He frowned.
“I’m just guessing,” she supplied. “I imagine your work life is pretty frenetic. Your social life too, probably.”
He lifted a brow. “You mean my love life?”
Heat infused her cheeks. “I guess so.”
“The tabloids generally exaggerate all elements of my life.”
“I haven’t read anything about you,” she said immediately. “I’m just going by your…skills.”
He burst out laughing. “Thanks.”
Embarrassment spilled through her. “Like you don’t already know.”
He shook his head.
“What?”
“You’re just…”
“What?” But doubt surged inside of her. She’d said something wrong, something stupid. He thought she was stupid. Oh boy. She wished the world would swallow her up.
“Refreshing.”
He said ‘refreshing’ but she felt like he meant gauche. “Thanks?”
“It’s a compliment,” he assured her, a frown briefly marring his features before he continued to eat his soup.
“But you do this a lot?” She prompted. “Tabloid exaggeration not withstanding?”
“Not really.”
She arched a brow. “You don’t need to obfuscate to protect my feelings. This is just a fling, remember?”
He laughed. “Refreshing,” he said again, and this time, a hint of a smile touched her lips.
“So?” She took another mouthful of soup. It was truly one of the nicest things she’d ever eaten. Or perhaps it was sharing it with this man, here in Italy, the rain drizzling around them, the night warm, the air thick with summer and magic.
“I enjoy the company of women,” he shrugged his shoulders. “I prefer short affairs to relationships, so I’m always open about that from the start.”
She expelled a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. It was reassuring to hear him discuss this in such clinical terms. Like there was nothing new here for him, nothing unexpected. They were on a track he ran often. She was nothing special. Nothing special, just like Michael said… God, get out of my head, she thought with a stifled groan.
“And the women you date are happy with that?”
“If they’re not, I don’t get involved with them.”
“That’s clinical.”
“Yeah.” He lifted his shoulders, but there was something a little jaded around his eyes. “I’ve learned it’s better to be open and honest. Always.”
“Was there a time when you weren’t?”
His expression shifted. “No. But I’ve been on the receiving end of dishonesty once or twice. Enough to know I’d never knowingly inflict that on anyone
else.”
A frisson ran down Maddie’s spine as it occurred to her that by concealing her connection to him she wasn’t being completely honest. It sounded like he had every reason to be angry about that, to resent her for it.