Oh shit. This was not good.
“No, really, that isn’t necessary. I’m covered.”
Ren’s eyes caught mine. “By Stark?”
Hmm.
He seemed very interested, his eyes no longer angry but still sharp and very alert.
“Um… yeah,” I answered.
Ren went in for a direct hit. “You seein’ him?”
Well there we were, the moment of truth.
Was I seeing Luke Stark?
Was I seeing Luke Stark?
Crap.
“Kind of,” I hedged.
The tips of Ren’s lips went up slightly and I knew he found this amusing. “Stark doesn’t strike me as a guy who would ‘kind of’ be seein’ a woman like you.”
“What’s that mean?”
Why did I ask? Why, why, why?
“A man like that has a woman like you, there’s nothing ‘kind of’ about it.”
“Do you know Luke?”
“I know him. Not well, but I know him.”
“If you don’t know him well then how would you know? He might be perfectly happy with having a relationship that’s not exclusive. In fact, he might do it all the time.”
Just ask Sandra Whoever-She Was, she’d tell you, I thought but did not say.
“I bet he does, just not with a woman like you,” Ren said.
“What’s that mean?”
I did it again! Why?
He leaned toward me. “Ava, you should know Stark and me don’t get along. We don’t because we find ourselves on opposite sides of the fence a lot of the time. We also don’t get along because we’re a lot alike. Therefore I know a man like that doesn’t ‘kind of’ see a woman like you because I wouldn’t ‘kind of’ see a woman like you. A man like that gets hold of a woman like you, all ass, legs, hair and attitude, protecting a soft spot you can just about see but she won’t let you touch. Fuck,” his voice lowered in a sexy way, he leaned in further, his eyes got that hungry look again and I found I was having trouble breathing. “A man like that gets hold of a woman like you it automatically becomes exclusive.”
Holy cramoly.
I decided I didn’t want to know any more and started spooning up the Chicken Montana.
I also decided that, even though I couldn’t stay in my pretend happy place for very long, there were certain times I was going to go visit.
This was one of those times.
“Ava,” Ren called.
I looked at him.