Rebel (Wolfes of Manhattan 1)

Lacey shook her head. “Can you be not an asshole for more than a few seconds at a time?”

“Not sure. Never tried.” True enough.

“What do you want from me, then?” she asked.

“Your company. Your tight little body for that great sex we have together.”

She huffed. “I’m serious. You can have any woman you want. Nieves just traveled halfway across the country to be with you, and she’s gorgeous.”

“She’s a pain in the ass.”

“And I’m not?”

“You have your moments,” I said. Didn’t matter. I hadn’t given a thought to any other woman since I’d laid eyes on Lacey Ward.

“Then why me, Rock?”

What could I say to that, except to be honest? A first for me, but why not?

“Because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since I first laid eyes on you.”

Her mouth dropped open.

“Surprise you?” I asked.

She cleared her throat. “Yeah. More than a little.”

“Just telling the truth. We’ve had our share of good times in the short time we’ve known each other. You have to admit that.”

“I admit it. But we still don’t really know each other. Every time I ask you—”

“Stop.” I held up my hand. “I don’t get personal, Lacey. It’s not who I am.”

She finished off her sparkling water and stood. “You’ve made that clear. You’ve also made it clear that we don’t have a relationship. Sorry, Rock. That’s not enough for me. I enjoy sex as much as the next person, but I’m not looking for a fuck buddy.”

“Lace, sit down. Please.” The thought of her leaving tied my insides in knots. I had to resist. I had no other choice. There were things she didn’t know about me—would never know about me—and if she did, she’d run away as fast as she could.

If I were a better man, I’d let her run away.

But I was not a better man, unfortunately. I wanted her. I wanted to take her to Montana and show her the beauty of the outdoors.

I wanted to sleep with her in my own bed.

I wanted to wake up next to her and fry her some bacon and eggs in my cast-iron skillet, make her a pot of coffee.

I wanted to make love with her in front of my crackling fireplace, though that would have to wait since summer was nearly here.

I wanted to make her a pot of beef stew or barbeque steaks on my grill for her.

Take her hunting, show her how to pluck and skin a pheasant and then enjoy it together with my famous cognac cream sauce.

“You going to say anything?” she asked. “You asked me to sit.”

I itched to tell her everything racing through my mind, everything I wanted to share with her.

But I couldn’t. Just couldn’t.

She rolled her eyes. “That’s what I thought.”

“Please. Let’s have dinner. And go with me to Montana this weekend. I promise you’ll have an amazing time.”

“I’m not denying that our sex is great, Rock.”

I wasn’t talking about sex, actually. Surprising even to me. Words floated through my head, but somehow they never made it to my vocal cords.

“Yeah, our sex is great.”

“We can have sex here,” she said. “We don’t need Montana for that.”

I sighed. “I do. I want to go home. I want to…”

What the hell did I want?

Things I had no business wanting.

She didn’t miss the opportunity to badger me.

“What do you want, Rock?”

I sighed. “You. I want you.”

“Meaning…?”

She wasn’t going to let this go.

I wasn’t falling in love. I couldn’t be. I didn’t have it in me. But I wanted something from this beautiful woman—something I couldn’t put into words.

“I want you to spend the weekend with me. In Montana. It’s perfect. Monday’s a holiday so we can make it a long weekend.”

“Memorial Day,” she said. “I usually volunteer with homeless veterans on Memorial Day.”

Could she be any more perfect? “What if I make a sizable donation to the organization to make up for the loss of you for one day?”

She smiled. “It’s not about money, Rock. It’s about doing something I believe in. I don’t have a lot of time to do volunteer work, so I do what I can, and I take it seriously.”

Beauty, brains, honesty, integrity, and selflessness.

If I had the capacity to love, I’d love Lacey Ward.

“All right,” I said. “We’ll come back on Sunday evening. That way you can—”

She reached across the table and laid her hand over mine. A bolt of lightning shot through me at her touch.

“I’ll find another way to help this year,” she said. “I’ll go with you for the long weekend.”

Elation filled me. I felt like a school boy who just found out the girl I had a crush on liked me back.

Ridiculous.

“You won’t regret it.”

“Call me or text me with the flight information,” she said. “I’ll have to pack tonight because I have a full day of appointments tomorrow.”