her.
Why couldn’t he just put her aside like all the other women in his past was a mystery, but he couldn’t get her out of his mind.
“When are you going to wake up and realize that this thing between us isn’t going to go away? And Dave can’t give you what we have,” he growled. He’d seen her cute derriere walking away from him too often this week. He wasn’t going to relent tonight.
Jade turned her head back and forth, crossing her arms over her chest in stubborn defiance. “Dave is a good man. He loves me and he’s stood beside me for years. I can’t just dump him when a new guy comes along.”
Angelo looked down at her, astonished at what she was telling him. “Are you saying that you’re being loyal to a man simply because you’ve invested so much time in the relationship?”
Jade wasn’t sure what it was, but his statement didn’t sound very sensible. “Well,” she bit her lip for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
Angelo rolled his eyes. His anger dissipated suddenly and he even respected her a bit more now. He understood loyalty. That made sense to him but he wouldn’t let her ignore their attraction simply because she’d been with the dud for so long. “Honey, the very fact that you aren’t married to the guy, you barely kiss him and you aren’t having sex with him should tell you something.”
She bristled at his assumption. “How do you know we aren’t having sex?” she demanded.
Angelo actually laughed at the blush that flared up on her lovely cheeks when she asked that question. “I just know, Jade. You’re not even attracted to him.”
“I am!” she fired right back. “But what would you know about being in a caring, loving relationship?” she asked. “You probably go through women like water bottles, tossing one out after you’ve used up everything inside them. Then mercilessly tossing the bottle out as soon as you’re done, regardless of how horrible it is to the environment.”
Angelo looked at her, confused. “Are we talking about human relationships now, or our relationship with our recycling?”
She huffed, furious with him. “That was an analogy,” she flamed back, punching him on his shoulder but he didn’t even feel it with all those bulky muscles. “I don’t want to be the water bottle you toss away when you’re finished with me! Dave wouldn’t ever throw me away! He likes to savor bottled water!”
Even Jade could hear how ridiculous her analogy was becoming but he just made her so furious!
“How do you know I don’t savor my bottle of water?” he asked, merriment in his eyes as he looked down at her. His hands reached out and touched her hips, pulling her closer. “I might have found the most amazing bottle of water, one that could quench my thirst for a long, long time.”
“You’re a tosser,” she argued back, her hands gripping his wrists but not pulling them away. She didn’t realize that she was tilting her head to the side so he could nibble on her neck, but her eyes closed as the heavenly feeling set all of her nerve endings tingling.
“I think you should give us a chance. You never know what might get tossed.”
Jade knew he was referring to her dumping Dave but she took a deep breath and pushed against his shoulders. “Dave’s more like wine than water.”
Angelo pulled back, not sure what she was talking about now. “Wine?”
She tried to pull out of his arms but he kept his hands on her hips, holding her close. “Yes. He gets better with age.”
Angelo threw back his head and laughed. He wasn’t sure what she was trying to tell him, but she was delightful and he genuinely respected her loyalty now that he understood that was what was holding her back.
She huffed, irritated with his amusement even though she knew she’d gone out in left field with that last one. “Okay, so that one sounded ridiculous,” she glared up at him. “My point is, Dave was there for me all through high school and college. He was a good friend during those years and we’ve been dating long enough for each of us to understand each other. My mom loves him and she approves of him.”
He chuckled. “The implication being that your mother wouldn’t approve of me?” He couldn’t help it. Women had tried the most intricate schemes to get him to the altar but this woman was