He snorted. Men didn’t have real conversations with women unless they wanted to get in their pants.

Lucy puckered her lips, all prim and proper. “Please leave so I can take a shower.”

They took showers together. She knew that. But he damned well wasn’t going to argue with her about it. “You got it.”

He shut the door behind him, grabbed the book he had no intention of reading, and left the room.

He worked at his computer until one in the morning, catching up on paperwork, but he still had trouble falling asleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that damned list of hers plastered against the back of his lids with the words “Sleep around” pulsing away.

Chapter Nineteen

THE KITCHEN TABLE MOCKED HER as it squatted in its customary spot on the cracked vinyl floor. It looked like a fat green warthog with a broken leg. Lucy slapped at the counter with a dishrag. “Just once, do you think you could make coffee without getting the grounds everywhere?”

Panda turned from the kitchen window where he’d been scanning the backyard for armed robbers, escaped murderers, or even a rabid skunk, anything that would satisfy his craving for action. “Just once, do you think you could make the coffee instead of me?” he retorted.

“I’m trying to eat,” Temple said from the table. “Would you both shut up?”

Lucy turned on her. “And you … Would it kill you to have a box of Cheerios around, or is that too much temptation for Her Majesty?”

Temple licked her yogurt spoon. “Panda, get rid of her.”

“My pleasure.”

“Don’t bother. I’m leaving.” Lucy flounced across the kitchen. “I’m going someplace where I’m appreciated.” She tried to produce a decent burp but failed.

“I hear there’s a new kindergarten in town,” Panda called after her.

“You should know.” Lucy slammed the back door on them both and headed for the cottage. The only bright spot in that encounter was how good it felt to act infantile.

Something had shifted between them, and not just because Panda hadn’t been waiting for her in bed last night when she’d come out of the shower. She’d started feeling a resentment toward him that had no place in a summer fling. Temple knew more about him than she did, and Lucy didn’t like that. She wanted his confidences. His trust. Maybe it should be enough to know he’d take a bullet for her, but not when she knew he’d do the same for Temple, or anyone else he felt responsible for.