Luck wasn’t with Annika at all. She heard Percival moving under the fridge and thought she glimpsed the tip of his nose, but he wasn’t coming out. She had a feeling he was watching her and plotting his strategy to stay free forever.
She could imagine it. He’d escape into the sewers of Manhattan and live wild, mingling with the alligators and vampires who haunted the hidden passageways beneath the city…
Stop. Just stop.
She could see Thom and Cerberus in the park and knew they’d be back soon.
She edged the first bite of fish closer to the fridge. “Come on, Percival. It’s fish. Your favorite. And you’ll be safe in your cage when the big dog returns.” She heard a little scuttle. She held her breath. She saw him peek out, then he snatched the piece of fish in his mouth and disappeared under the fridge again.
She moved another piece of fish closer.
Percival hadn’t made a move on it by the time Thom came back. He glanced her way and she admitted failure. “He got one piece, but he’s staying put.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“You have an idea?”
Thom nodded then hung up his jacket. He put Cerberus back in the bedroom. “Just for a minute,” he told her and Annika smiled that he talked to his dog just the way she talked to her ferret.
“Does she ever answer you?”
“Not in words.” Thom took off his boots then and came to stand in front of the fridge in his stocking feet. “You get the cage door,” he said softly, pulling on a pair of leather gloves. Whatever his plan, he expected Percival to bite him. That gave Annika a bad feeling but then Thom wiggled his toes. He was wearing dark socks and he braced his hands on the fridge, leaning back on his heels so he could move all his toes.
She could almost hear Percival’s attention sharpening. Of course. Ferrets loved to hunt. She held her breath, watching. A scuttle sounded beneath the fridge. A little face peered out from the far side, then retreated into the shadows again—but this time, she could see the glint of the ferret’s eyes. He hissed a little. He chattered a bit, the way he talked to himself sometimes.
And then he pounced.
Percival emerged from beneath the fridge like greased lightning, heading straight for Thom’s wiggling toes and snatching at one of them. He bared his teeth and bit into it. Thom swore, even as he scooped up the ferret in one gloved hand. He turned smoothly, placing Percival in his cage more quickly that Annika would have thought possible. She slammed and locked the door securely, then exhaled shakily.
Percival pretty much dove into his bowl of fish, too tempted by the meal to be worried about the cage.
“You did it!” Annika said with delight. She would have thrown herself at Thom in her relief, but he sat down hard in the kitchen chair, ignoring her. She caught herself in time, watching as he pulled off his sock. His toe was bleeding from four small holes.
“I never thought I would do that on purpose,” he muttered. “Damn, his teeth are sharp.” He looked up at her. “He’s had his shots, right?”
“Of course. Let me get some disinfectant.” Annika had seen a bottle in the linen closet and brought it back to Thom with one of Leo’s facecloths.
He gave her a questioning glance, obviously recognizing the cloth.
She shrugged. “No one will ever know.” She doused the cloth with disinfectant and gave it to him, watching him catch his breath as he rubbed it into the wounds.
“Thank you,” she said. “Again.”
His gaze was warm enough to make her sizzle. “No worries.” He almost smiled and the prospect made Annika’s heart do a somersault.
“I would never have thought of that.”
“Rhea’s ferrets used to go under the couch, then if one of us moved our toes, they’d lunge out and bite. She said it was their hunting instinct. I said it was damned inconvenient.”
“All wiggling toes?”
“Toes in socks. They have to be incognito.”
Annika laughed and watched his eyes glint with satisfaction. “Thank you again.”
“Just call me the ferret whisperer,” Thom said with a slow smile that worked for her in a very big way.
“I made brownies.”
“For Leo’s inevitable return?” Thom sounded wry but he was examining his toe and avoiding her gaze.
“No. For you. As an apology. I’m sorry I was a jerk earlier.”
He shrugged. “I was a jerk yesterday.”
“But you followed up by being nice, a whole bunch of times. I’m way behind in the rankings.”
He smiled right into her eyes. “No one’s keeping score.”
Annika had a hard time making a sound when he looked at her like that. “I am,” she whispered.
Thom nodded. “A brownie would be great. Thank you. Do you mind if I take a shower first?”
“No. Of course not.”
Thom headed for the bedroom and she heard him talk to Cerberus, then he left the dog in the bedroom and went into the bathroom. He moved fast, but not fast enough that Annika didn’t get a glimpse of him just wearing his jeans. He had ink all over his back and she wished she could have a better look at it.
