The question clearly caught him off guard. “That’s not the point—”
“No, that’s exactly the point here, Mike. Because why in the world should I assume that you and I will last even a day longer than your longest prior relationship?”
“Because—”
“We have so much in common?” she answered for him. “Because my parents clearly disapprove of you, and will devote their vast resources to driving a wedge between us whenever possible? Or maybe it’s because we both want the same things?”
“You can’t want that,” he replied. “No person could want a marriage like the one you outlined in there. A husband who can cheat so long as he practices safe sex? Children who are genetically tested to prove paternity before the father provides any financial support? Who the hell wants that, Rori?”
She took a calming breath before answering. It didn’t work. She was still pissed. “There is a large chasm between what people want, and what is realistic. Unrealistic expectations is one of the reasons more than half of all marriages end in divorce, Mike. I don’t plan on getting divorced.”
“Yeah? Me neither,” he retorted. “And I won’t need an open marriage to accomplish that.”
That got a laugh out of her. A bitter one. “You would cheat, Mike. At least be honest about that. You would tire of your wife from time to time, and need to shake things up a bit. Why not acknowledge and plan for that from the get-go?”
He closed the distance between them so quickly that Rori didn’t have time to back away. “In thirty-five years, not once has my father cheated on my mother. That’s the world I come from, Rori. Marriage means fidelity. My wife won’t be sleeping with anyone else, and neither will I.”
“And naïve beliefs like that is just one of the reasons you’ll be part of the fifty percent that bails on your wife, Mike,” she said, voice much tighter than she wanted it to be. There was absolutely no reason to start crying. None at all. “Because you associate fidelity with marriage, so when you find someone new to want exclusively, you’ll want to marry her, too. It’s called serial monogamy. My dad’s really good at it.”
“So now I’m your dad?”
She hated that when she squared off against him she could feel the heat of his body. That simple sensation had her body pushing in, wanting more. But she had to stay focused. “If the shoe fits.”
He blinked in obvious shock. “Are you being serious?”
In that moment, Rori realized one of the reasons she preferred dating normal sized men. Being eye-to-eye with someone during an argument was a definite advantage. Being eye-to-chest wasn’t. Especially a chest like Mike’s that begged to be touched. Worshipped, even.
“Well, let’s look at the evidence, shall we? It took you all of five minutes to have the full attention of my dad’s current woman—”
“Are you kidding?” he said over her. “You asked me to do that. There’s no way—”
“Maybe you weren’t interested in her,” Rori snapped, her voice louder than she wanted it to be. “But somewhere along the line you’re going to meet a woman who is interesting to you, Mike. Because, let’s face it, you’re the kind of man women are very interested in.”
“But according to your contract, you don’t care if I sleep around, right? You seem to all but encourage it. Have children with your husband, but fuck buddies on the side? Or, in Anton’s case, a mistress in every port? That’s really what you want?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped, her voice close to cracking for some stupid reason. “No one wants that. But it’s realistic if I want a man who isn’t going to abandon his children so they can grow up with a steady father figure.”
“Even if that father’s a total asshole? Like Jean? He’s a gem,” Mike said, so close that Rori couldn’t understand how they weren’t touching. God, she needed to feel him. One touch and she knew the tension between them would take a new direction. A direction they both wanted—maybe even needed.
But first she felt obligated to defend her stepfather.
“I wouldn’t be where I am without Jean. He may have not been as hands-on as your father, but he’s always had my back.”
“Uh-huh,” Mike drawled. “Like when he made it his business to give me this folder and offer me a directing job to disappear and not come back?”
Rori’s knee jerk reaction was to deny Mike’s claim and say that Jean would never