Sex Appeal

“But you’re not heartbroken?” Shadow asked.

Briefly closing his eyes, Brent said, “No. I would have made her a lousy husband, and vice versa. I’d still like to have children someday. But now I know what to look for in a wife.”

“Such as?”

Apparently, as long as he was talking, Shadow was more than willing to listen. He took her by surprise when he reached across the desk to chuck her under the chin.

“For one thing, she can’t be a businesswoman. Too independent. And she would have to be biddable. Someone content to be a wife and mother above all things.”

Shadow smiled in understanding. “What you’re looking for isn’t all that unique, and one of the reasons I don’t plan to marry, even though I’d love to have children, too. I even tried once—marriage, I mean. When I was only seventeen.”

“Seventeen?” She’d been little more than a child. The idea was appalling.

Her eyes a little sad, she said, “I thought I wanted someone who would love me, who would put me first. Now, looking back, I think I just wanted to have sex. With my family upbringing, I couldn’t do that without being married.”

“What happened?” Brent was genuinely curious, which wasn’t at all usual for him. A woman’s personal history had never interested him before. But then, he’d never met anyone even remotely like Shadow.

“We were both young and stupid.” She straightened the papers on her desk, fidgeting, then came to some hidden decision. She looked up to meet his gaze. “He also liked to smack me around. The first time it happened, I kept quiet because I hated to admit everyone was right, that I’d made a mistake. The second time, I left him, but then I let him convince me to give our marriage another try. That was a real mistake.”

Brent stared at her, aware of a slow burn churning in his gut. Someone had dared to hit her? He didn’t care that it was long ago, that it had less than nothing to do with him. He hadn’t even known her and barely knew her now.

But none of that mattered. If she pointed the guy out today, right this second, he’d beat him into the ground. Brent drew a breath, barely getting hold of himself, and asked, “What did you do?”

“The third time he hit me I decided to get even, and when he turned his back on me that night, I surprised him with a baseball bat.”

Brent sat back, amazed. “Good for you.”

“I broke two of his ribs.” She added with a shrug, “He never asked me to come back after that.”

Through the tumultuous mix of anger and disbelief, Brent found a spot of laughter. It amazed him that she could always do that, could always amuse him, no matter what.

Her incredible eyes were still twinkling when he commented, “That was a long time ago. You haven’t had the urge to give it another try?”

“Only once. When I was twenty-four, seven years after my first marriage. I almost tied that stupid knot again, but like you, I luckily found out beforehand what I was getting into. Right before, actually. Two days prior to the wedding, I discovered my fiancé going into debt on the inheritance I’d just received from my grandmother. When I walked away, he was in a killing rage, because he’d promised most of my money on investments and was seriously in debt without it. I wasn’t surprised when he told me he’d only wanted me for my money, anyway. Not that I’m in your league, but Grandmother Harrison did leave me a pretty sum, enough for me to finally decide I could be independent, both personally and financially.”

She tapped the pencil on the desk. “That was seven years ago. Now I’m coming to realize how much I’d like to have children of my own. Of course, in this day and age, you don’t need to tie yourself into a loveless marriage to become a parent. One of my new friends, Annie, says I’m suffering my ‘seven year itch’ since my relationship fiascoes seem to come seven years apart.” Shadow laughed. “I told her I wasn’t, because I had no intention of getting married. But I am giving the parent thing some thought. As they say, my biological clock is ticking.”

“You want to be a mother now?”

“Don’t look so worried! You’re not in danger of being an unwilling sperm donor. I would never get pregnant by a man without asking him first. And anyway, I’d probably do it through a clinic. You know, artificially inseminated, and all that.”

Brent recovered enough to comment, “That doesn’t sound like any fun.”

“No, it doesn’t. But then, the alternative isn’t always that great, either.”

Brent quirked a brow at that artless confession, then laughed when Shadow slapped her hand over her mouth. “Go on,” he encouraged her, anxious to hear more.

“Forget I said that,” she mumbled past her fingers. “I didn’t mean to cast aspersions on the male species and their abilities.”

Brent continued to smile. “I was taking it more as a challenge.”

“Well, for Pete’s sake, don’t! I certainly didn’t mean it as one.”

“You make me laugh, Shadow. I like that. I like you. And as long as we’re both in agreement that marriage is not a state to be devoutly sought, I think we can have some of your acclaimed fun together. Don’t you?”

“I suppose,” she agreed, but without as much enthusiasm as Brent had hoped for.

Nodding at her desk, he suggested, “Why don’t we finish that contest form, then I’ll help you hang the rest of your decorations.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she assured him.

“I want to. Besides, I have nothing better to do with my time today.”

“Oh. Well then, the next question is what three qualities do you look for most in a woman?”

“Attractiveness, honesty and sensuality.”

Shadow stared. “That was mighty quick. You don’t need time to think about it?”

Propping his elbow on the arm of his chair, he rested his chin in his palm. “Nope.”

Shadow smacked her pencil down on her desk. “In that order, I suppose?”

“Certainly. If a woman isn’t attractive, I wouldn’t pursue her in the first place. If I got to know her, and she wasn’t honest—a new criterion of mine—I wouldn’t trust her, and therefore wouldn’t want a relationship with her. If we started a relationship, and she was a cold fish, or a prude, there’d be no point in continuing.” He shrugged.

Shadow shook her head in dismay, but then quipped, “At least you’re honest about it.”

“Which part are you objecting to, Shadow? It can’t be the looks part, because you have to know how sexy you are.”

“I’m…average. That’s all.”

He just smiled. “I find it hard to believe you could be a prude.”

She scowled at him. “If you’re trying to find out if I’m honest, the answer should be obvious. I wouldn’t put out the effort necessary to lie. But what bothered me was that you didn’t think a sense of humor was important. Or honor. Or generosity.”

“They would have come in place after sensuality.”

She rolled her eyes. “Next question—what would you consider the perfect romantic evening?”

“You mean there’s only one?”

She clicked her teeth together. “You’ll have to narrow it down to your favorite.”

He shifted, propping his elbows on his knees, tapping his fingers together thoughtfully. When his eyes came to hold Shadow’s gaze, hers darkened in reaction. He said quietly, his words deep and slow, “Being alone with a woman, the sounds of a storm outside, a warm fire. Naked, with all the time in the world ahead of us.”

She looked taken aback by his deliberate and intimate use of “us.” She shook her head when she realized she hadn’t written his comments down, and hurried to do so, though her fingers shook slightly with the effort.

“Anything else?” Brent asked, enjoying her reaction.