“And you were only with him until you were married?”
“Yes,” Colleen replied a little sharply. In truth, Darin had been the only man she’d ever been with. “What’s wrong with that? Are you so anti romance that you don’t believe young people can fall in love and remain faithful to one another?”
“I’m at a loss as to when I’ve given you the impression I’m anti romance. I can assure you, I’m very much on the pro side.”
She just stared for a second, her mouth slightly open. His voice had gone husky. She blinked and willed herself to look into her backyard.
“You mean that you’re on the pro side in regard to sex. I’d hardly call that romance,” she said coolly.
“Really? That’s a shame.”
She gave him a withering glance, which bounced right off him.
“I don’t consider sex to be a casual matter in the slightest,” he murmured.
“I can imagine if I did a survey of the women you’ve dated recently, they might disagree.”
Colleen’s eyes widened when he lowered his chin and brushed it against her temple. His breath felt warm near her ear. “I doubt any one of those women would tell you I was anything but completely serious and focused when it comes to that particular topic.”
“Well, I would have to be interested in order to ask one of them. Which I’m not.”
“No?”
“Not even close,” she assured him.
“Are you implying that you’re not interested in the topic in general?” he asked without missing a beat, leaning back to study her face. “Or just in regard to me?”
Colleen laughed. She couldn’t help it. He looked completely earnest, like he was asking a professor for clarification on a puzzling math problem.
“I’m just not interested,” she told him, not unkindly. When she noticed his quizzical look, she added, “It’s got nothing to do with you personally.”
“Of course not.”
“I’m serious.”
For a few seconds, they regarded each other somberly while they moved together to the music. Colleen felt an increasingly familiar feeling of wanting to move closer to him. Her misguided attraction must have outweighed wisdom somewhat, because she did indeed find herself moving a hairsbreadth closer. When she registered the smoky look that entered his eyes, she knew he’d noticed.
“You’re holding back,” he pronounced suddenly, as if he’d taken a moment to scan her mind with that brilliant brain of his and had just come to a conclusion. “You are cynical about romance, true…but it’s more than that. You do object specifically to me. What is it you don’t like about me?”
Colleen swallowed and glanced blindly at the other couples circling beneath the pumpkin-colored canopy, lanterns glowing around their moving feet. Two weeks ago, she would have had no problem whatsoever giving Eric Reyes a list of reasons why she didn’t like him. Arrogant, stubborn, know-it-all might have topped the list.
But things had changed in the past ten days. After seeing his stellar, compassionate treatment of Brendan, both in the hospital and post-discharge, in addition to spending time with him planning the engagement party, Colleen recognized that while Eric was opinionated, he was by no means unreasonable. He was intelligent and a good listener, too.
He tilted one eyebrow up at her when she didn’t speak, and Colleen found herself growing desperate for something reasonable to say. She certainly couldn’t tell him she didn’t like him because he set her off balance. Colleen was confident, given the parameters of her known world. Eric made her second-guess herself. He made her self-conscious and irritable and…worked up.
“I told you,” she said firmly. “It’s got nothing to do with you. I haven’t dated that much. Not since Darin died.”
He was quiet for a moment. “You’re young, Colleen. Not to mention extremely beautiful. Do you really plan to stay celibate forever?” She blinked and met his stare, set off guard by his solemn tone when he’d called her beautiful. One glance into those compelling eyes and she knew it hadn’t been casual flattery.
“That’s none of your concern,” she said quietly.
“I beg to differ. I’m very concerned about it.”
The music came to an end. Her heart drumming in her ears, Colleen turned and walked toward the patio doors without glancing back. Her skin tingled, as if in protest over the sudden loss of the heat and the pressure of his body.
I’m very concerned about it.
The thought of him murmuring those words caused a slight shudder to go through her. She willed herself to resume the role of hostess, smiling and chatting with guests, forcing the unsettling recollection out of her mind. The back of her neck prickled and she glanced around, only to see Eric’s eyes were on her as he, too, socialized. He smiled as he spoke—a small, secret smile. Too late, she realized she was returning the smile across her crowded family room and had completely lost track of her conversation.