Was that really relief flooding her or just the tiniest bit of hurt and disappointment? She smacked him on the arm. “You’re an ass.”
He sat on the bench next to her, his leg brushing her knee. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it.”
“You’re not sorry.”
“Promise me something?”
“What?”
“I meant what I said, except that last bit. You’re the smartest, most fun and brilliant person I know. Promise me, regardless of how many guys come and go, you won’t marry one unless he deserves you—the amazing you—and that you’ll never beat yourself up for turning someone down.” He lifted her face with a finger under her chin. “Say it. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
“Want to get out of here?” Zane stood and offered her a hand up.
She shivered when another gust of wind rushed past her. Some place warmer might not be a bad idea. “Dinner?”
“I’m in. Where to?”
She let him pull her to her feet and landed closer to him than she intended to. The bite in the air stole her breath, and she let her attention linger on the heat of his grip. “You pick.”
“I’m fine with whatever.” The intensity of his gaze drilled into her in the most delicious way.
Her thoughts fuzzed, and all she could make sense of was the fading sunlight and the stillness around them. She didn’t pull away, settling a hand on his chest instead.
His heart hammered under her palm. Maybe she needed to get back to the elephant in the coffee shop parking lot... “About what happened while you were gone.”
“Whichwhat?” His question was low and throaty.
Tingles rose under her skin from the way her body molded to his sturdy frame. “The flirting. The dirty talk. The long-distance mutual masturbation.”
“What about it?” He placed his hand against the small of her back, holding her tight.
Heat flooded her, chasing away the chill in her legs. “Was it a mistake?”
“Do you think it was?”
No. God, no.That was what she wanted to say. What she’d wanted him to say.
She swallowed the response. As enticing as the thought of continuing things in person was, something ran underneath, tempering her desire. “It was fun, but we were both heartbroken and lonely. Besides,in personis a different story.” Understatement of the century.
He dropped his arm from around her waist and stepped back. His shoulders relaxed, but the corners of his mouth tugged down. “It’s true.”
“I told you things I’ve never told anyone.” She hadn’t meant to admit that. “But having the expectation out there—”
“Exactly.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “It puts up a wall we don’t want.”
The conversation was rapidly deteriorating into a wall of its own. “So we’re still friends, what was in the past is in the past, and we can move on?”
“No assumptions, no expectations. We don’t have that kind of physical relationship.”
The tension evaporated from her neck. “I appreciate that.”
“Besides”—he relaxed—“I’d rather be friend-zoned than what you did to Archer.”
Friend-zoned. She hated that phrase. It implied she owed someone sex because she was nice to them. “What happened to it not being my fault?”
He shrugged, his smile wilting. “I’m not saying you were wrong to turn him down; I completely agree. But you know... on again, off again. Giving him hope, when you know you don’t love him.”