Talon was dumbstruck. He was used to leaving his lovers, but this had to be the easiest time he'd ever experienced, and he found it strangely disconcerting.
Unsettling.
Humbling.
Especially given the way the two of them had carried on. This had been the best marathon of sex he'd ever had. She had met his passion and stamina in a way that was unbelievable.
Now she was fine with him just walking out the door?
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.
"Look, it's cool, okay? I knew when I agreed to this that you wouldn't be hanging around afterward. I'm not stupid, you know. I'm a big girl. You're a really big guy and I'm sure you have a life to get back to." Panic drifted through her eyes. "Oh God, you're not married, are you?"
"No, I'm not married."
She let out a relieved breath. "Then, no harm, no foul."
She crossed the short distance to her fridge to return the juice jug.
"Sunshine?"
She paused to give him a peeved stare. "What, Talon? You're not having separation anxiety, are you? Today was fun and it was worth it, but I've got to get back to work. I have a ton of stuff that I need to do tonight."
"Yeah, but..." He didn't finish the sentence. He refused to.
"But?"
He clamped his jaw shut. Fine, if she wanted him gone, he was gone.
He shouldn't have spent the day with her anyway.
This close to Mardi Gras, he couldn't afford any distractions. Never mind one that came in the form of a dark-haired temptress.
"Nothing," he said.
She looked relieved. "Since you have to meet someone, you go ahead and shower and I'll make us some dinner."
Talon took her up on the shower, but when he was finished, he declined eating her tofu salad and soy steaks.
"Thanks again, Sunshine," he said as he shrugged his leather jacket on over his T-shirt. "I had a really good day."
"Me too," she said with a smile while she nibbled her salad and flipped through an art magazine.
He still couldn't believe how well she was taking his leaving her. Damn.
A part of him continued to expect her to at least beg him to call her.
Ask for his e-mail.
Something.
But she didn't.
Man, how he hated the twenty-first century.
She looked up as he headed for the door. "You take care of yourself, Talon. And in the future, please try and stay out of the way of runaway Mardi Gras floats, okay?"
Talon lifted both brows in stunned shock. "Excuse me?"