Mr. Virile and the Girl Next Door by Gwen Hayes Page B

of?”
    She frowned. She felt…small. And exposed in her ridiculous pajamas with bits of mascara under her eyes. She needed to be in a great dress with stiletto heels and full war paint make-up on for this kind of conversation. “I asked you first.”
    His eyes narrowed to slits and the muscles of his jaw clenched so hard she could see the tic. “I can’t do this with you. I don’t know how.”
    “Do what?”
    “ This .” He answered with emphasis to make up for the fact that his answer made no sense.
    “This?”
    “This relationship. I don’t know how to navigate this relationship. And I don’t want to.”
    Ouch. “Well, you’re in luck. We don’t have a relationship. We have a sham. We have five dates and something close to friendship, but not quite. You don’t have to panic. I don’t want to be involved with you any more than you want to be with me.” So why did it hurt to hear him say it?
    “We have something more than that,” he said, palming her shoulders.
    Holly’s vision swam. “We do?”
    Did they?
    Dane nodded, squeezing her like he was afraid she was going to disappear. She hadn’t dared to hope, but couldn’t deny that she’d wanted him to feel something for her. There were so many reasons why they shouldn’t be compatible, but nobody else had ever made her feel so alive, so sexy, and so willing to disregard everything she knew about men and take a chance on the impossible.
    “We have sexual chemistry,” he answered.
    Sexual Chemistry.
    That time, the chisel punched a hole right in her heart. It was her own fault. She’d known better than to let him matter. He was right. They had sexual chemistry. And that was all they had.
    Something broke inside. What? Did she really think that the girl next door was going to bring Mr. Virile to his knees? Did she believe that her small town values could somehow sway the urban legend to settle down and paint the picket fence with her? Is that what she even wanted?
    She needed to take her own advice or maybe stop giving it all together. What did she know about relationships? Holly’s last relationship had seemed healthy enough until she realized that she’d never felt sparks on her tongue when she’d kissed her almost-fiancé.
    Only with Dane.
    Well, hell, who was she to argue with science? If all she was going to get out of this was hot, sexual chemistry, maybe it was time to warm up the Bunsen burner.
    She gave a fleeting thought to changing into something more seductive, but remembered his reaction to the sheep and let that worry go. The one that held on a little more stubbornly was doubt that she could please him. Logically, she could argue, he’d been viscerally attracted to her since day one. But logic didn’t always apply when a girl was stepping out of her comfort zone. Nobody had ever made her feel as hot for sweaty sex as Dane continued to do. What if she simply wasn’t enough woman for him? She accepted the fact that he would never love her, but damned if she was going to let him out of this house without remembering her forever.
    “What is going on in that head of yours?” he asked, and she realized he’d been waiting for a response for some time.
    She moved her hands to the waistband of his button-fly jeans, but didn’t drop her gaze. She tugged the top button free. “What do you mean?”
    Dane swallowed. “I saw a bunch of emotions pass over your face. One after the other.” He broke eye contact first and looked down at her busy hands. “What’s going on here?”
    “The girl next door is in the mood to break a rule or two. Wanna come along?” Her hands slid from his fly to his back, and she smoothed over the tightening muscles.
    “I thought you were mad at me.”
    She lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
    “What kind of rules are we talking about here? Rules like waiting for seven dates?”
    “That’s one…” Holly stood on tiptoe and bit his earlobe gently after she whispered, “But maybe not the only rule I’m ready