Into the Fire - Leslie Kelly [64]
"Face it, Lacey—we wouldn't last a day."
"Maybe you wouldn't."
"I know damn well I wouldn't," he said, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "And you wouldn't, either."
"Is that a challenge?"
He held his hands up, palms out. "No, not a challenge. I am not daring you to do this." He knew her too well. She had a competitive spirit. He wasn't about to give her ammunition to implement her insane solution. "I'm merely saying it's a ridiculous idea."
She stood, carried her dishes to the sink and rinsed them. Then she turned, leaning against the counter, and stared at him. Nate didn't like the determined look in her eyes. "Lacey?"
"It might be ridiculous to you, Nate. But it's not to me. There's too much riding on this story for me to risk messing it up. Staying involved with you would definitely mess it up. So, this ends now. Today."
"Ends?"
She clarified. "For the duration of the story, at least."
"We're talking weeks."
"Yes. Three weeks. And during that time, I'd sincerely appreciate it if you'd avoid, uh…"
He stood and walked toward her. "Seducing you?"
She nodded. "Exactly."
Nate stepped closer until they were practically nose to nose. Her blue eyes widened, and she took a tiny step back. "I won't set out to seduce you," he said softly.
She looked relieved.
"I won't need to. You won't last twenty-four hours."
* * *
She lasted thirty-six. By eleven o'clock Sunday night, Lacey was ready to crawl out of her own skin. If Nate had been in the room, she would have jumped on him. Pounced. Attacked him like a woman on a month-long protein diet going after a king-size Snickers bar.
Fortunately, he was not in the room. She lay alone in her bed, thinking about him. "I can do this," she whispered in the darkness. "I lasted twenty-six years without having good sex, I can go three weeks."
If she'd never spent Friday night with him, she probably could have. Now she had to wonder.
Today certainly hadn't been easy. She'd agreed to accompany Nate to Annapolis—partly for research, partly to prove to him, and to herself, that she could be around him without succumbing to her urge to rip off his shirt and nibble his biceps. She'd managed to avoid grabbing his thick blond hair and kissing him senseless, in spite of the adorably sexy grin on his lips every time he'd looked at her in her tight white shorts and red halter top.
Okay, so she'd been wicked when choosing her outfit. Maybe she had been paying him back a little bit, spicing up the forbidden fruit, to get even with him for not admitting he had feelings for her the previous morning. She knew he had feelings for her. Dammit, he'd better have feelings for her, considering she'd fallen so hard for him!
She'd been devastated when he'd said he was sticking with his original theory for the story. She'd gone to bed Friday night with the storybook prince and woken up with the playboy.
"I shoulda shoved you into the bay," she muttered as she thought about their trip to Annapolis .
They'd spent Sunday afternoon scoping out the hangouts near the Naval Academy . Lacey had to admit it—Nate had won this particular round. Every restaurant, bar and shopping center was full of handsome cadets and attractive young women trying to get their attention. Lacey had talked to a few of the women, doing on-the-spot interviews. Most had, unfortunately, backed up Nate's belief. They were on the prowl, looking for a gorgeous guy to hook up with for the summer. There was no mention of love, no expectation of happily ever after.
"They were just girls," she told herself, remembering what it was like to be in college, not even thinking about what would come after graduation.
They'd sure looked like women when they were flirting with Nate, though. She'd had a serious urge to pinch one Britney Spears wannabe who'd tried to give Nate her phone number.
It's your own fault.
She was the one who'd insisted they make it clear they were colleagues, not a couple. Nate hadn't appeared to mind. She'd seen the amusement in his eyes while