, lingering look. It was the same look he’d given her at the restaurant. The one that made her feel like the most important woman in the world. The one that made her wonder if he really was interested in playing for keeps.

Her heart did a somersault.

When he’d told Isabella that Laura was for keeps, was he just appeasing her, like Laura had thought, or was it possible that Laura was the right woman?

God, did she dare hope?

Suddenly Jay glanced over her shoulder. She turned her head. “What is it?”

“I don’t know. I thought I saw something rush by. After the break-in at the lab and your apartment I don’t want to take any chances. I want to get you inside and keep you safe.”

Laura’s heart picked up tempo. She squinted her eyes and peered into the darkness. “I don’t see anything, Jay.” It occurred to her that maybe he was just trying to shift the focus away from him. Maybe he didn’t want to pursue the conversation or talk about emotional commitment.

“Come on, let’s get inside,” Jay

said.

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