It Happened in L.A.: Ms Match / Shockingly Sensual / Playmates

“Nothing,” he said, lacking the verbal and mental skills to explain. “Don’t expect me to be coherent.”

“Fair enough.”

“I have to say, for a couch, this wasn’t so bad.”

“What do you mean?”

He let his hand smooth down her arm. “It didn’t scratch up my ass.”

He felt her lips curve into a smile.

“First thing I checked out in the department store.”

“Dropped trou, did you?”

“It was a major purchase.”

His head lifted as he grinned, but he couldn’t really see her face so he let it flop back again. “Popcorn and a treat. Best movies ever.”

“It’s not what I expected.”

“No?”

“We were supposed to be friends.”

He lifted his head once more. “Aren’t we?”

“We hadn’t exactly discussed the benefits package.”

He really needed to see her face. He lifted her chin, which upset the balance of things, but had to be done. “Are you sorry?”

The look she gave him was honest, if not quite as satisfying as a whimper and instant denial, but that was Gwen. “I don’t know. I don’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. God, I did. But—” she sat up, tugged the blanket a bit to cover her lap “—I’m not sure where it leaves us.”

“Does it have to leave us anywhere in particular?”

Her shrug said as much as her troubled gaze. “I’d like to say no, but that’s not how I operate. I’m not a casual sex kind of person.”

“Nothing about you is casual.”

She poked him lightly with her elbow. “If that was supposed to be a compliment, it sucked.”

“It was.” He ran a hand over his face, then sat up a bit straighter. “I admire it, though. I like that you have high standards.”

“I suppose—no, I don’t understand that, either.”

“Case in point,” he said. “But I’ll try to explain. You don’t settle, and you expect the best from me. Which makes me want to give you my best. I’ve never had that with a friend before, benefits notwithstanding. The truth is, somewhere during the past few weeks, I realized I wanted more.”

“You didn’t say anything.”

“I kissed you.”

She sighed in the nicest way. “Yes, you did.”

“And as I recall, you kissed me back.”

This time, he got a nod.

He stroked her face with the back of his fingers. “What do you want?”

She captured his hand and held it there for a moment. “I don’t know. I was just getting used to the friendship part.”

He thought about that. About what being friends with Gwen had started out as, and how different it was from anything he’d experienced before. It had never occurred to him that he was moving too fast. In his life before Gwen, these things tended to happen quickly, skipping over the friendship altogether. The only exception in recent memory had been Autumn, but she didn’t seem to count anymore. It felt as if meeting Gwen had forced a spotlight on Autumn’s game-playing, and in that glare, it had lost all its charm.

“Hello?” She looked him in the eyes, waiting.

He wanted the sex. It balanced things for him, but he skittered away from that thought. No, he’d wanted her. “I should have waited.”

“Please don’t feel bad. I was right there with you. I could have said no.”

“That’s fair. Tell you what. Let’s play it by ear. I’ll try to be more focused on the friend thing.”

“I like that. I’m still learning so much about you.”

“Huh. That’s a pretty shallow pool.”

“No, it’s not. I thought it would be, but you’ve turned out to be an interesting guy.”

“Don’t let that get out. It’ll ruin my reputation in this town.”

She grinned. “We’re in Pasadena. You’re still safe in Hollywood.”

After looking at a face that had changed so much in such a short time, he pulled her into a kiss. Nothing fancy. Just a hope, perhaps that while the whole nine yards might be off-limits, this might not be. Kissing her was something he didn’t want to give up.

Finally, she drew away. Pushed some hair back from his forehead with the tips of her delicate fingers. “It’s late.”

“One thing, and then I’ll go.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Friends with kissing, that could work, right?”

She looked at him with those green eyes of hers. He could practically see the debate inside her head. Finally, she smiled, and he knew her answer.

“Yes. Friends with kissing could work.”

“Yippee,” he said, mocking his own exuberant reaction so she wouldn’t get scared and change her mind. “I’ll wash up.” He stood, left her the blanket, gathered his pile of clothes and went into the bathroom. As he cleaned up, he tried to remember why he’d considered her so plain. Probably the contrast to Autumn. But now that he knew Gwen so well, the scales had shifted. There was little better than winning a smile from Gwen.

Naturally, when he got to the door he wanted to try the whole friends with kissing thing. Just to make sure they both understood the concept.