“Because this isn’t you,” he murmured, his thumb brushing her lower lip. “You aren’t cruel. You don’t deliberately try to hurt people.” His lips twisted in a wry smile. “Not even those people who might deserve it.”
The heat from his body blasted through the thin silk of her dress, a raw surge of need making her shiver.
“I—”
His brows snapped together as her words trailed away. “Maddy, for god’s sake,” he rasped. “Tell me the truth.”
She ground her teeth together. Dammit. Obviously, the only way she was getting out of the hotel room was to give him what he wanted.
Pigheaded pain in the ass.
“I want you out of my head,” she said, offering him the stark truth he claimed to want.
He blinked. Then blinked again. “You mean the memory of that night?”
She planted her hands on her hips. “No, the memory of you.”
He flinched, as if he were bothered by her confession. “Did I truly hurt you that badly?”
“I was hurt and humiliated when you walked out, but it’s…”
“What?”
She hunched her shoulder, her cheeks heating with embarrassment. “I can’t enjoy myself with another man.”
There was a startled silence, Luc searching her carefully composed expression. “You don’t like men?”
“Of course I like men,” she snapped, deliberately narrowing her gaze. “When they aren’t being jackasses.”
He rolled his eyes at her inability to resist another jab. “Then explain what the hell you’re talking about.”
Unable to reveal her darkest secret while being watched by Luc’s piercing dark gaze, she turned to pace toward the windows overlooking Vegas.
“Over the years I’ve met dozens of wonderful men,” she said, her voice so low Luc had to move closer to hear her. “Handsome, successful, charming.”
His breath brushed the bare skin of her shoulder. “You didn’t like any of them?”
She grimaced. A part of her wished she could say that she’d chosen a string of complete losers. That would easily explain why she hadn’t managed to create a lasting relationship. Unfortunately, there had been more than one man who should have been perfect for her.
“Actually I liked several,” she grudgingly admitted. “A few I even dated for several months.”
He was close enough behind her that she could feel him tense, almost as if he didn’t like her talking about other men.
Which was stupid considering he was the one who’d forced this unpleasant conversation.
“Why didn’t the relationships last?” he asked.
“Because I couldn’t—” The words stuck in her throat.
“What?”
“Orgasm,” she at last spit out, unable to resist watching his reaction in the reflection of the window. “Are you happy?”
Shock rippled over his fiercely beautiful face, swiftly followed by a frown of disbelief.
“Why would I be happy?”
She hunched her shoulder, feeling raw and exposed now that the truth was out. “You’ve obviously spoiled me for other men.”