He tensed. “By all means.”

“I needed someone safe who could help me reconnect with my body, someone I wasn’t emotionally involved with. So, of course, you were perfect.”

Not emotionally involved?

She nibbled at her bottom lip, beginning to look as though she’d rather be anywhere but here. “Tell me you’re not mad,” she said. “Oh, crap …I’m not going to let myself cry. But I feel so bad. You heard Kevin last night. I…” She gulped. “That whole other complication. What a mess, right?”

She’d thrown one more curveball. “Other complication?”

“You know.”

“Refresh my memory.”

“Don’t make me say it. It’s too embarrassing.”

“What’s a little embarrassment between friends?” he said tightly. “Since we’re being so honest.”

She gazed up at the ceiling, rolled her shoulders, looked down at the floor. Her voice grew small, almost timid. “You know…The tiny crush I have on Dean Robillard.”

The floor shifted beneath him.

She pressed her hands to her face. “Oh, God, I’m blushing. I’m awful, aren’t I, talking to you about this?”

“No, please.” He ground out the words. “Feel free.”

She dropped her hands and regarded him with all kinds of earnestness. “I know it probably won’t come to anything—this thing with Dean—but before last night, I didn’t even have the nerve to give it a chance. He’s obviously an experienced guy, and what was I going to do if the connection I felt wasn’t just in my imagination? What would I do if he was interested in me, too? I couldn’t cope with the sexual ramifications. But after what you did for me last night, I finally have the courage to at least give it a shot. If nothing comes of it, well, that’s life, but at least I’ll know it wasn’t my neurosis that held me back.”

“Are you saying…I was your icebreaker?”

Those honey-colored eyes darkened with concern. “Tell me that’s okay with you. I know your emotions weren’t involved, but, still, nobody likes to think they’ve been taken advantage of.”

He unclenched his teeth. “And that’s what you did? You took advantage of me?”

“I wasn’t, you know, picturing him in my mind last night when I was with you or anything. Well, maybe for a couple of seconds, but that’s all, I swear.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“So are we okay?” she asked.

He didn’t understand the smoldering mass of resentment growing in his chest, especially since she’d handed him a free pass. “I don’t know. Are we?”

She had the nerve to grin. “I think so. You look a little grouchy, but you don’t look like a man whose honor’s been violated. I shouldn’t have been so worried. For you, it was just sex, but for me it was this huge emancipation. Thanks, pal.”

She stuck out her hand, forcing him to set down his coffee mug to shake it or look like a dick. Then she hopped to her feet, threw her arms over her head, and uncurled her small body in a cat’s satisfied stretch that pulled up her T-shirt and displayed the small oval belly button he’d dipped the tip of his tongue into last night. “I’ll meet you at the gazebo.” Her expression clouded with earnestness. “And, Heath, I promise, if you have even the tiniest leftover resentment toward me, it’ll disappear by next week. This makes me even more determined to find you the perfect woman. Now, it’s not just business. It’s personal.”