Actually, his tattoos weren’t the only thing she wanted to examine more closely.
The water began to run. Annika watched Percival and thought about water running over hard abs, sliding over those tattoos, sluicing over Thom’s body...
The apartment was kind of warm. Annika stirred herself, wondering when Leo would turn up.
She called him, thinking he’d be close, but the call went to voice mail. He could be in the subway. He could be out of range of service. He could be getting off the train, wrangling his bags, sorting his change for the subway…
Or he could be avoiding her call.
Thom emerged from the bedroom finally. His hair was wet from the shower, which made it look ever darker and his eyes seemed to be darker, too. He’d pulled on a clean black T-shirt while his skin was still damp, obviously, because it clung to him lovingly.
Damn. He was hot.
His presence made the main room feel a lot smaller and warmer. Or maybe it was Annika’s imagination that was doing that.
“You have a lot of tattoos,” she said and he nodded.
“Call it a hobby.” He opened the fridge and took out a soda again, opening it and taking a sip .
“I called Leo but he’s not answering.”
“Imagine that.” Thom drained the can, holding her gaze all the while.
It was like he’d dare her to make the obvious conclusion.
There was only one she didn’t want to make.
“He should have been here by now. He said he’d be here by now. There must be a delay.”
“Could be.” Thom opened the bedroom door and Cerberus galloped into the apartment, checking on Percival in his cage as she wagged with enthusiasm. She barked joyously, Percival hissed, then the dog flung herself on the floor with contentment.
Because Thom was home and all was right in her world.
Annika considered her phone. “Where do you look for traffic reports?”
“It’s Sunday afternoon,” he said, his tone skeptical. “This is as good as it gets.”
“What do you know that I don’t know?”
“I don’t know anything that you can’t guess.” His tone was philosophical.
Annika had to ask. “What did he tell you?”
He raised a hand. “I’m not covering his ass or doing his dirty work.”
“You think he’s going to dump me.” Annika heard the annoyance in her voice. It was one thing to consider that maybe she and Leo weren’t going to be together, but he had no reason to dump her. She was here. She’d been faithful.
“Don’t you think it’s weird that he wasn’t here when you arrived and that he isn’t here now?”
“No, I can believe he took that shift. He’s very conscientious.”
Thom snorted his soda then coughed.
“You do know where he is.”
“I’m not going to tell you anything.”
“It would be nice.”
“This from the woman who was going to lock me out of my home so she could have sex in privacy.”
Annika blushed at that. “Guilty as charged,” she admitted. “And I apologized.”
“You did.” He toasted her with the empty can then tossed it in the recycling box. “And now I apologize. It was wrong to bring it up again.”
“But it made you really mad.”
“Yes, it did.” He considered her, studying her as if she was an unusual specimen. “How long since you’ve seen him?”
“Four months. Christmas.”
Thom made a dismissive sound. “The good stuff is worth waiting for.”
“How long has it been for you?”
He cast her a surprised glance. “Are you seriously asking me when I last had sex?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head, then rumbled a reply. “Six months.”
“Is that when you split up with Rhea?”
She earned a hot look for that. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Not my business. Message received.” She smiled and he eyed her for a moment, as if he didn’t believe her, then turned around. He reached for dog food, a move that made Cerberus raise her head with curiosity—and one that gave Annika a good view of some prime masculine butt. She also appreciated the flex of his trapezoid muscles and wow, he had great hands. A woman wouldn’t miss the weight of them on her body.
But she knew he’d be gentle. Powerful. Thorough.
The possibilities made her salivate.
And six months alone. He was prepared to wait for great sex, which meant he would make it amazing. Annika felt a respect for that of epic proportions.
She tried to pull her mind out of the gutter as Thom busied himself preparing the dog’s dinner. She really did. She’d been so sure that she and Leo would spend the whole weekend in bed, and she’d been ready for that. Four months of chastity was way too much, no matter how she looked at it. And that was giving her ideas she had no business having.
Leo was her soulmate—at least, she’d thought as much until very recently.
But Leo wasn’t the most passionate lover. It always felt like he was calling it in, or fulfilling a duty. She wondered how it would feel to be with a guy who was really into it, or a big guy like Thom. He’d surround a woman, maybe overwhelm her. He’d be able to carry her away easily, make her feel delicate and precious—and Annika had a feeling that he’d be both protective and passionate.
