Egomaniac

“There’s more.”

After thirty more seconds of thought, he snapped his fingers as if he was proud of himself. “I’m sorry for looking at your ass.”

My brows drew down. “When did you look at my ass?”

He shrugged. “Every chance I get?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Apology accepted.”

His shoulders dropped a bit and he looked relieved. The man had a tough exterior. But sometimes the ones who’d had it rough wore the thickest armor.

“How about I buy you a burger at Joey’s for dinner to make it up to you?” He winked. “I’ll buy the biggest one they have so you can get real full and take your skirt off for me again.”

Chapter 12

Emerie

“Can I ask you something personal?”

“No.” Drew’s response was quick.

“No?” I crinkled up my face, confused. “You know, usually when two people are sitting around talking and eating, and one of them asks the other if they can ask something personal, the other generally says yes. It’s polite.”

“I have a rule. Whenever someone asks if they can ask something, I say no.”

“Why?”

“Because if you have to ask if you can ask, it’s probably something I don’t want to answer anyway.”

“But how do you know if you don’t even hear the question?”

Drew sat back in his chair. “What’s your question, Emerie?”

“Well, now I feel like I shouldn’t ask it.”

He shrugged and finished off the last of his beer. “Okay. So don’t.”

“Did something happen to you that made you bitter about relationships?”

“Thought you didn’t feel like you should ask?”

“I changed my mind.”

“You’re kind of a pain in the ass. You know that, right?”

“And you’re kind of a bitter jerk, so I’m curious what made you that way.”

Drew tried to hide it, but I saw the corner of his lip twitch toward a smile. “I’ll tell you why I’m a bitter jerk, if you tell me why you’re a pain in the ass.”

“But I don’t think I’m a pain in the ass.”

“Maybe you should see a therapist, help you figure that shit out.”

I crumpled up my napkin and threw it at his face. It hit him square in the nose.

“Very mature,” he said.

“I don’t think I’m a pain in the ass in general. I think you just bring out the ass in me.”

He smirked. “It’s a nice ass to bring out. Speaking of which, if you’re full, I could help you unzip to get comfortable.”

Jesus, he really was a smartass. “I’m never going to live down the night we met, am I?”

“Not a chance.”

I sipped my merlot, not wanting to waste it, but I was so full from the humongous burger Drew had ordered me. Honestly, I couldn’t wait to get home and unzip my skirt, although I wasn’t about to admit that to Drew.

“So, back to my original question. Why are you so bitter about relationships?”

“I deal with divorces all day long. It’s a little hard to have a positive outlook when all you see is cheating, lying, stealing, and people who started out in love getting off on hurting each other.”

“So it’s because of your line of work. You didn’t have a bad relationship that soured you?”

Drew stared at me for a while. His thumb went to rub at the center of his bottom full bottom lip as he deliberated over his answer, and my eyes followed. Damn, he has great lips. I bet they would devour my mouth.

Luckily, the waitress came and interrupted my ogling.

“Can I get you anything else?” she asked.

Drew looked to me. “Some dessert or anything?”

“I’m too full.”

He answered the waitress. “Just the check. Thank you.”

She took our plates, and when she left, there was a minute of awkward silence. He still hadn’t answered my question, and I thought maybe he was going to try to change the subject again. I was surprised when he answered.

“I’m divorced. Marriage lasted five years.”

“Wow. I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.”

Even though I could tell it took a lot of effort to share that much, and I knew I should probably leave well enough alone, I couldn’t help myself. “Did you have a long-distance relationship?”

“Not in a physical sense, no. That bitterness today was purely from my experience in divorces. The number-one reason people wind up in my office is they don’t spend time together.”

“I’ll admit, a lot of my counseling cases are similar. It’s not always a long-distance relationship like the one you heard me talking about today, but in the majority of my counseling, the couples don’t spend time together. They’re either working a lot and don’t make time for each other, or they’re still hanging on to the separate lives they had before they were married.”

“I bet our cases are very similar. Come to think of it, maybe you can hand out my business cards, for when your counseling doesn’t work.”

My eyes widened. “You’ve got to be joking?”

A slow smile spread across his face as he brought his beer to his lips. “I am.”