“It doesn’t matter what you think,” he said, his voice so tight she’d bet that given one good pluck, his vocal cords would snap in two.
She could see there was no reasoning with him. Not that she’d ever been able to reason with him, so it wasn’t a big surprise. And boy, he was cranky today. Probably sexual frustration, she decided. If he had just given in last night, after she was through with him, he’d have slept like a baby.
He followed her in the back door, through the mudroom, and into the kitchen. Her father was at the table eating a bowl of cold cereal.
“Morning, Daddy, how do you feel?”
He slammed his spoon down on the table. “I’m sick of cold cereal, that’s how I feel. When are those house-keepers coming?”
Jeez, was everyone in a foul mood this morning? “The first one is coming at ten.”
“How many answered the ad?”
“Only two.”
“Only two?”
Nita shrugged. “People talk. Everyone knows what’s been happening out here. Can you blame someone for not wanting to get involved? Maybe we should try advertising in other cities.” Or just call Jane, she wanted to add.
He muttered something about “Those damned Devlins” then boosted himself on his crutches and hobbled out of the room.
Nita hoped the interview process was only a formality, and that her daddy would come to his senses and ask Jane to come home soon. Nita figured it was just a matter of time before he missed Jane so much he would be begging her to return.
“I talked to my brother last night,” Connor said from his spot near the door. He didn’t look angry anymore. Just mildly annoyed. “Jake would like to bring the map by tonight about seven.”
“Map?”
“The one that was stolen from the museum,” he reminded her. “The one Gavin wanted me to look at.”
“Oh, right. Fine by me,” she said.
“I also talked to Clint about the security evaluation and he said he’d be by around three, day after tomorrow.”
“Not that I think this evaluation will do much good, but I’ll listen to what he has to say.” She cleared her daddy’s breakfast dishes and carried them to the sink.
“Nita, about last night…”
Not this again. Sheesh. Rub it in my face why don’t you. She leaned on the edge of the sink. “You don’t have to explain. I get it.”
“I just want to make it clear, it wasn’t you.”
“I understand. You were embarrassed. It’s okay.”
His eyebrow dipped low. “Embarrassed?”
“About your condition.”
“Condition?” Connor folded his arms across his chest, wondering what the hell she was talking about now. “And what condition might that be.”
Her eyes drifted to the vicinity of his crotch. “The damage.”
He couldn’t tell if she was serious, or just yanking his chain. “What damage are we talking about?”
“From the explosion. I understand why you’re afraid to let me see it. But you should know, I wouldn’t be bothered by any…abnormalities. I mean, penises are pretty funny looking to begin with, so how bad could it be?”
“Nita, what are you talking about? Why would you assume any part of my anatomy is abnormal?”
“I’m not assuming anything. You said so yourself last night.”
“When?”
“You said your goods were damaged.”
He nearly laughed out loud. Leave it to her to twist his words into something so totally off the wall. He might have been offended if he wasn’t so damned amused. “Nita, trust me when I say my goods are just fine.”
She shrugged and walked past him, through the kitchen doorway, calling over her shoulder, “Hey, whatever you say.”
He followed her down the hall and into the office. “What, you don’t believe me?”
She crossed the room and sat in the chair behind her wide, cluttered oak desk. “Connor, you have nothing to be ashamed of.”
“You’re right, I don’t. Because there’s nothing wrong with me.”
She flipped open her laptop. “So you’ve said.”
She was goading him now, and he was having too much fun not to play along for a while. To see exactly what she thought she might accomplish by antagonizing him. Though he already had a pretty good idea.
She needed justification. She needed to know why he’d rejected her. What she’d done wrong.
And the answer was nothing. She done everything right. He was the one with the problem. If only she knew how difficult it had been for him to turn her away last night, how much he still wanted her. He had no idea how she’d made it this far in life thinking that she wasn’t feminine, that she looked like a boy. She had to be one of the most desirable, sexiest women he’d ever met. The kind of woman he typically avoided at all cost, which was a little tough to do living in the same house, shadowing her every move.
“You know,” she said, thoughtfully. “They have some wonderful new drugs out to help men with certain…problems.”
He swallowed a grin. “Not only am I deformed, now I’m impotent, too?”
“I’m only telling you so you don’t think it’s hopeless. There is help out there for men like you.”
“What was it you said last night? Everything seems to be working fine?”
She let out a long, gusty sigh and rolled the chair back from the desk. “If you’re so determined to convince me I’m wrong, I guess I’ll just have to see it.”
Somehow he knew it would come to this. “You will, huh?”
“Drop your pants. Let’s have a look.” She propped her elbows on the armrests and linked her fingers under her chin—the picture of solemnity, but there was no mistaking that impish gleam in her eye. “Come on, don’t be shy. I promise I won’t laugh.”
No, he knew she wouldn’t laugh. He didn’t even want to think of what she might do if she got him out of his pants. But whatever it was, he was sure she’d do it well.
He propped his hands on the desk and leaned forward, looking her right in the eye, so there was no mistaking what he was about to tell her. “I like you, Nita. Too much. Which is exactly why I can’t get involved with you. There’s a lot that you don’t know about me.”
She held his gaze. “Does that mean you won’t be taking off your pants?”
“No, I won’t.”
She shrugged and rolled her chair up to her computer. “Then get lost, I have work to do.”
“So we understand each other?”
“Yes, Connor. We understand each other. Personally, I think you’re blowing this whole sex thing way out of proportion, but I guess it’s your loss.” She made a shooing gesture with her hands. “Now go ‘way. I have things to do before the applicants get here.”
“I’ll be on my bench in the foyer if you need me,” he said, then headed for the door. He glanced back on his way out and saw that she was mesmerized by whatever she was working on.
She’d been awfully agreeable about the whole thing. Too agreeable. He couldn’t escape the feeling