She got up to cut the brownies and served two big ones onto plates. Thom fed the dog then held up the milk. She almost smiled that he preferred to ask a question with a gesture and shook her head. “I’ll make more tea.”
“I’ll stick with milk.”
They’d just sat down opposite each other at the kitchen table, as formal as if they’d just been introduced, then her phone rang. She snatched it up from the table, triumphant when she saw that the caller was Leo. He was somewhere close. He had a romantic plan. They’d have dinner and sex all night long.
She was wrong to have doubted him, so very very wrong.
“Leo!” she said to Thom and answered on speaker.
Just because.
It was a moment to gloat.
“Hi!” she said to Leo.
Thom took a bite of brownie as he watched her, that steady gaze boring right into her soul. He still looked confident, not like a guy who’d been proven wrong.
Annika would not doubt.
Yet.
She found herself watching the movement of his mouth as he chewed and was mesmerized by the line of his lips. Firm, resolute, yet she suspected they could be gentle and teasing and…
Suddenly Annika realized Leo hadn’t answered her. There was no one on the line. She frowned at the phone but the call was still in progress. She heard some scuffling and what might have been a muffled moan. Then there was a grunt, the sound of something falling hard and sounds became much clearer.
Too clear.
Her eyes went round at the incoherent whispers, at the confessions she almost (but not quite) heard. She heard a zipper being torn open, then clothing landing on the floor as a man breathed heavily. A woman moaned from the depths of her soul.
Annika checked the phone. It was Leo’s number.
What was going on?
Thom chuckled and took another bite of brownie.
It couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be.
“Cerise!” Leo whispered hoarsely, his voice carrying through the phone.
Who the hell was this Cerise?
“Baby, I can’t hold back,” he moaned.
Leo had never once moaned with Annika. He might have been taking an exam for all the passion he showed in the heat of the moment.
“Me neither!” a woman cried in delight. “More, give me more!” Her voice rose in apparent passion. “Drive it home, Leo. Drive. It. Home.”
“Yes, Cerise,” he said, grunting as he evidently delivered what she’d requested.
“Yes, yes, yes!” they cried in unison.
Annika couldn’t believe it was even possible for Leo to be so vocal.
There was an unmistakable and rhythmic thud behind their mingled gasps of pleasure.
Leo was driving it home.
“I want all you have to give!” Cerise roared. “Leo!”
“Cerise!”
Annika couldn’t even look at Thom. Her face was burning with mortification, but then she wasn’t the one who was out of line.
“Leo!” the woman gasped again, her voice strained.
“Cerise!” He answered. “I love you!”
Annika gasped in fury and glared at the phone. Screwing around was one thing, but confessions of love to other women? No, no, no.
That was enough.
“When you said you were coming this afternoon, I obviously misunderstood you,” she said calmly.
Cerise shrieked and there was the sound of heavy items falling. Bodies maybe. “Who is that?” she cried.
Leo swore.
Thom snorted and turned his back on Annika, obviously trying to silence his laughter.
There was a long moment of silence.
Annika was ready to wait. She gripped the phone, eyes narrowed, and her heart as cold as ice.
“Annika?” Leo asked and he sounded uncertain. “What are you doing on the phone?”
“You called me,” she reminded him sweetly. “I guess you didn’t want me to miss the big finish.” She paused, thought about being gracious, then met Thom’s steady gaze. He’d turned around again to face her and his expression was intense.
Annika took a breath. “Fuck you, asshole,” she said into the phone and ended the call.
Thom nodded approval then applauded her slowly.
Annika marched toward him and poked him in the chest with her phone.
“You didn’t tell me about Cerise.”
“Not my story to tell. I told you that.”
He had.
“What does she look like?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.” Annika put some boss lady steel in her voice. “Tell me.”
He studied her and seemed to make a decision. “Dark hair, lots of make-up, big...” He cupped his hands in front of his chest. “She works at a bar and looks like the kind of woman who would do you in the washroom on her break.” He shrugged. “Just like all the others, really. He definitely has a type.”
Thom would have turned away, but Annika seized his arm. His skin was warm and smooth, but she wasn’t going to be distracted. “You said that before. How many others?” she asked and Thom stilled as if belatedly realizing how much he’d revealed. His gaze flicked to hers and he looked worried.
