Page 89 of Under the Weatherman
I gave her a stern look. “You should come with an advisory.”
She curled into me and closed her eyes, saying. “I heard every weatherman comes with a silver lining.”
I squeezed her close, poking her shoulder. “How do I turn this thing off?”
She wiggled. “You never could.”
“Thank God.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
She lifted onto her elbow, a stripe of light illuminating curious eyes. “Does this mean you trust me now? You said you don’t do casual hookups, so am I in?”
I laughed. “For the record, Ihavedone casual hookups. But they were never like this, never so…”
“So intense?”
“So much more than sex,” I finished.
“You wondered if we were meant to meet. Do you believe in soul mates?”
That was a very good question. “I never did before. I’ve always hoped there’d be a partner for me, maybe not one fated mate, but someone who could accept me for who I am, how I think. I’ve never envisioned a truly romantic relationship because I honestly thought people have been making that up.”
“You thought people over the centuries have been lying about falling in love?”
“Maybe that’s why I started reading romance, so I could live vicariously, understand what an emotional bond might feel like, but that’s fiction.”
“So you’ve never been in love before?”
“Have you?”
She shook her head. “Like you, I’ve experienced it through books. And my parents are disgustingly in love. I’ve always believed in the possibility of true love, but I think it’s rare. It’s funny because Chelsea doesn’t believe in it at all, but she’s always pushing me to meet people. Like romance is for thee, not for me in her world.”
“Poor Bas,” I said, knowing he’d break himself on that challenge.
“Poor Bas,” Elizabeth echoed. “Maybe he’ll have better luck than the men who tried before.”
“I have to admit I sometimes envy the bond you have with her.”
“But you’ve got Bas.”
I sniffed a laugh. We were friends, yeah, but even there, I didn’t have the kind of connection Elizabeth did with Chelsea. “Yeah, but I don’t want to kiss Bas.”
She snorted. “I promise you I don’t want to kiss Chelsea. I’d consider marrying her for the sweet, sweet tax benefits, but there’d be no hanky panky.”
“Sometimes I think a friendship like that would be enough. I’ve had empty sex, but I’d love to have a real, honest relationship with someone.”
“We all have our own unique identities, right? Chelsea wants the sex, but she believes anything more is a lie. You want an emotional connection, and without it, sex is just a means to an end.”
“And you?”
“I want it all.” She lifted up a little more, so her chin rested on my chest, grinning a little coy, a lot sexy. “I want to fall in love with someone who will be there to catch me. I want sex that makes my toes curl.”
Yeah. “I want it all, too.”
She bit her lower lip, grinning. “Well, thith ith only the tip of the ithburg.”
