He swiveled around and flashed that all-too-familiar grin. His hands were full, and she didn’t even pretend not to look. She raked her eyes over the bookstore bounty—Mad Libs.
“Something to keep you busy at the firehouse on a quiet night?”
“It’s for the Burn Center, actually.”
Her cheeks burned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make light of your volunteer work. I think it’s amazing that you give them so much time.”
“I’m not offended. I like Mad Libs,” he said, and she had to fight back a smile. Because—Mad Libs. That was adorable.
“What do you do when you volunteer?”
He’d once told her that was why the calendar mattered to him so much. As a fireman, he’d seen firsthand why a hospital needed a burn center, and all the proceeds from the calendar went to support it. But she didn’t know the specifics of his volunteer work.
“I do Mad Libs,” he said with a straight face. “With the kids. Some of the other patients, too. Often helps take their minds off what’s going on. And let me tell you something. Use monkey as much as you can in a Mad Lib and you get everyone laughing.”
“I can picture that perfectly,” she said, and the image was a nice one. She was willing to bet that Smith had a way of making the patients forget about their woes for a while. She could see him, kicking back in a blue vinyl hospital chair, reading off silly stories made by inserting nouns, verbs, and kinds of animals in the most random ways. He had the right disposition for that—someone who didn’t take himself too seriously could be perfect to help kids feel better.
“But that’s not the only reason I’m here,” he said.
“Oh yeah? What’s the other reason?”
“I bought you a gift. To say I’m sorry.”
What on earth did he have to apologize for? She was the one who’d walked off. Stormed off, actually.
He showed her a small hardback book of poems on the top of the shelf where they stood. “I picked it up before I came over to this section. Maybe you have it already, but I know you like your poems, and well,” he stopped, looked down at the white and red book, and then back at her, “You probably already have Shakespeare’s sonnets, huh?”
Her heart fluttered, and her hand flew to her chest. She hadn’t expected this from him, neither the Mad Libs nor the gift. But she found she liked both. A lot. Maybe her idea would work after all. Besides, he’d been volunteering at the Burn Center for as long as she’d known him, and for the first time, she realized this showed something about him she’d never given him credit for—he could remain committed. That didn’t mean she was ready to sign up for a long-term deal, but it made her feel better about her plan for a week-long tryst.
“For me?’ she asked, wanting her nerves to stop skipping with some kind of high school excitement, but damn, she was about to cartwheel. He’d given her a gift, and she’d been…well, she hadn’t been straight with him about anything.
“I wanted to say sorry for coming on so strong the other night. I shouldn’t have been so…well, I should have just asked you out on a date first, but then I did and you turned me down,” he said, and forced out a laugh. “And I just don’t want to lose you as a friend, so think of this as a peace offering and I hope Shakespeare’s words will be enough for you to forgive all those dirty things I said to you since I know you prefer poetry and roses.”
When he handed her the book of sonnets, she grabbed onto his hand, not letting go. She had to be honest with him. They were friends, and it was the least she could do. She gulped, then looked him square in the eyes. “I love Shakespeare’s sonnets, so thank you. I was actually reading them the other day, and they’re beautiful. But that’s not the reason I said I wanted to try something else.”
He looked at her quizzically. “It’s not?”
A young boy raced into the kids section and began pulling Captain Underpants books off the shelves with reckless glee, so Jamie motioned for Smith to join her in a quieter section by the shelves with the less-popular books on philosophy, set back from the rest of the store.
Then she blurted it out.
“I loved the dirty talk. And I loved the biting, even though I never thought I would. And I loved it against the wall,” she said, her cheeks painted a bright red from serving up all those things she never thought she’d say, let alone like. But she owed him the full truth. “But we can’t be involved, because let’s call a spade a spade. You’ve never been into relationships. You’re more the dating type, rather than the serious type. Besides, we’re good friends, and I want us to stay that way, and that’s why I want to propose something else. How about we have a no-strings attached sex-only deal for the next week?”
Chapter Six
His jaw hung open.
His brain was a pinball machine, lights and noises whirring in overdrive. He was half thrilled and half annoyed. Half turned on and half frustrated. This woman was throwing him off his game.
“Shit, I thought you were gonna be pissed at me forever for saying filthy things.”
“No,” she said, laughing, then she dropped her voice further. “I don’t even swear, but I can’t begin to tell you how hot it was when you said all those things to me. I like that dirty mouth of yours. Go figure, and I would love to have more of it.”
He tried to suppress a wicked grin, but he had no luck. Hell, this was good news on the one hand. He’d been so worried he’d ruined everything after getting physical with her, he was terrified their friendship was history. But knowing she liked it the same way was a huge turn-on. The only trouble was she still didn’t want to go out with him. She didn’t want to date him. She only wanted to sleep with him. “But if you liked it so much then why not give us a go?”