She arched a brow, not giving it up.
“I’ve only been here two months…”
She gripped his arm harder. It was like squeezing a steel beam. “How many?”
Thom frowned in recollection. “I’ve seen six.”
Annika felt incredibly stupid. “But you think there were more.”
“I’ve heard at least ten names.” He shook a finger at her. “Do the details matter? Let it go.”
Let it go.
As if it was that simple.
“Let it go,” Annika repeated, spinning away from him and pacing the width of the apartment and back. “Let it go!” she cried, flinging out her hands. “Because twenty years of knowing you’re destined to be with someone is no big deal!”
“No such thing as destiny,” Thom said calmly.
“It was kismet. It was fate.” Annika paced as she spoke and somewhere in the middle of her argument, she wondered who she was trying to convince. “We fit together like we were designed for each other. We were meant to be together, forever and always. We were perfect together.”
“Which explains him butt-dialing you while he was fucking Cerise.” He held up a hand. “Wait. Who was it who didn’t understand how to use his phone?”
She flung herself at Thom, knowing she couldn’t hurt him, knowing it was irrational to even want to make him pay for her disappointment, but he caught her wrists in his hands, holding her fists above his chest. He bent down, his gaze boring into hers.
To her surprise, she found sympathy there and something more. “You deserve better,” he said softly and with a conviction that touched her soul.
Annika’s tears welled.
Because she knew he was right.
And somewhere, deep in her heart, she was relieved—because she’d suspected for a long, long time. It was over.
She sniffed.
She felt a tear slip down her cheek. She saw Thom wince and knew he would turn away, but she couldn’t bear to be alone.
Not right now.
“Just one tear,” Annika said, catching her breath as she tried to change Thom’s mind. “I get one.”
“One,” Thom agreed warily. “You had it.”
Annika inhaled deeply and blinked back her tears, well aware that he was watching her struggle for control. She felt as if Thom was there to support her, which was just dumb. “I feel so stupid,” she said and wasn’t talking just about Leo.
“Why? It’s easy to make a mistake when someone is trying to trick you.”
Leo had lied.
Repeatedly.
And she’d been stupid enough to believe.
She spun away from Thom and went to the window, no longer able to ignore all the little signs that she’d dismissed since Leo had come to New York. She even admitted to herself, finally, that part of the reason she’d taken this assignment was to come east and see him, to check on him. It was a revolting thought. When two people are in love, there should be trust. She knew that.
But trusting Leo had been a mistake.
“I told him he had to call you himself,” Thom said.
Of course, he had. She already knew that Thom wasn’t the kind of person to avoid doing something just because it might not be pleasant or fun.
“Well, in a way, he did, even though it wasn’t on purpose.”
“I won’t count it as taking my advice,” he said wryly.
There was silence between them as she struggled with her mingled reactions. The worst part was that she didn’t want to cry because she’d lost Leo. She felt unbalanced because she’d lost the reassurance of having that part of her life sorted out. She liked solutions. She liked constants. She was shaken because a constant in her life, one that had been a foundation stone for most of it, had been a lie. It was gone, suddenly. It was no wonder she felt unsteady and a bit lost.
She also felt free.
How could she be sad and relieved?
“So, what’s your comfort food of choice?” Thom asked and she realized he hadn’t left. When had she last met someone who could be so still?
“What do you mean?” She turned around to find him leaning against the counter, his gaze locked upon her. He looked concerned and also poised to move, like he would defend her at a moment’s notice.
It was a nice thought and one that warmed her heart.
“I was going to get a pizza tonight.” He was trying to sound offhand, like it was no big deal, but he was being nice again. Annika’s heart glowed, and she realized that was becoming a habit in this man’s presence. “If you want, I can get a bigger one and we can share. If you’d rather have Thai or ice cream or wine, I’ll pick it up for you while I’m out.”
“You’re being really nice to me.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“Why?”
“I just can’t stand it when women cry. The possibility of tears makes me proactive.”
Dumb, my ass. Leo really had it wrong. “Do women often cry around you?”
“I do have two sisters. High school was all drama, all the time. And double chocolate chip caramel ice cream was the solution when things went sideways.”
“Did they go sideways a lot?”
“Weren’t you ever a teenager?” he asked with a slow smile. “Why do you think I work at a gym?”
