“Neither am I.” He trailed a finger down her arm, starting at her shoulder and working his way down to her wrist. “But with you, I just might let myself for a little while.”
A little while…
Okay, he won her over with those three little words—the only three words she could handle hearing at this point in her life. They could have one more night together before they parted ways for good. The itch could be scratched but her heart would be safe before she got in too deep. “Fine. You got me. You can have me all night and I won’t leave your side till morning.”
They tossed the shots back. Mike gripped the shot glass and stole a quick glance at her. “Deal. But there’s something you should know.”
“Okay.” Here it goes.
This was the part of the date when he’d give her some spiel about how he wanted her to settle down with him. To give up dancing and immediately start having his babies. Trade her cowboy boots for pink pumps.
So not going to happen.
She held her breath, waiting to see what he wanted to tell her—already plotting out her escape route. Looked like the bathroom might be the closest door, but then she’d be trapped.
He rubbed his jaw. “I don’t normally have this talk until after the first couple of dates, but I want to be up front with you right away, because you’re different to me for some reason.”
Ugh, she’d thought he was different. “Look—”
“Wait.” He held a hand up as if he was worried she would start babbling or something. “Don’t read into that. It’s nothing. All you need to know is I’m not looking for a relationship. Not looking for anyone to try and tie me down. It’s not you—it’s me. I just don’t want to get married. Ever.”
The breath she’d been holding whooshed from her lungs.
Oh. My. God.
…
Mike braced himself for the tears. Or the babbling. Maybe both. Of course, she could always just get up and walk away from him, taking that sweet body with her. Why had he decided to tell her his stance on marriage so soon? They were still in the green zone. Not even close to the yellow zone.
Why did he have to go and fuck everything up?
She opened her mouth, her face a little bit red, and he braced himself. Oh, God, it’s going to be tears. Then she…laughed.
She fucking laughed.
“Oh my God.” She clutched her stomach and laughed even harder. So hard he thought she might fall off the barstool. “This is priceless.”
He arched a brow and grabbed her—just in case she toppled over. “I’ve never had a girl laugh at my speech before.”
She swiped at the tears in her eyes, but they weren’t tears of sorrow.
It was a first for Mike.
“Thank God.”
He stiffened. “What the…?”
“I don’t want to get married either. I’m already married…to dancing. And men are always begging me for more.” She looked at him, her bright blue eyes shining. “You have no idea how nice it is to not have to give this speech myself. Why do you think I keep leaving you? It’s because I’m worried you’re going to ask for more.”
“Never,” he said out loud. But inside? He didn’t have a clue what was going on. Why didn’t this make him happy? Knowing she wasn’t husband hunting should be a good thing but he felt hollow inside. “I don’t want that any more than you do.”
“I know!” She sidled into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. His heart did a weird stumble at her brilliant smile. “And now I’m all yours. No more running. I can just have fun without worrying you’ll fall in love and want babies.”
“Babies?” A vision of little redheaded babies with bright blue eyes flashed before him. Why didn’t that make him panic? What the fuck? “Hell no.”
She wriggled her ass against his cock. “Thank freaking God for that.”
“Yeah.” He wrapped his arms around her and smiled, despite his inner turmoil. He’d delve into his state of mind at a later date. A much later date. Maybe once he was six feet under. There’d be plenty of time for thinking when he was dead. And he was quite certain this woman might kill him. “Then let’s do a few more shots and hit the town, Vegas style.”