When the woman finally left, Kevin settled back in his chair and picked up the one part of their conversation she most wished he’d forgotten. “This celibacy thing … how long has that been going on?”

She took her time cutting a small piece of chicken. “A while.”

“Any particular reason?”

She chewed slowly, as if she were thinking over his question instead of trying to find a way out. There wasn’t any, so she attempted to sound grand and mysterious. “A choice I made.”

“Is this one more part of that good girl thing everybody in the world believes about you except me?”

“I am a good girl!”

“You’re a brat.”

She sniffed, a little pleased, but not letting on. “Why should a virtuous woman have to justify herself? Or semivirtuous any way, so don’t think I was a virgin before I lost my mind with you.” But in some ways she was a virgin. Although she knew about sex, neither of her two affairs had taught her anything about making love, and neither had that awful night with Kevin.

“Because we’re friends, remember? Friends tell each other things. You already know a lot more about me than almost anybody.”

She didn’t like being more embarrassed about this disclosure than she’d been when she told him she’d given away her inheritance, so she tried her best to look pious by putting her elbows on the table and making little prayer hands. “Being sexually discriminating is nothing to be ashamed about.”

In some ways he understood her better than her own family, and his raised eyebrow told her she hadn’t impressed him.

“I’m just—I know a lot of people treat sex casually, but I can’t do that. I think it’s too important.”

“I’m not going to argue with you.”

“Well, then, that’s it.”

“I’m glad.”

Was it her imagination, or did she detect a little smugness in his expression?

“You’re glad about what? That you’ve had a stadium full of easy women while I’ve been keeping my legs crossed? Talk about a double standard.”

“Hey, I’m not proud of it. It’s programmed in those X chromosomes. And it hasn’t been a stadium full.”

“Let me put it like this: Some people can handle sex without commitment, but it turns out that I’m not one of them, so it would be better if you’d move back into the house.”

“Technically speaking, Daph, I’ve made a pretty big commitment to you, and I’m thinking it’s payback time.”

“Sex is not a commodity. You can’t bargain with it.”

“Who says?” His smile turned positively diabolical. “There were lots of nice-looking clothes at that boutique in town, and I can be real free with my credit card.”

“What a proud moment this is for me. Bunny-book author turned hooker in one easy step.”