She took the icy bottle, then put down her purse and perched gingerly on the edge of the sofa. He joined her at the opposite end, looking interested and expectant. Right. Because she didn’t usually spend her free time up here.

“I’m sorry about before,” she said slowly. “About what I said and what we talked about.”

He frowned slightly. “Can you be a little more specific? I don’t exactly remember what moment you’re thinking of.”

“Oh. Sure. Before. I was ragging on you about the women you’re with and you told me about Jenny. I didn’t know there was something like that in your past. I shouldn’t have judged you.”

He picked up his beer and took a sip, then turned his attention back to her. “You like judging me. It makes you feel superior.”

Guilt and embarrassment made her flush. “That is so untrue,” she said, lying and proud of it.

“Come on, Lori. You think I’m totally useless.”

“Not useless. Just lazy.”

“Ouch.”

“You don’t try because you don’t have to. Like with Jenny. Did you really just give up on love because she rejected you or was it a convenient excuse to never fall in love again?”

“Double ouch. You really don’t like me, do you?”

She saw a flicker of emotion in his eyes. Had her questions hurt him? She knew he was capable of being wounded, she just didn’t think she could do it herself.

“I do like you,” she said impulsively. “A lot.”

“Really?”

Oh, God. She could feel herself blushing. “What I mean is I think you’re a great guy. You just like to hide your assets.”

He raised one eyebrow and she blushed again.

“My assets,” he said slowly. “Interesting. And they would be…?”

He was baiting her. She wanted to think he was flirting with her, but she wasn’t totally sure.

“You’re smart, you care about people. You have a heart, you’re perceptive. But you conceal all that under a façade of being superficial and useless.”

“Playing baseball isn’t useless.”

“I wasn’t talking about your job, I was talking about your attitude. You act as if none of this is your fault. Like sleeping with the nurses. You want me to believe it just happened. But it didn’t. You made it happen.”

She felt a little more comfortable and relaxed slightly. “You don’t take responsibility in your relationships. Now I kind of know why.”

“I see you’re still very comfortable judging me.”

“I don’t mean what I said in a bad way.”

“Of course not.” He studied her. “You’re angry I didn’t try to sleep with you.”

It was her worst nightmare come true. For possibly the third time in as many minutes, she felt hot with humiliation, only this experience was about a thousand times worse than the others. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe, could only try to brace herself for the fact that he was going to tell her exactly how unappealing he found her. He would be kind about it, of course. He would say something polite but the message would be the same. Not her, not ever.

“You didn’t ask,” he said, staring directly into her eyes. “You went out of your way to make sure I knew you thought I was a bug, which I could have handled. But the not asking?” He shrugged. “That’s why.”

She felt as if her brain was caught up in a feedback loop. Information swirled around, repeating itself over and over again.

“You slept with Sandy and Kristie because they asked?”

He nodded.

She opened her mouth, then closed it. There had to be more to this, she told herself. “You’re saying you only sleep with women who offer?”

“Pretty much. If they come on to me, or show up na**d in my room, I’m game.”

She couldn’t believe it. “So you want a relationship where all you have to do is show up?”

“It’s not a relationship,” he told her. “It’s sex, and yes.”

“And women do this? They show up and offer themselves?”

“On a regular basis.”

“You have no other standard?”

“No husbands or serious boyfriends.” He grinned. “I don’t want my ass kicked.”

“But if you could take the guy, then married would be okay?”

He shook his head. “That was a joke, Lori.”

“I’m not sure it was. I can’t believe that’s your only benchmark. So any age? Any appearance?”

“I like women. All women. Always have.”

But there had to be something else driving this. “You aren’t that much of a dog,” she said. “You have feelings. You have to want more.”

“Why? Because you do?”

They were so not going to talk about her.

“Because you’re a real person, not a sexual machine.”

He grinned. “I like the idea of being a sexual machine.”

Sometimes he was such a guy. “Reid, I’m serious.”

“Why? What’s the big deal? You want to figure this out and you already know the answer. Don’t make it more complicated than it is. Women offer and I say yes. That’s it.”

She wanted to accuse him of lying, but she had a bad feeling he was telling the truth. “I’m offended by the stupidity of women who walk around offering.”

“Why? They’re getting what they want.”

She had a bad feeling he was right. “And you are, too?” she asked. “Your standard of answering the call of ‘come and get it’ is met? I can’t believe you don’t require more of yourself. Based on what you’re saying, if I’d walked in here and said ‘hey, big guy, want to get some?’ we’d be ha**g s*x right now?”

She hadn’t thought her question through. She’d just been talking. But now the words were out there and she couldn’t remember ever being more horrified.

Because the tension in the room had cranked up considerably and Reid was looking at her in a way he never had. She was hyper-aware of him, of his maleness, of how much she wanted him. She’d voiced her greatest desire and by doing so, had opened herself up to her greatest fear.

He was going to reject her.

Oh, sure, he liked her enough to do it nicely, but the result would be the same. He was going to be kind and she was going to be devastated.

“I need to get going,” she said as she stood and started to back out of the room. “You’re busy and I should get home. This has been great but…”

He stood and grabbed her hand. She tried to tug free of his hold, but he didn’t let her. Darkness invaded his eyes, but not in a scary, slasher-movie kind of way. Instead it was as if there was something smoldering in his gaze.

She groaned silently. Smoldering? Was she so far gone she was thinking words like that? What was wrong with her?

