Red Lily

however draining, had done the trick. She’d made her decision. It wasn’t aboutwhat she wanted, but about what was right. “Besides, I realized that sort of thing isn’t a good idea.”
    “What sort of thing?”
    “The you and me sort.” She sat up, shook her hair back and made sure she smiled at him. It would drop the base out of her world if they stopped being friends. “I like you, Harper. You mean a lot to me, to Lily, and I want to stay friends. We add sex to that, sure, it’d be nice for a while, but then it’d just get awkward and sticky.”
    “It doesn’t have to.”
    “Odds are.” She touched his knee, gave it a brisk rub. “I was just in a mood yesterday. I liked kissing you. It was nice.”
    “Nice?”
    “Sure.” Because she knew that expression on his face—or rather the lack of expression—meant he was angry and fighting it back, she bumped up the smile several degrees. “Kissing a good-looking guy’s always nice. But I’ve got to think beyond that kind of thing, and the best thing for me is to leave things just the way they are.”
    “Things aren’t the way they were. You already changed that.”
    “Harper, a couple of smoochies between friends isn’t such a big.” She patted his hand, started to get up, but he clamped his fingers around her wrist.
    “It was more than that.”
    His temper was winning, she could see it. And from the few times she’d watched it fly, she knew it was formidable. Better he was mad, she thought quickly. Better for him that he was mad or disgusted or even hurt for the short term.
    “Harper, I know you’re probably not used to having a woman put on the brakes, but I’m not going to sit here and argue about whether I’m going to have sex with you.”
    “It’s more than that.”

    More. And that single word had her heart trembling. “It isn’t. And I don’t want it to be.”
    “What’s this, some kind of game? You came to me, you moved on me. And now it’s that was nice, but I’m not interested?”
    “That’s the nutshell. I’ve got to get back to work.”
    His voice stayed calm and cool; a dangerous sign. “I know what you felt when I had my hands on you.”
    “Well, for God’s sake, Harper, of course I felt something. I haven’t had any action in months.”
    His fingers tightened, then released. Let her go. “So, you were just cruising for a fuck buddy.”
    It wasn’t her heart that bumped this time, but her belly. “I did something on impulse I realized I shouldn’t have done. You want to make it crude, go ahead.”
    Her vision wavered, so she seemed to be looking at him through a rippling wave of heat. The anger inside her spiked up, so acute it all but scored her throat. “Men always take it down to fucking, lying and cheating and buying their way to it. And once they have, the woman’s no more than a whore to be used again or tossed away. It’s men who are the whores, plotting and planning their way to the next rut.”
    Her eyes had changed. He couldn’t say how, but he knew he wasn’t looking at her through them. The heat of his temper froze in fear. “Hayley—”
    “Is this what you want, Master Harper?” With a sly smile, she cupped her breasts, caressed them. “And this?” She slid a hand between her legs. “What will you pay?”
    He took her shoulders, gave her a quick shake. “Hayley. Stop it.”
    “Do you want me to play the lady? I’m so good at it. Good enough to be used to breed.”
    “No.” He needed to stay calm, though he could feel his own fingers tremble. “I want you exactly the way you are.Hayley.” He gripped her chin, kept his eyes focused on hers. “I’m talking to you. We’ve got things to do around here, then you’ve got to go get Lily. You don’t want to be late picking up Lily.”
    “What? Hey.” Frowning, she pushed at his hand. “I said I didn’t . . .”
    “What did you say?” He moved his hands back to her shoulders, rubbed them gently up and down. “Tell me what you just said to me.”
    “I said . . . I said I did something on impulse. I said—Oh God.” The color drained out of her face. “I didn’t. I didn’t mean—”
    “Do you remember?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t feel right.” She pressed a clammy hand to her belly as nausea rolled. “I feel a little sick.”
    “Okay. I’m going to get you home.”
    “I didn’t mean those things, Harper. I was upset.” Her knees wobbled when he helped her to her feet. “I say stupid things when