Annika smiled despite herself. “Pizza would be great. I’ll give you some money.”
But he waved a hand. “My treat. What toppings do you love or hate?” He pulled a flyer from the drawer, red ink on a sheet of white paper, and crossed the room to give it to her.
Annika studied it, achingly aware of the strength of his outstretched hand, the feel of him looming over her. She was startled to realize that what she wanted right this minute couldn’t be ordered from a pizzeria. It would be a colossal mistake to seduce Thom, she knew that, but standing so close beside him made it impossible to remember why.
“I hate mushrooms,” she managed to say finally.
“Not my faves either.” He indicated the five circled toppings, obviously established choices, and she nodded agreement. “Leo’s a double cheese guy.”
Annika shook her head. “Not me. But could you get me some Ben & Jerry’s, please?”
He wasn’t surprised by this request at all. “Flavor?”
“I don’t care really. They’re all good.”
He gave her a playful glance and she stared at him. “If you had to choose…?”
“Cookie Dough.”
“Be glad my sister Tessa isn’t here. She’d fight you for it.” Then against every expectation, Thom smiled at her, touching her cheek with a fingertip. Shivers slid through Annika, weakening her knees. “It’ll be okay,” he said gruffly, looking into her eyes, and Annika’s heart melted into a puddle. Her tears rose at his kindness and Thom immediately looked alarmed.
He grabbed his jacket and strode out the door without a backward glance. “Back in twenty,” he said, stern again, and Annika knew she had to pull it together before he came back.
It wouldn’t be fair to scare him out of his own apartment.
Even if it was kind of funny that this great big guy bolted at the sight of tears. Some woman was going to use that against him one day.
Annika was setting the table when she wondered whether one already had.
That had been a near miss.
Thom had seen Annika’s tears welling and he knew his limits. If he gathered all the freckly cuteness that was Annika close, they’d be horizontal as soon as she leaned those breasts against his chest. He’d been alone for too long—and she was exactly the kind of temptation he couldn’t resist in his best moments.
It could be a long two weeks.
He ordered the pizza then went into the convenience store for ice cream while the pizza was being baked. They had a great display of Ben & Jerry’s. He scored the last tub of Cookie Dough, then considered the new Greek yogurt flavors. There was something wholesome about Annika and he had a feeling she might prefer the frozen yogurt, if she’d known it existed. Maybe he was making assumptions about west coast women. Maybe more ice cream couldn’t hurt. Raspberry Fudge Chunk sounded like just the thing. He grabbed one of those and some Cherry Garcia, his own fave. Both would work with brownies. The pizza was coming out of the oven when he returned to the pizzeria.
When he got back, Annika had set the table and found a smile. Thom exhaled in relief, then showed off his purchases.
It was only reasonable to be pleased that she was excited about the frozen yogurt. It didn’t mean that he was in any way invested in her happiness. Not at all.
They sat down to eat together and he knew it was only a matter of time before she tried to make conversation.
“You look resigned to a gruesome fate,” she said, eying him as she bit into a slice.
“Just waiting for it.”
“For what?”
“The interrogation.”
She put down the slice. “What interrogation?”
“The one that women call making conversation.”
“I’m not going to interrogate you.”
“Good.” Thom didn’t believe that for a minute. He kept eating in silence, finished a piece and reached for another. It was really good this time.
Annika lasted longer than he’d expected. “If I ask what you do for a living, is that an interrogation?”
“It could be the start of one.”
Her eyes flashed a little. “We’re just supposed to sit here in silence?”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s antisocial. Why shouldn’t we know something about each other, since we’re going to be living in the same apartment for two weeks?”
“But we already know plenty. We’re good.”
“We could be friends.”
Thom shook his head, shutting that down before it started. “Not a chance.”
Annika was clearly insulted. “Why not? What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing.”
“Then?”
“Men and women can’t be friends. Not good ones, anyway.”
“Why not?”
“Sex.”
“But friends don’t have sex. Well, if they do, they’re not just friends anymore.”
“Exactly.”
She studied him as she chewed and he could almost see her thoughts churning. “You have no women friends?”
He shook his head, resolute. “I have sisters and other female relations. I have female acquaintances and co-workers. I have ex-girlfriends.” He gave her a piercing look. “No female friends.”
“You could start with me.” She smiled encouragement.
