“No, I don’t do complicated. Trust me, anything other than casual with Jade Daniels is going to be complicated.”
“So,” she said watching him closely. “When’s the last time you were in a relationship?”
He laughed. “You really want to get into that?”
She found herself smiling in return. “I do.” She wouldn’t admit it to anyone other than herself, but she was curious. Nash wasn’t exactly an open book, and she had a feeling the face he showed the world was the face he wanted them to see. Not the face that existed beneath the flesh.
Nash rolled his shoulders, and for a moment, she thought he wouldn’t answer. But he surprised her. He cleared his throat and looked her straight in the eye.
“Ten years ago.” His words were quiet. Carefully spoken. And Honey knew enough about reading people to know there was a story there. But maybe it wasn’t one she wanted to hear. “What about you?” he asked.
Shit. She picked at an invisible piece of lint on her wrist and shrugged. “Never.”
His surprise was obvious. “That’s not what I expected to hear.”
She didn’t want to talk about her lack of intimacy and commitment because it scared the holy crap out of her. She was damaged. She knew that. But she’d always hoped that things would change. That maybe one day, she would find love in a world that had taught her love was a four-letter word for hurt.
Yeah. That dream still lingered at the back of her mind.
“I should go,” she said, taking a step back.
“We’re not done.” Nash moved closer, cutting her off. “What’s up with you? You’ve been weird since Thanksgiving. Even Hudson thought you were intense.”
“He said that?” She cleared her throat, thoughts swirling. “What else did he say about me?”
Nash’s eyes flattened, and he frowned. “What do you care?”
“I don’t.” But she answered too quickly, and his expression changed.
“He’s married to my friend, and he has a kid, which means he’s off-limits.” The warning that carried those words was hard to miss, and instantly, Honey’s hackles rose. She took a step forward.
“If you’re implying that I’m interested in a married man, you can go to hell, Booker. That is a line I would never cross.” Her voice surged, and the adrenaline that pumped through her body left her shaking.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to upset you.” Nash closed the distance between them. He looked down at her. “Sorry I read it wrong. But Hudson and Becca are like family to me, so if I think someone is gunning for them, I get in their face.”
Silence filled the room, and the energy that permeated the air made it hard for Honey to think straight. She’d been on an emotional roller coaster for days. She wanted to push Nash away. Tell him to get the hell out of her space. But she didn’t. She stood there like an idiot, inhaling a seductive scent that was all him. A scent that infiltrated her pores and slid over her skin like a caress.
Something happened—a something that hadn’t happened in a long while. Desire, thick and hot, shot through her—a sharp jolt of it that settled in her belly and spread lower. Her nipples suddenly stood at attention, and she was very much aware of the painful yet delicious reaction.
Nash’s voice slid over her, a hint of seduction coloring his words, making her toes curl. “You never answered my question. What’s up?”
After a few moments, she shrugged and decided to fend off any more questions with something that would deflect the reality of her situation. She said the first thing that came to mind, which wasn’t a good thing.
“It’s been a while.”
His eyebrow shot up at that. “Since?”
He was going to make this hard. Of course he was. “Since I washed my hair. What do you think?”
Okay. This entire conversation had taken a complete one-eighty. She needed to nip this in the bud. And fast.
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Believe what you want.”
His smiled deepened. “Just out of curiosity. What kind of man are you looking for?” His grin reached an epic level of wickedness. “You know, for the hair-washing thing.”
You.