"For heaven's sake, Nick, I literally ripped your clothes off." Well, his shirt, anyway. "Considering how hard you flirt with me, I thought you'd be raring to go."
"I am, but…" He scrubs a hand over his mouth. "I'm not a bastard, Siobhan. And you've been determined never to have sex with me. Let's take a minute to calm down."
Maybe I am breathing so hard I might hyperventilate any second, but the last thing I want to do is slow down and think. Letting go feels too good.
Nick grasps my upper arms and holds me an arm's length from him, though I'm still straddling his lap. "I like you, Siobhan. As a person, not a sex object. Well, I like your body too. But I…" He veers his gaze away from mine, sighs, and looks at me again. "I don't want to rush things with you."
"Why not?"
"I want us to get to know each other."
Chapter Seven
Nick
Did I just tell her we shouldn't have sex? I've never done that before. If a woman wants me, I'm up for it. Always. Maybe I haven't slept with anyone since that stupid cow set off a firestorm with her rumor about what I do for a living. And maybe I haven't been as up for it as I used to be. But Siobhan Griffin changed that. The second I saw her, I knew I wanted—needed—to have her.
Why, then, am I telling her we shouldn't do that?
I never have sex with a woman without buying her dinner first or cooking for her. Though I'd wanted to make dinner for Siobhan, we never got round to that. She announced she wanted to fuck me, and the next thing I knew, we were on the sofa with her straddling me, and we were devouring each other like we'd both just escaped from prison after twenty years of solitary confinement.
She practically begged me to shag her.
Naturally, I pushed her away and said we should get to know each other first.
Bloody hell. What's happened to me?
I'm not a complete arse, but I also don't stop in the middle of foreplay to suggest we become mates before we get a leg over. I know almost nothing about Siobhan except that she has an adult daughter and she's a brilliant teacher. She knows a lot more about me thanks to my student record and the internet. Did that rumor convince her I'm a gigolo? Maybe she planned to stuff a handful of twenty-pound notes into my palm as she walked out the door after we had sex.
No, I can't imagine she's that sort of woman.
"Get to know each other?" she says with more confusion than seems necessary.
Is it so hard to believe I'd want that?
"Yes," I say, though I probably sound a touch frustrated. Can anyone blame me? "I'm trying to be a gentleman. If you're wanting me to be the sort who shags a bird and never calls her again, I can't do that. I never do that. Maybe I don't believe in waiting for marriage, or even waiting to find out a girl's last name, but I do not fuck someone and then run out the door."
Siobhan stops blinking, her gaze riveted to mine. She bites her upper lip and tips her head to the side. "You mean that, don't you?"
I blow out a breath and sag against the sofa. "Yes, I mean it."
"Wow, Nick, I'm sorry. I—You seemed like—God, I'm such a jerk."
"No, you're not." I set my hands on her hips. "I understand why you might've thought the worst of me. It's that ruddy rumor, isn't it? A nasty woman got angry when I refused to shag her for money, and now I have to defend myself to the world. I amnota gigolo."
"I never actually thought you were. But I guess I assumed you'd want to have sex anytime, anywhere, no questions asked."
Am I meant to deny the truth? No, I won't do that. And I can't help smirking when I say, "I am up for it anytime, anywhere. But I don't want you to rush into this and regret it later."
She takes my face in her hands and touches her lips to mine. "Thank you for being a gentleman."
"Once we're shagging, I might not be so chivalrous."
"I love that you know what the word chivalrous means." She clasps her hands behind my neck. "Since you want us to get to know each other, there's something I've been wondering about."
"Ask away."
"That woman started a rumor about you being a gigolo, but I thought prostitution was legal in the UK. Even if you were a prostitute, that shouldn't be scandalous. Should it?"