We pinned her with hard stares. She squirmed.
She looked down at her feet, then back at us. “Fine, I’ve been hiding from you.”
“Is it because we saw you in pretty red panties and bra? Trust us, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
Even under the fairy lights, I could see her blush.
“I avoid situations like this,” she says, circling her finger in the air between us.
Finch frowned, leaned down so they were eye level. “What do you mean?”
Her gaze flicked between us again.
“We didn’t hurt you, did we?” I asked, and Finch tensed beside me.
She frowned. “What? No.”
“Then what—”
“Men. I hide from men.”
“You sure as hell didn’t hide from us, sugar,” Finch said with a smile.
She pursed her lips. “That’s exactly it. I didn’t do… earlier intentionally. You guys broke into Poppy’s house, and I’m a law enforcement officer. I don’t flaunt my body to men. Look at me.” Her head dropped. “I’m not giving off signals. I’m not flirting. I look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in this coat. I’m not interested, whatever you’re offering.”
“You’re not gay,” I stated.
She closed her eyes. Huffed. “Jesus, if a woman isn’t interested, it doesn’t mean she’s a lesbian.”
True enough. There were lots of women that didn’t do it for me. It didn’t make me into guys. It made me selective. “You just don’t like us.”
She tucked her chin into the high collar of her coat. It was fucking freezing out here and I knew just the way to warm her up—and it wasn’t more hot rum punch.
“Actually I don’t really like any guys right about now. I’m not interested in starting anything.”
“You’re not interested in sex?” Finch asked, his gaze raking her over. He let his hand fall away from her shoulder.
A waiter came by with a trayful of finger foods. He’d heard Finch’s question and glanced at Eve. Even though she blushed, she gave the guy a death glare and he fled.
“I like sex just fine,” she replied. “Especially when it’s me and my battery-operated boyfriend,” she added.
I put my hand on my chest. “Oh, that’s harsh. Now I’m picturing you in bed, in only your red lingerie, legs parted.”
Her mouth fell open at my bold words. I leaned in, breathed in the scent of rum and fruity shampoo.
“Your fingers are tugging that scrap of red silk to the side so you can run a big dildo up and down to get nice and wet. Then you fuck yourself with it.”
Finch made a rumbling sound. Yeah, he could envision that, too.
“When you say you’re not interested in guys right about now, how long has it been?” Finch asked.
She took a big swig of her hot drink. I knew a stall tactic when I saw one. “A while,” she replied neutrally.
I liked the idea of no guy getting his hands—or dick—on her, seeing what we’d seen of her earlier, but she was a passionate woman and deserved sexual pleasure. It was a shame she denied herself.
“You’re an up-front woman,” I continued. “You don’t like games, I can tell. I’ll state it plainly then. We want you, Eve.”
“That’s right,” Finch said. “We want to get to know you. Some guy obviously hurt you. We won’t.”