She aims her spatula at me. "You do realize I was kidding, right? I never touch insects, much less eat them. They're icky."
"Afraid of grasshoppers? Don't worry, I'll protect you from them." I pat my chest with both hands. "I'm your personal insect repellent."
Her snort transforms into a sputtering laugh. "That's even ickier. You're a walking bottle of chemical spray? Not sexy."
"Sorry. No more talk of creepy-crawlies, I promise."
"Good. Because I saw bugs the size of buses down in Ecuador." She flips a pancake, and only half of it lands on the griddle. She scoops up the half that's hanging off the side and tries to get it all on the cooking surface, but it winds up wrinkled. "Ugh. I'll eat that one."
"You're still doing better than I would. My mum won't let me near uncooked food anymore, not since I tried to poach an egg in the microwave and it exploded."
"How do you make an egg explode?"
"By cooking it with the shell on."
Arden smiles with her lips sealed, and it's the sweetest expression I've ever seen. "Guess you win the worst chef award."
"Don't I also win the wow award for most incredible taking of virginity?"
Her sweet little smile broadens into a grin. "Yep, you win that one for sure."
For some reason, I feel the need to add, "We can't do that again."
Her grin fades, but only for a few seconds, then that lips-sealed smile returns. This time, it carves out divots in her cheeks, like she has a brilliant secret that she's not going to share.
"What are you plotting, Arden?"
"Oh, nothing." She flips another pancake, this time getting all of it on the griddle, her head down but her eyes turned up to look at me. "Just imagining how I can seduce you."
"No, Arden." I try to sound stern, but I'm bloody awful at it. Resistance is not my strong suit, remember? "We can't do that anymore."
Even I don't believe me.
But dammit, I will try to not fuck her. Honestly, I'll try.
No, I won't try. I absolutely willnothave sex with Arden. Never again. End of story.
She laughs, and her eyes sparkle.
"You think my resolve is funny?" I say.
"No, I think it's cute that you think you, a total player, can keep saying no when a woman wants you so bad she'll do anything to get you naked again."
Luckily, she finishes making the pancakes before I can think of anything to say in response. She wants to eat on the sofa, but I insist we have our breakfast at the bar.
Arden leans across the bar to set our plates there, making her half-unbuttoned shirt fall away from her body. I can see even more of her breasts.
My mouth waters, and not from the savory food she's placed in front of me.
She ambles around the bar to where the stools and I are waiting for her. The barmy girl whose shirt is half open is wearing nothing else but those plaid knickers I'd seen on the night we met.
"Why aren't you dressed?" I ask, and I almost cringe at the humiliating, panicked tone of my voice.
"I am dressed," she tells me. "Not ready for public viewing yet, but dressed."
And I can't think of anything to say to that.
Of course, she perches on the stool right next to mine. When I move to the next one over, she moves over too. The girl is relentless. I can't possibly bethatgood in bed. I mean, I'm good. But not so fantastic that women can't bear to not fuck me. Her insistence must be strictly because she was a virgin. I'm all she knows, about sex, so naturally she thinks I'm the most incredible lover on the planet.