anything rotten about me in the first place.” All right, Ryder, his mind whispered, you’ve done your good deed for the day. Time to get the hell out of here. He looked away and for the first time sinceentering the room, noticed the photographs on the walls. His jaw dropped. “Holy shit.”
There were eight of them, framed black-and-white photographs of men in various stages of undress. Men with dark hair and men with light hair, two black men and an Oriental, each showcasing a different portion of their anatomy: chests, stomachs, backs, buns, shoulders or legs. James inspected them, then turned to Aunie, raising an eyebrow. “Beefcake?” Somehow, he wouldn’t have pegged her as the type to have all that male pulchritude gracing her bedroom walls.
“My fantasy boys.” She laughed at the expression on his face. “Okay, I admit it: I’m going through a delayed adolescence. Mama raised me to be a perfect little lady, and posters of movie or rock stars on my bedroom walls were not quite the thing. I went from high school to a year of finishing school to marriage to an older man to divorce. Now I’m catchin’ up on all the stuff I never got to do as a teenager. I’m wearin’ jeans instead of designer dresses, runnin’ shoes instead of heels, going to college instead of A-list functions, and collecting pictures of pretty, almost-naked men. When I work up the nerve, I’m even gonna have a red-hot affair … providin’ I can find someone promisin’ to have it with.” She bit her lip in sudden self-consciousness, hardly believing she was telling him this stuff. This was the man who didn’t even want her living here.
Mentally, she shrugged. Well, if he didn’t like what he was hearing he knew where the door was. She had made a vow to herself that she would never again arrange her life to suit someone else’s idea of propriety. She glanced at him speculatively from beneath her lashes and decided that with his street-wise looksand given those eyes of his and the way he’d opened the door to her only half-dressed, he probably wasn’t the type to be shocked by anything she had to say anyway. “I bet you’ve had some red-hot affairs, huh?”
Christ. He looked at her standing there looking too fragile to handle a really hot kiss, let alone a session of down and dirty rough sex. She was the type you’d have to be real slow and careful with … the type he had always assiduously avoided. “No,” James said shortly. “No affairs. I’m not big on commitment.” He stressed that, just in case she had any thoughts of practicing on him. To his irritation, he could feel himself growing half hard at the thought. Knee-jerk reaction, he decided and said bluntly, “I’ve had some great sex in the one-night-stand department, though.” There. That oughta turn her off.
She merely raised one dark eyebrow and gave him half a smile. “Lucky you,” she said with total sincerity. “I haven’t had great sex, period. I’ve never advanced beyond mediocre.” Her eyes closed and she smiled dreamily. “I want passion.” Her eyes shot open and met his as her face suffused with a sudden influx of blood. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”
“That makes two of us,” James muttered.
“It’s just that … well, you look like you’d know about these sorta things.”
“Listen, don’t go getting any…” James hesitated, not quite sure how to put this without sounding overbearingly conceited. Then he plunged ahead. Better to sound vain than have a future misunderstanding. The fact was they did have to live in the same building and the less friction between them the better. “Don’t go getting any ideas about including me in your plans, okay? You’re not my type, and I don’t mess with novices.”
“Who asked you to?” Aunie asked with an affronteddignity that made James feel about two feet tall. So what if she’d thought for maybe three seconds that he’d make a splendid teacher? She knew he was
There were eight of them, framed black-and-white photographs of men in various stages of undress. Men with dark hair and men with light hair, two black men and an Oriental, each showcasing a different portion of their anatomy: chests, stomachs, backs, buns, shoulders or legs. James inspected them, then turned to Aunie, raising an eyebrow. “Beefcake?” Somehow, he wouldn’t have pegged her as the type to have all that male pulchritude gracing her bedroom walls.
“My fantasy boys.” She laughed at the expression on his face. “Okay, I admit it: I’m going through a delayed adolescence. Mama raised me to be a perfect little lady, and posters of movie or rock stars on my bedroom walls were not quite the thing. I went from high school to a year of finishing school to marriage to an older man to divorce. Now I’m catchin’ up on all the stuff I never got to do as a teenager. I’m wearin’ jeans instead of designer dresses, runnin’ shoes instead of heels, going to college instead of A-list functions, and collecting pictures of pretty, almost-naked men. When I work up the nerve, I’m even gonna have a red-hot affair … providin’ I can find someone promisin’ to have it with.” She bit her lip in sudden self-consciousness, hardly believing she was telling him this stuff. This was the man who didn’t even want her living here.
Mentally, she shrugged. Well, if he didn’t like what he was hearing he knew where the door was. She had made a vow to herself that she would never again arrange her life to suit someone else’s idea of propriety. She glanced at him speculatively from beneath her lashes and decided that with his street-wise looksand given those eyes of his and the way he’d opened the door to her only half-dressed, he probably wasn’t the type to be shocked by anything she had to say anyway. “I bet you’ve had some red-hot affairs, huh?”
Christ. He looked at her standing there looking too fragile to handle a really hot kiss, let alone a session of down and dirty rough sex. She was the type you’d have to be real slow and careful with … the type he had always assiduously avoided. “No,” James said shortly. “No affairs. I’m not big on commitment.” He stressed that, just in case she had any thoughts of practicing on him. To his irritation, he could feel himself growing half hard at the thought. Knee-jerk reaction, he decided and said bluntly, “I’ve had some great sex in the one-night-stand department, though.” There. That oughta turn her off.
She merely raised one dark eyebrow and gave him half a smile. “Lucky you,” she said with total sincerity. “I haven’t had great sex, period. I’ve never advanced beyond mediocre.” Her eyes closed and she smiled dreamily. “I want passion.” Her eyes shot open and met his as her face suffused with a sudden influx of blood. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”
“That makes two of us,” James muttered.
“It’s just that … well, you look like you’d know about these sorta things.”
“Listen, don’t go getting any…” James hesitated, not quite sure how to put this without sounding overbearingly conceited. Then he plunged ahead. Better to sound vain than have a future misunderstanding. The fact was they did have to live in the same building and the less friction between them the better. “Don’t go getting any ideas about including me in your plans, okay? You’re not my type, and I don’t mess with novices.”
“Who asked you to?” Aunie asked with an affronteddignity that made James feel about two feet tall. So what if she’d thought for maybe three seconds that he’d make a splendid teacher? She knew he was
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