He nudged her. “Come on. What’re you really thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about the way you look at me. Like…like…” She had to close her eyes to conjure up his expression, so she could get it just right. “Like I delight you. Like the wavelength of my voice is meant for you alone. Like…there’s no one else you’d rather be with.”

The awkward silence reminded her of what Vanessa had told her in the trampoline gym. “Relax. Don’t get all worked up about it. I’m not saying any of that’s true. I know when you find something you like you go all in. I’m just saying how it makes me feel.”

The next stretch of silence made her wish she could rewind and delete everything she’d said. Sometimes she needed to shut her mouth. She hadn’t meant to make him uncomfortable. “Never mind. Seriously, just forget it.”

But, then, his voice, cracked the quiet. “I didn’t respond right away…because I was embarrassed.”

Embarrassed? “About what?”

“That you see all that.”

Because it’s not what you feel? Or because it is? “Oh, well, don’t be. Apparently, a lot of women see it. You just have a way about you.” She instantly regretted saying that. She’d tried to sound teasing, but it was passive aggressive, and that wasn’t cool.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Best to just say it. “It’s something Vanessa said. It’s been bugging me for a few days. She said the reason she thought there was more to your relationship is because you’re so wild in bed. She said she confused your passion for actual feelings for her.”

“Fucking Vanessa.” He threw off the covers and stalked to the window. Giving her a fantastic view of his hard, round ass, the breadth of his shoulders, and taper of his waist. Even in the dark, she could see the power in his muscular thighs. “She’s messing with you.”

“I don’t think so. I didn’t have any sense that she was trying to make me jealous. But I get what she means, because if you give her half of what you give me, I can see how she’d be confused.”

“I didn’t give her anything. And, trust me, there wasn’t any passion between us. We worked together. Sometimes we’d grab a bite to eat, and it ended with a quick fuck.”

She hated the image of him with Vanessa. With any other woman.