No Attachments - By Tiffany King Page 0,40

was I shouldn't want any of it. More accurately, I shouldn't be allowed to want it. I tried to leave, but somehow, standing in Nathan's arms with him begging me to stay with him for a few weeks crumbled my resolve.

"Let's eat," Nathan finally said, breaking the kiss.

"Okay," I answered, letting him lead me to the heavy quilt that was stretched on the ground in front of us. I sat down and watched as he unpacked the large picnic basket, doing my best to hide my surprise when each new item he pulled from the basket seemed to be a favorite of mine. There were chocolate-covered strawberries from Haley's Delectable Eats bakery, several varieties of cheeses and crackers, artichoke dip and pita slices and a bottle of my favorite wine.

"You did your homework," I said, trying for blasé. I didn't want to admit what his attention to detail meant to me.

"I may have had help," he chuckled, popping the cork off the wine and pouring me a glass.

"I suspected as much," I said, sweeping my eyes around. "Tressa?"

"That would be the one. She jumped at the chance to help me out."

"I bet she did," I said, smirking at him.

He laughed. "She's a character, for sure. I don't think she has a shy bone in her body. I got the whole lowdown on her ex and the new guy she's going out with this weekend," he said wryly, shoving a cracker in his mouth.

I laughed. "Yeah, Tressa's not shy by a long shot. And her ex is a total douche," I added.

"He sounds like it, and his mom doesn't sound like much of a winner either. I'm not sure what I would have done at his age if my mom tried to cockblock me," he said just as I was taking a sip of wine. His words made the wine go down the wrong tube and I choked, nearly covering him in a combination of wine and spit.

Nathan pounded me on the back as I coughed like an eighty-year-old smoker. "Not cool to say something like that when I'm trying to drink," I chastised in between coughs. "You gotta give a person warning."

"Sorry," he said, laughing again. "Anyway, your friend is better off now. At least I think so."

"That's what I told her. We've all gone out together a couple of times and he was always very overbearing where she was concerned. It irked me that he kept such a tight rein on her. No girl deserves to be treated that way."

"You sound like you have personal experience in that area?" he asked casually, though I sensed something more in his tone.

"Me? Hell no," I said, reaching for a chocolate strawberry. "I may have not dated much, but I'd never let a guy treat me like that. If anyone tried to control me like Jackson did with Tressa, I would have sent him packing instantly," I added, looking up at him. I was surprised to see his eyes had narrowed and he was studying me critically. I instantly regretted my openness. He didn't need to hear about my love life or lack thereof. It was as if I had erected a flashing sign above my head with the word "inexperienced" in big red letters for the world to see.

The silence between us stretched on as he moved his eyes from mine and studied the water behind me. I had the uncomfortable feeling he was contemplating what he was doing with someone with my adolescent experience. Maybe we had reached the point where he was missing the sophisticated and experienced ladies he was used to dating. I felt I should say something. Offer up some kind of reassurance that I wasn't a complete prude or anything, but I kept my lips sealed, waiting for him to break the silence.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally shifted his eyes back to me. "So, you've never been in a relationship you couldn't wait to get out of?" he asked with intensity.

"No," I answered, puzzled. I knew the fact that I was twenty-two and had no prior experience to brag about could be construed as unusual, but it shouldn't put me on trial. "It's not like I'm a leper or something," I finally said sarcastically, done with the way he was looking at me.

"Of course not," he answered. "It's just unusual that you don't have one crummy relationship to complain about."

"What the hell does that mean? Maybe I was too busy to have a