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He kissed me on the nose. “You are so cute.”

I pushed him away and stood up. “I am not cute.”

He lay on the bed on his stomach, gazing up at me, still grinning. “You are cute, beautiful, but cute when you get like this.”

“Get like what?”

“Try to complicate your life.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re feeling all squidgy about wanting to have sex with me, right?”

“Something like that.”

“You have permission from every man in your life to be here with me. They all knew we’d be fucking like bunnies if I had anything to do with it. So you can’t be feeling guilty because you’re cheating. Cheating implies lack of knowledge. Heck, one of your live-in sweeties volunteered you for this trip.”

I crossed my arms under my breasts, and knew I was pouting but couldn’t stop it. “That’s sort of bugging me now, too.”

“Why?”

I shrugged, arms still crossed. “It’s not just the sex.”

“What is it then? Tell me.”

“I’m afraid that the way I feel for you will change.”

“That you won’t like me anymore?”

“No, that I’ll like you too much.”

He rolled off the bed and stood in front of me. “Anita, are you saying that you’re afraid you’ll fall in love with me?”

I shrugged, and didn’t meet his eyes.

He touched my arms, peered under my gaze, so I had to look up and into his face. His face was a little surprised, and a little almost sad. It wasn’t the look I expected. “If I really thought that was possible, I’d be the happiest guy in town, but you are doing what you always do. You want me for sex, and as a friend, but you want sex and I’m here. But that makes you feel guilty for some reason, so you’re starting to try to convince yourself that it’s more than just friendship.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because you do not watch me in a room the way you watch Jean-Claude, or Asher, or Nathaniel, or Micah, or Richard. I’m a little ahead of Requiem and London, and Damian, but I’m not ahead of the others. You see me now, your body reacts to me, and that is wonderful. I can’t tell you how I hated being the invisible boy around you.”

“I saw you,” I said.

“You saw me, but you didn’t see me.”

I started to move away, but his hands tightened on my arms. “Jason, I’m not sure I know the difference between loving someone and just lusting after him.”

“A lot of people get that one confused, but honestly, Anita. If Nathaniel were here and it were a choice, you’d drop me in a hot second, wouldn’t you?”

“I wouldn’t have to, he likes sharing.”

Jason grinned. “He does that, but if Micah were here you’d choose him over me. My ego hates it, but it’s true.”

“Micah shares pretty well, too.”

“He shares you with Nathaniel, and Jean-Claude, and sometimes Asher, but he doesn’t share you with me.”

I thought about that. “I guess it’s never come up.”

“Micah shares you, but he doesn’t enjoy sharing you the way Nathaniel does. My best friend likes watching you with other men. I don’t think the same is entirely true of Micah.”

I thought about it, and said, “I’m not sure what Micah thinks about the sharing. He’s cool with it, but you’re probably right. He doesn’t prefer it.”

“Nathaniel almost does,” Jason said. “Sharing you appeals to a lot of his kicks.”

“I guess so.”

Jason hugged me, and laughed. “Don’t talk us into a problem we don’t have, Anita. Please, please, I need you to just have uncomplicated sex with me after the food, okay? I need you to be a friend with benefits; don’t make it more or less than it is, okay?”

I nodded. Most of me even agreed with him. There was just that tiny voice in my head that said, Be careful. Maybe I was borrowing trouble, or maybe Jason didn’t understand that he had charms of his own.

20

THERE WAS A knock on the door. I thought it was food, but Jason said, “I don’t smell food.”

I took the Browning out of my holster and went to the door in my stocking feet. I used the peephole and found that it wasn’t room service. It was Chuck.

I kept the flip-bar on and opened the door just that much. I kept my gun out of sight, but in my hand against