She shook her head. “No. Or at least nothing he didn’t want interrupted.”
Travis pulled out some Styrofoam containers, opening two of them. She stared down at the food with no interest.
“I don’t know Curt that well. I worked with him when we rescued you, though, and I figured out very quickly how much he cares for you.”
She smiled, knowing it didn’t reach her eyes. “He sees me as family. Like a cousin.”
“Oh, I don’t think his feelings for you are at all cousinly. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
“Like he wants to murder me one moment and cuddle me the next?”
“Well, sort of. I would replace the word cuddle with kiss, though.”
She snorted. “Curt doesn’t want to kiss me. He’s not attracted to me.”
Except, he did just try to kiss you, right?
“No? He’s very protective of you. From what I gather, since the death of his wife, he hasn’t had any sort of long-term relationship with a woman. Yet, he was so frantic today when he thought you might get hurt that he punched a guy to get to you.”
She wished she could believe he cared about her that much. “When Amelia died, Curt was devastated. He wasn’t always like this—so cold and hard. Once, he knew how to laugh and have fun. When I was little, I thought I’d marry him when I grew up because he’d give me all the ice cream I wanted.”
Travis smiled.
“But I was just a silly kid. Curt looks at me and sees someone he needs to protect, to look after. He has a white knight complex.”
“Curt? While I might agree he’s probably protective over anyone he cares about, I don’t think he reacts this way to just anyone.”
“Well, like you said, you don’t know him very well. And these are special circumstances.”
“True. It’s not every day the woman you love is in danger. And you seem to get yourself into trouble more than most.”
You are way too innocent and naïve to ever be someone I’d get involved with.
“Curt has made his feelings towards me very clear and while he cares about me, it’s nothing more than that. He definitely doesn’t love me.” Not that way anyway. “And I don’t go around looking for trouble, you know.”
“No? If you were my woman you’d never have been allowed to go to Sudan alone. If I couldn’t have gone with you, then you wouldn’t have gone.”
She wrinkled her nose at his arrogan
t announcement. “It’s just as well I’m not your woman. And I’m not Curt’s woman either.”
Travis shook his head. “I expected him to be the stubborn one. Didn’t realize you were just as bad.”
“I’m not stubborn, just realistic. And can we please stop talking about this? Curt doesn’t want me. I don’t want him.”
Liar. Liar.
“That so? You’re saying I didn’t interrupt a near kiss between the two you before? Sorry about that, by the way. My brothers will tell you, I have the worst timing.”
“It’s kind of weird talking to you about this, considering we barely know each other.”
“I don’t know. We were together during an intense situation. That tends to build bonds between people, don’t you think? And I don’t discuss ménages with just anyone, you know.”
“What? We’ve never talked about ménages.” What was he talking about?
“We have. I’m crushed you don’t remember our conversation in Sudan. Of course, you were telling me you didn’t want to participate in a ménage with me. Perhaps you’ve changed your mind? I have a brother, and we like to share.”
Was he serious? There were lots of ménage relationships in Haven. They were almost the norm around here. But that didn’t mean she wanted that sort of relationship. And certainly not with Travis, although, she had the feeling he was playing with her. Trying to gauge her reaction. She frowned at him. She didn’t like games.