Naked Choke

He’d said he wasn’t trying to pick me up, so he wasn’t really interested in me. Perhaps for conversation, but that was it. My awakened libido would just have to go dormant once again. Perhaps this had me relaxing, for I could talk with a man, but I couldn’t talk with a man. I just had to think of Gray as Paul’s trainer and forget that he made my panties damp and my heart thrum and my cheeks flush.

“You’re speaking of appearance only?”

He considered. “Sure. We can start with that. You can’t use your husband or boyfriend’s description though.”

I wasn’t out of the game that much to know he was fishing.

“I’m divorced,” I told him, making it clear, perhaps more to myself than Gray, that Jack was long, long gone.

He knew he was caught and grinned sheepishly, little crinkles forming at the corners of his eyes. How could he look so forbidding and dangerous, but be so…cute at the same time. “Thank you for clarifying.”

I just looked at him, arched a brow.

“Oh, you’re waiting for me.” He pointed at himself, putting the fingers of his left hand on his chest so I could see he wore no ring. “Single, never married.”

I nodded, reassured I wasn’t poaching on some woman’s territory. Not that I was doing any kind of poaching. I was having a conversation. That was all.

“Well?” He stretched his legs out in front of him as if he had all the time in the world. His doing this allowed me to notice how the material of his dress pants stretched taut over very muscular thighs. Realizing I was ogling, I looked up, his dark eyes held mine, then roved over my face. Self-consciously, I smoothed down imaginary wrinkles in my yellow dress once again.

“What am I looking for in a guy?” I repeated. You. Were we really having this conversation? Gray pushed every one of my hot buttons, but no way was I telling him that, for it

would be mortifying to have it be officially one sided when he laughed at me and walked away.

“Yes.”

I gave a little shrug of indifference, my long hair shifting. I’d put clips in to hold it back from my face, but with the humidity, the soft waves were falling loose, completely out of my control. “That’s easy. I’m not looking.”

It was the truth. I had no interest in finding a man. After Jack had left me for his paralegal four years ago, I’d been in single-mom mode. He’d not only divorced me, but pretty much ditched his son as well. Dealing with Chris and his anger toward his father, high school, moving back in with my parents, college applications, life, I hadn’t lifted my head up to get some air, let alone look around. Now, with Chris away for his first year of college, I had more time on my hands than I knew what to do with. I was, for the first time since I was nineteen, on my own. Most people my age had young children and I was an empty nester.

“Really?” He crossed his ankles. “I think you’re the only woman in here not on the prowl.”

“And Christy,” I added. “What about you?”

“I look,” he admitted. “I saw you, didn’t I?”

“You rescued me,” I countered. There was a big difference. Paul asked him to save me. Still, I could feel my cheeks flush and I glanced away, uncomfortable with his words.

“I’m not looking either, but I’m not not looking as well.”

“Surprisingly, I follow you.”

“Don’t you want your drink? It’s still pretty hot out.”

I glanced at the glass, the condensation beading and sliding down the sides.

“I don’t drink from glasses given to me by strangers.” Oh my God. Had I said that out loud? I pinched my lips together afraid something else horribly bad would pop out. I was a complete and total dumb-ass. I’d just baldly accused Gray, who’d only been nice to me, of drugging my drink with a date rape drug.

Christy was right. I had zero skills in interacting with guys—I talked oysters with Bob/Bill so maybe I was the dud, not him—but too much experience with my job had made me jaded. I’d seen too much of the real world pass through the ER to make me wary. Besides that, it had been almost twenty years since I’d dated. Hell, Jack and I had barely dated. We went from doing the whole college meet and hook-up thing to being surprise parents all in one year.

Regardless, I didn’t need to insult Gray. I was such an idiot!

“Oh shit,” I whispered. I shifted in my chair to face away from him. Tears burned the back of my eyes as the extent of my words sank in. He’d probably roll his eyes at how weird I was, consider me a psycho chick and leave. He could find a woman that offered a large amount of cleavage and a mile of exposed thigh who could have a normal conversation and who wouldn’t think twice about accepting a drink from him.

“Hey. Hey now,” Gray murmured, his tone almost soothing. “A beautiful woman like you is smart to have that rule.” I felt his fingers on my back, a gentle touch and I startled.

I covered my face with my hand, willing him to go away. “I’m a little embarrassed over here,” I muttered.

A group of men, talking loud enough to indicate they’d had plenty to drink came around the corner. I turned my head away even more, hoping none of them would notice me.