“Is that sarcasm?”

He pulled forward and grabbed our coffees. “Nope.” He handed me both drinks and rolled up his window.

“Have you talked to Rory since Sunday?” I handed him his coffee.

“Nope.” He sipped his drink and wrinkled his nose. “This one is not mine. It’s sweet and disgusting.” After depositing it in my cup holder, he reached over and snagged my coffee—his coffee—from me.

I frowned at the one in the drink holder. “Now you’ve tasted it.”

“So? I’m not sick.”

“Yeah, but you drank out of it.”

He chuckled. “Have you never swapped a little saliva with anyone? I didn’t spit anything back into the cup. It’s the equivalent of a peck on the lips. I’m sure you’ve had a few tongues down your throat. What’s the big deal?”

Sliding the drink from the holder, I brought it to my mouth and took a cautious sip.

Fisher shook his head at my hesitation. “Do I gross you out that much?”

Just the opposite. It felt intimate sharing a cup of coffee with him. I took another sip, trying to not think too hard about how I liked the idea of my mouth touching the same spot his lips had touched.

“It’s fine.” I stared out my window while sipping the coffee, brushing my lips over the lid a little too much.

“Reese?”

“Hmm?”

“You have kissed a guy before. Right?”

I scoffed. “Yes.”

“An open-mouthed kiss? Tongue? Saliva swapping?” He was so crude. I loved it and hated it in equal parts.

“Duh.”

“Duh is not an answer.”

“Hailey invited me to her house for a party on Friday. Well, not this Friday … next Friday.” My attention remained steadfast out my window.

“You dodged my question.”

“I think I’ll go. It’s a chance to make new friends if I don’t have much luck tonight.”

“What’s tonight?”

“Singles’ Bible study at the church.”

“Sounds … titillating.”

“You could come with me.”

Fisher laughed, a little too hard. “As tempting as the offer is, I have a date. Sorry.”

A date.

Fisher had a date. That was okay. Of course he dated since he wasn’t married, and he wasn’t dating Rory. I bet he had sex too. That didn’t feel quite as okay to me for utterly ridiculous reasons. It wasn’t like Fisher Mann was mine no matter how incredibly sexy I found him, no matter how many thoughts he owned in my head. It wasn’t like he was going to wait for me to figure my life out, marry me, and take my virginity on our wedding night.

Nope.

None of that was happening, so it was just great, awesome really, that Fisher had a date.

“A new date? Someone you’ve gone out with before?”

“Blind date. A friend of a friend.”

I nodded slowly. “Where are you going?”

“Concert downtown.”

“Sounds fun.”

“I suppose.”

“How old is she?”

He grinned before sipping his coffee. “I’m not sure. Why?”

“No reason.”

“Well, if you decide to bring someone home from Bible study, I won’t tell your mom. And the house is insulated really well, so don’t ever worry about me hearing anything.”

Oh my gosh …

I bit my tongue so hard. What he implied was offensive and yes … crude. As if I was going to pick up some guy at Bible study and bring him back to have sex. Clearly, Fisher had never attended church, which meant he probably wasn’t saved. And I needed to remember that. I needed to remember all the reasons I shouldn’t have obsessed over the naked fisherman.

“So I won’t hear you either.” I felt incredibly brave saying that to him. For a breath, I tried to feel like an equal. An adult who dated and had loud sex. But inside it really … really bothered me to think of him having sex with someone else.

Or me, of course.

But mostly someone else.

“I’m not really a screamer. I may drop a few profanities if it’s worthy of it.”

Stop! Make him stop!

He enjoyed playing with me. I could tell from the smirk he wore like a favorite T-shirt. He ate my reactions up like a shark finding a wounded otter. Fisher knew I was way out of my comfort zone. And his favorite game seemed to be pushing me a few more inches with every remark. I refused to give him the verbal satisfaction, even if my feelings were on full display in the color of my face or the uncontrolled fidgeting of my hands.

“It won’t matter. I’ll probably be late anyway. Someone mentioned getting ice cream afterward.” It sounded ridiculous the second I said it.

Biting his lips to mask more of his amusement, he nodded several times. “I can see that. Well, you have my number if things get too crazy and you need a ride home. Gut ache. Sugar jitters. Brain freeze. Whatever.”

“Jerk.” I couldn’t help it. He brought out the worst in me, the crazy in me.

Fisher sniggered as he pulled to a stop at the first job site. The framers were already busy constructing the interior walls in the basement.

Tags: Jewel E. Ann Fisherman Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net