“Why?”
“Try something new. Take a chance. It might work for you.”
“No.”
Her smile faded. “You won’t even try?”
“No. Leo and I aren’t friends. Why would I be friends with Leo’s fiancée?”
“Ex,” Annika corrected, her tone hard.
Thom didn’t say that he wouldn’t have put it past Leo to try to charm Annika if he tired of Cerise in the next two weeks.
“Even so.”
“Then what are we?”
This was exactly the kind of thing that drove him crazy and he didn’t care if it showed. “Why do we have to be anything?”
“Because we’re going to be living together for two weeks!”
“Living together? He shook a finger at her. “No. We’re strangers, sharing an apartment for two weeks. It’s not the same as living together.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Sex.”
Annika clearly found this highly unsatisfactory as an answer, but Thom didn’t. “It doesn’t have to be that way.” She chewed. “We could be friends with benefits.”
“This is exactly what I mean. We don’t have to be anything.” Thom put down his slice. “If you were a guy, we would sit here and eat pizza in comparative silence. We would never worry about defining the nature of our relationship. We’d just be two guys eating pizza until it was gone.”
“And that would be okay.”
“It would be perfect.”
She watched him for long moments, finishing her own piece of pizza and pushing her plate aside. Thom knew she wasn’t going to let it go.
“Humor me,” she said and he glanced at her. “Tell me something about yourself.”
“You know something already.”
“That’s all there is to you, the kind of ice cream you like?”
“It’s all that’s relevant to you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“In two weeks, you’ll be gone and we’ll never see each other again. There is no relationship now. There won’t be one after that either. Why complicate something as simple as sharing a pizza together?”
He knew the answer, of course. Women liked to build connections and bonds.
“Is it significant that the most sentences you’ve strung together so far in our brief acquaintance are to explain why we don’t need to know each other better?”
“It might be if it were true.”
“When did you say more?”
“When I set down the house rules.”
She wrinkled her nose and sighed. “Right, you did.” Then she fixed him with a bright look. “You don’t want to get to know each other.”
“I don’t see the point.”
“If I had to come back to Manhattan, maybe I could stay here again.”
Thom shook his head. “Not a chance.”
“You don’t know me enough to dislike me.”
“It’s not that.”
“What then?”
“I won’t be living here.”
“Why not?”
“Apparently, Leo sub-let from some other guy who’s coming back. He only told me yesterday that I have to find a new place to live soon.”
“With a huge dog.”
“I’m not leaving her behind,” Thom said with heat.
Annika smiled. “I know. You wouldn’t.” Her eyes twinkled in the way that messed with his resolve. “See? I know more about you than you think I do.”
“That’s not much. Everybody worth knowing loves their dog.”
She sat back, apparently taking that as a challenge, and began to count things on her fingers. “You’re neat. You clean up after yourself.”
“No one else is going to do it.”
“You take care of people and dogs, and ferrets. You’re protective. You’re responsible and try to find a solution for everyone, even when a situation isn’t your fault. You’re kind, although you try to hide it. You have a sister named Tessa and have invested a fortune in tattoos, which means they’re important to you.” She smiled, a brilliant smile that made her radiant, and he felt a bit dizzy. She took another slice of pizza. “And I think, Thom, that you’re a really, really nice guy.”
“Don’t spread that news around,” he said gruffly and she laughed.
“I also think you’re really hot.”
Thom blinked. She didn’t seem to be lying, and that was a pretty distracting thing.
She tilted her head to study him as if she hadn’t said anything important at all. “Who broke your heart?”
“No one you know.”
“But someone did, so you keep everyone at arm’s length. What if you miss The One because you were being all prickly and unapproachable?”
“I’m not prickly and unapproachable…”
“Don’t underestimate yourself,” she countered with a smile.
“I don’t believe that there’s one person for everyone, like a perfect match just waiting to be discovered.”
“No kismet in your world?”
“It makes no sense. I think everyone can make it work with a lot of different candidates. Believing in The One is often an excuse not to even try.”
“Oh, that’s interesting,” Annika said, pouncing on his words like a ferret sinking its teeth into wiggling toes. “Tell me more.”
“Why?”
“Then just explain.” She smiled. “Please?”
