“Besides,
seems to me you’ve been getting a bit of exercise yourself, these past few days.
Need to keep your strength up.”
“Mmmm . . . Making up for lost time,” she answered, around
her sandwich.
“Lost time?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s been a while, that’s all.”
“Wait, forget I said that,” she added hastily. “You keep telling
me I’m supposed to stop sharing these things that make me sound like a loser.”
He laughed. “I like it. Good to know what you really think.
No games. But just how long has it been? You don’t seem out of practice to me.”
She flushed. “Well, thanks. I think that’s you, though.
Seems to me you do most of the work. All I have to do is enjoy it.”
“Works for me. I like an appreciative audience. Not to
mention someone who follows orders, eh.” He grinned again at her shocked
expression. “But you’re just trying to distract me now. Let’s hear the sad
story.”
She answered reluctantly. “Well . . . maybe three . . .” she
cleared her throat. “Three years?”
“Three years?” he answered, stunned. “Not that I’m
complaining,” he hastened to assure her. “I’m glad to know you’ve saved all
that for me. But why is that? From what I saw this morning, you must have heaps
of men asking you out.”
“Yes, and that’s about the quality of them. Sure, I go out. Some.
I just got disillusioned with all of it. I’m not good at casual sex. It doesn’t
work for me. Whatever you might think,” she added defensively.
“You’re not sending out any ‘come and get it’ signals, no
worries.”
“My friend Susannah says I’m too guarded. That I don’t give
anyone a chance. But I can’t hop into bed with someone just for fun. Too
embarrassing the next day, you know?”
He was too smart to answer that one. “Not every man wants to
hook up and move on, though.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes it seems like that’s all they’re
looking for. That three-date thing.”
“What three-date thing?”
“You know. Three dates and you’re out? They figure if it
hasn’t happened by then, there’s no return on their investment, and they don’t
call again. Once that happened to me enough, I suppose I stopped giving them
much of a chance. It started to seem so sordid. Like we’re all expendable.
Interchangeable. They just want to get some, and if it takes too long, they’ll
get it from somebody else.”
“So that’s how I did it,” he teased. “Didn’t pike out, eh.”
“OK, I’ll admit,” she smiled, “I wanted to get some too, in
your case. I tried. I told myself I’d regret it, and that I didn’t know you
well enough, and that we lived too far apart for anything to come of it. But it
didn’t work. I was pretty sure, actually, that first day on the boat. The rest
of it was just me arguing with myself.”
“Could have fooled me. I wasn’t sure I was getting anywhere
at all.”
“Well, you were scary,” she said seriously.
“Scary? How?” he protested. “I tried bloody hard to be a
gentleman. And it wasn’t easy.”
“You were wonderful. But you’re so different from the kind
of men I usually meet. Lawyers. Sales reps. You’re just so . . . so big,” she said
lamely. “Overwhelming. And I was really attracted to you. That was scary, for
me. But what can I say. You overcame my scruples. So here I am, being slutty on
my vacation. Just what I said I wouldn’t do.”
He smiled. “You know bugger all about being slutty. But I’ll
try my best to help you learn.”
“Well, you know,” she frowned down at her sandwich, “I have
to go to Rotorua tomorrow. So if you’ll take me back to my motel after lunch, I
need to pack.” She looked up at him with an effort.
“But you don’t want to do that,” he protested. “Do you? I
sure as hell don’t want you to leave now.”
“Are you sure about that?” she pressed. “You’re on a fishing
vacation. You said so. You don’t have to be a gentleman now, Drew.
seems to me you’ve been getting a bit of exercise yourself, these past few days.
Need to keep your strength up.”
“Mmmm . . . Making up for lost time,” she answered, around
her sandwich.
“Lost time?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s been a while, that’s all.”
“Wait, forget I said that,” she added hastily. “You keep telling
me I’m supposed to stop sharing these things that make me sound like a loser.”
He laughed. “I like it. Good to know what you really think.
No games. But just how long has it been? You don’t seem out of practice to me.”
She flushed. “Well, thanks. I think that’s you, though.
Seems to me you do most of the work. All I have to do is enjoy it.”
“Works for me. I like an appreciative audience. Not to
mention someone who follows orders, eh.” He grinned again at her shocked
expression. “But you’re just trying to distract me now. Let’s hear the sad
story.”
She answered reluctantly. “Well . . . maybe three . . .” she
cleared her throat. “Three years?”
“Three years?” he answered, stunned. “Not that I’m
complaining,” he hastened to assure her. “I’m glad to know you’ve saved all
that for me. But why is that? From what I saw this morning, you must have heaps
of men asking you out.”
“Yes, and that’s about the quality of them. Sure, I go out. Some.
I just got disillusioned with all of it. I’m not good at casual sex. It doesn’t
work for me. Whatever you might think,” she added defensively.
“You’re not sending out any ‘come and get it’ signals, no
worries.”
“My friend Susannah says I’m too guarded. That I don’t give
anyone a chance. But I can’t hop into bed with someone just for fun. Too
embarrassing the next day, you know?”
He was too smart to answer that one. “Not every man wants to
hook up and move on, though.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes it seems like that’s all they’re
looking for. That three-date thing.”
“What three-date thing?”
“You know. Three dates and you’re out? They figure if it
hasn’t happened by then, there’s no return on their investment, and they don’t
call again. Once that happened to me enough, I suppose I stopped giving them
much of a chance. It started to seem so sordid. Like we’re all expendable.
Interchangeable. They just want to get some, and if it takes too long, they’ll
get it from somebody else.”
“So that’s how I did it,” he teased. “Didn’t pike out, eh.”
“OK, I’ll admit,” she smiled, “I wanted to get some too, in
your case. I tried. I told myself I’d regret it, and that I didn’t know you
well enough, and that we lived too far apart for anything to come of it. But it
didn’t work. I was pretty sure, actually, that first day on the boat. The rest
of it was just me arguing with myself.”
“Could have fooled me. I wasn’t sure I was getting anywhere
at all.”
“Well, you were scary,” she said seriously.
“Scary? How?” he protested. “I tried bloody hard to be a
gentleman. And it wasn’t easy.”
“You were wonderful. But you’re so different from the kind
of men I usually meet. Lawyers. Sales reps. You’re just so . . . so big,” she said
lamely. “Overwhelming. And I was really attracted to you. That was scary, for
me. But what can I say. You overcame my scruples. So here I am, being slutty on
my vacation. Just what I said I wouldn’t do.”
He smiled. “You know bugger all about being slutty. But I’ll
try my best to help you learn.”
“Well, you know,” she frowned down at her sandwich, “I have
to go to Rotorua tomorrow. So if you’ll take me back to my motel after lunch, I
need to pack.” She looked up at him with an effort.
“But you don’t want to do that,” he protested. “Do you? I
sure as hell don’t want you to leave now.”
“Are you sure about that?” she pressed. “You’re on a fishing
vacation. You said so. You don’t have to be a gentleman now, Drew.
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