Stupid questions, she thought grimly. What was wrong with her was about six foot three, all muscle, charm and with some kind of body chemistry that reduced her to quivering without trying.

“I’m not your type,” he said, staring at her, as if trying to figure out what she was thinking.

She opened her mouth, then closed it. What was she supposed to say to that?

He took a step closer. Or maybe she’d just stopped pulling back. The humiliation was inevitable. Why not get it over with so she could hit bottom and start the healing process?

“You would never in a million years want a guy like me,” he continued. “You think I’m shallow and useless.”

What? “That’s not true,” she told him. “I think that you’re…”

She’d always read that people tended to use less than ten percent of their brains, which left a vast untapped wilderness of who knows what swirling around in there. Her eleventh percent suddenly jolted to life.

“You think I don’t like you,” she said, barely able to believe it was true. “You’re afraid I think you’re a total waste of space.”

“Not afraid. You’ve told me exactly that, more than once. In many ways.”

She had, she realized. When they’d first met. But why would her opinion matter? He couldn’t possibly…there was no way he actually, maybe, liked her, was there?

On the heels of that unexpected revelation came the thought that maybe she’d hurt him. It didn’t seem likely, let alone possible, but once the thought formed, she couldn’t let it go.

“Reid, I don’t think badly of you,” she whispered. “I can’t. You’re not what I thought.” She smiled. “Sometimes you’re worse, but mostly you’re better.”

He continued to hold her hand as he stared into her eyes. There was something compelling about his gaze, something that made her lean forward and wish.

“You confuse the hell out of me,” he admitted. “I prefer my women simple.”

Inadequacy swamped her. She jerked her hand free and stepped back. “I won’t keep you anymore.”

She started to turn, then he was there, in front of her, pulling her close, swearing softly, which was crazy enough, but then his mouth was on hers and crazy morphed into unbelievable.

She didn’t pull back because she couldn’t and she didn’t want to. She gave herself up to the slow brush of his mouth on hers. The kiss was slow. Sexy and enticing, but at a speed that implied they had all the time in the world.

He reached up and rubbed his thumb against her bottom lip. Her instinct was to bite down on his thumb, but that seemed too aggressive and sexual and it wasn’t anything she’d ever done before, so she stood there, feeling awkward and stupid.

“Relax,” he murmured, stepping closer until they were touching everywhere. He took off her glasses and put them on the coffee table. “Unless you don’t want to be doing this.”

She wasn’t sure what “this” was, but if it involved feeling the hard planes of his chest against her br**sts and their thighs rubbing, she was all for it.

“I’m fine,” she murmured.

“Fine?” His voice was teasing. “Wow. I’m excited now. I’ve made you feel fine. Maybe I do deserve what they said about me in the newspaper.”

She wanted to tease back, but she was too scared. She stared into his dark eyes and wished for inspiration.

“Reid, I…” There weren’t any words. She had no idea where this was going, but she didn’t want him to stop. More would be better. But how to say that?

In the end she gave up on saying it right and simply leaned forward a few inches and kissed him back. Lightly, almost chastely, lips on lips, her hand pressing against his chest.

He was warm all over. Heat seemed to radiate from him. She was aware of that, along with the faint scent of his body. He smelled clean and tempting at the same time. All man and sin and sex.

Need flickered to life. Maybe she was like all those other women, offering herself to him in the hopes that he would take her on. If so, there was nothing she could do about it. She was afraid of being rejected, but for once in her life when it came to a man, she was more afraid of not trying.

She raised herself up onto her toes, wrapped both arms around his neck and kissed him again. This time she put her body into it, leaning into him, trying to convey her desire with something as simple as a kiss.

For a second nothing happened. But just as she felt the waves of humiliation rising up inside of her, he wrapped his arms around her body and kissed her back.

He tilted his head and swept his tongue across her bottom lip. She opened for him instantly, wanting everything he could give her. When he eased inside, she met him eagerly, kissing him back.

Their tongues circled and stroked, rubbing, reaching, playing. He moved his hands up and down her back, each time dipping lower until he cupped her rear. When he grabbed her curves, she felt a surge of wanting rush through her. At the same time, she instinctively arched forward, bringing her belly into contact with his erection.

He was hard! The happy thought filled her brain like a confetti explosion. He was really, really hard. Guys couldn’t fake that.

She was so happy, she started to laugh, which made him pull back and study her.

“You’re going to make this difficult, aren’t you?” he asked.

She couldn’t stop grinning. “No, I’m not. I’m enjoying myself.”

“You’re not supposed to laugh.”

“There are rules?” she teased, then rested her hands on his shoulders, pressed against him and rubbed her belly against his erection. “Come on, Reid. We can play, too.”

“I didn’t think you’d be the play type.”

She wasn’t, usually. But these were not normal circumstances.

“I’m not excited about playing escaped prisoner and the warden’s wife, but I don’t need every moment to be solemn.”

He raised one eyebrow. “Have you ever tried escaped prisoner and the warden’s wife?”

“No.”

“Then you can’t know if you’ll like it or not.” He stepped back and grabbed her hand. “Come on.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

LORI LET Reid lead her through the living room and into the massive bedroom. She had an impression of dark furniture and a bed the size of her kitchen. He released her, turned on a small lamp on the night-stand, then pulled back the comforter.

Oh, God. They were going to have sex.

It was what she wanted, she reminded herself. It had been what she’d wanted practically from the first moment she’d seen him. But this all felt strange. It was too conscious. She liked to feel a little swept away with her intimacy.