Thom sighed that he was unable to resist. “Every woman I’ve ever known who believes that she just has to find The One has never been prepared to work for a relationship. That includes both of my sisters. They just expect a great relationship to appear in their lives and everything to be perfect in every moment from that point onward.”
“And if it isn’t?”
“They throw the guy back and tell their friends he wasn’t The One.”
“And in contrast you think…”
“That relationships take work. They’re not magic, although good ones can have a lot of magical moments. Both parties have to pull their weight. Both have to compromise or step up to try something different, maybe make a concession once in a while. It’s back and forth. Nobody gets their way all the time, but a great relationship is worth it.”
“Ever had one?”
He flicked a glance at her. “No. But I’ve seen them.”
“Me, too,” she said with a sigh. “My best friend from college. She and the guy she was dating in our freshman year were always breaking up, but they inevitably ran into each other and started again. Over and over again.”
“Do not talk about kismet,” Thom growled.
“She called it that. I think a lot of it was the sex. They only had eyes for each other.”
Thom nodded. He recognized that impulse.
“They had a connection of some kind, call it what you want, but the relationship didn’t work until both of them decided that they wanted to be together enough to make some sacrifices.”
“And?” Thom was expecting her to challenge his conclusions.
“Married. Triplets. Crazy in love.” She shook her head. “And if anyone mentions their on-again-off-again or their epic fights, they just laugh, hold hands and stare into each other’s eyes.” She gave Thom a look. “I think it’s impressive to stay that much in love with three little ones, all at once. She said it felt like neither of them slept more than an hour a night for a year.” Annika smiled wickedly and Thom could only stare. “So, fasten your seatbelt for this. I agree with you, Thom.”
He pretended to be sufficiently shocked to fall off his chair and she laughed. “You want to tell me about you and Leo?” he offered, guessing that this was really what she wanted to discuss.
“Because that’s what all women want to do? Talk about their break-up?”
“I have noticed the pattern.”
She looked across the room, frowning a little. “I thought we were good together.” She met Thom’s gaze again. “We had a connection.”
“Whatever you want to call it.” Thom treated himself to another slice.
“But it sure wasn’t sexual attraction.”
Thom almost choked on that and Annika smiled at him.
“The sex was never great. Mediocre at best. Dutiful, which is the worst. I always wanted a lot more of it than he did.” She widened her eyes. “A lot a lot. I was sure he wasn’t interested in sex.”
This time, Thom did choke.
“You’re surprised,” Annika said, watching him with narrowed eyes.
“Leo can’t get enough. If there are any contenders available, he’s at it multiple times a day, in every room, on the counter, against the wall…” A little too late, he realized that he was being undiplomatic. He looked at his pizza, then put the rest of the piece down on his plate. “Sorry.”
“I guess I wasn’t his type, after all.”
“I don’t think you should take that to heart. I mean, he wasn’t that fussy.”
Her smile turned sad. “Especially when it came to me.” She caught her breath and averted her gaze, tears welling again.
“Please,” Thom said, raising his hands. “Please do not turn on Niagara Falls.”
She looked at him through her tears. “Why does it bother you so much when I cry? What are you afraid of?”
“That I’ll do something we’ll both regret.” It was the truth, even though he hadn’t meant to say it aloud. “See? I said that, and I should have just shut up.”
But his words obviously distracted her. She brightened with interest. “What else would you do that we might regret?” she asked, her voice a silky and seductive purr.
Thom pointed at her. “Do not go there. Do not choose me as the Consolation Man.” He stood up in a hurry, knowing she wasn’t convinced. “I am not going to be a stand-in for Leo. Ever.”
She crossed her legs and he looked, because he was human. She had great legs. Of course. And freckles on her knees. Thom swallowed.
“I think it might be fun,” she said lightly. “I did come to New York for sex, after all.”
Thom turned away, picking up the pizza box and heading for the fridge. “No. Out of the question. Not even a possibility. Find another candidate.”
“The gentleman doth protest too much.”
“Maybe I’m not even a gentleman.”
“Bull.”
He closed the lid on the box and shoved it into the fridge, dropping his soda can in the recycling box. He left his plate in the sink. “I’ll clean up tomorrow,” he informed her, his back against the counter. “Good night.” He snapped his fingers and headed for the bedroom, closing the door behind himself and Cerberus.
It wasn’t even eight o’clock. He stood in the bedroom wondering what the hell he was going to do for three hours.
Then there was a little rap at the door.