“Are you a health nut?”
“Hell no,” he replied with force. “But I like to work out and it’s harder to do when the fuel in the body is doing the opposite of what it should do.”
“Steak is good protein,” she countered.
“Yes, but a good steak has a lot of fat and cholesterol.”
“Do you work out every day?”
“Almost.”
“And are you working out tomorrow?” she asked, fascinated despite her need to not learn more about this enigmatic man.
“Yes.”
She smiled and shook her head. “Not a ‘maybe’ or a ‘if I can find the time’ answer. That’s a definite.”
“Want to work out with me?” he suggested, leering at her with a suggestive glint in his hard, grey eyes.
She laughed and shook her head. “No way.”
“Why not?”
“Because I know you go for a run each evening and I wouldn’t be able to keep up with you.”
“I only run in the evenings to clear my head.”
She rolled her eyes at his explanation. “Mitch, you run for over an hour. And then you come back and swim. Are you telling me that’s just your relaxation technique?”
“Nope. That would be sex. With you of course.”
“There’s no of course about it, Kemusabe,” she countered, using the old American Indian name. “We’re not having sex.”
“That came out like a challenge.” He leaned forward. “Are you challenging me Claire?”
She took a deep breath and leaned back. “Absolutely not.”
“Why not?”
She laughed at his satisfied expression. “Because men like you take on a challenge just like a bull to a red flag. Not going to happen, Big Guy.”
“Afraid I’ll win?”
“Of course.”
“Been a long time since you’ve had sex, huh?”
She shifted uncomfortably in her chintz covered chair. “You have no idea,” she replied, refusing to admit to him that she’d never actually had sex.
Their dinner came at that moment, relieving Claire from elaborating on that answer. But she should have known that Mitch wouldn’t let something like that go without more information.
“I thought you’d been dating your mystery man, Gary, for about two months.”
She took a bite of her chicken, savoring the amazing flavors of the rosemary which contrasted perfectly with the chevre cheese. “We had. What’s your point?”
He stopped and stared at her hard. “Are you telling me that you and Gary never had sex? In the entire two months of your relationship?”
She refused to look at him, but could feel the blush creeping up her neck and cheeks. “I told you. Gary was a gentleman and respected my wishes to wait until we knew each other better.”
“Claire, you’re traveling all over Virginia, hacking into company files that could land you in prison and spending who knows how much of your personal time tracking down a guy you haven’t even slept with?”
She sighed and looked out the windows but there wasn’t a whole lot to see since the rain was still pouring down. “Mitch, he didn’t push. Of course we….” She wasn’t sure how to explain her lack of a sex life to a man who personified sex.
“What Claire? Did you do everything but have sex?”
“No!” she gasped. “I mean…if what you’re asking is if we….”
Mitch sighed in frustration at her inability to speak openly about sexual acts. It was cute in a way, but since they were going to have a relationship, she would have to get over this shyness of hers. He wanted her open and free to ask for anything while in bed with him. “You can say it Claire. Oral sex. Is that what you and Gary did?”
Claire put her face in her hands and shook her head. “No. This is really none of your business, Mitch. Can we please change the subject?”
There was silence across the table and Claire sat uncomfortably for a long time, wishing she could simply disappear from this conversation. When she finally had the courage to look up, assuming to find derision on Mitch’s features, she was stunned to see that he looked as if he were proud of her. And was there a touch of possession in his gaze? She wasn’t sure, and quickly looked away, picking up her knife and fork even though she was no longer in the mood for dinner.
“Have you ever had sex, Claire?” he asked softly, filling up her wine glass.
“No,” she finally admitted, but wouldn’t look at him again.
“Would you care to explain? You’re a beautiful, incredibly sexy woman and I’m sure there were ample opportunities in the past with other men. What’s held you back?”
She concentrated on cutting her stuffed chicken into small, bite sized pieces carefully in an effort to avoid looking up at him. “Do we really have to discuss this?”
He hesitated, then nodded. “I think we do.”
She placed her knife and fork at precise angles on her plate, then looked out the window once again. “In high school, when I started to….fill out… for lack of a better term,” she started off, “the guys were pretty obnoxious, panting over any of the females who were actually starting to show a feminine figure. I was one of them, and it was a complete turn off. While the other girls used their newfound feminine figures to gain power over the guys, I only wanted men to take me seriously and pay attention to my brain instead of my breasts when I conversed with them. Once the rest of the female population showed their feminine feathers, the boys drifted off from the initial group of feminine butterflies, but still wouldn’t leave me alone. I dated some, but there was almost a time limit each guy would give me before he would expect more than just kissing. So I simply stopped dating.”
He didn’t say anything and Claire was grateful as he patiently waited for her to continue her story. “When I went to college, I started dating again, but the guys there were much more aggressive. I tried with one or two guys, but I couldn’t go through with it. I really needed to feel something more than just friendship for a guy before I slept with him.”
“And you didn’t find any guy that was worth taking the risk?”
She shrugged, picking up her fork and moving the rice around on her plate. “None of them let me get to know them before the pressure started.”