read all about you, remember? England’s most eligible bachelor. You asked me if I wanted to have a summer fling, remember? And then you come home with a teenager on your arm. Does any of this sound a bit depraved to you?” He gave her a crooked grin, and Kat couldn’t help but get off her high horse.
“I suppose when you put it that way, it does all sound rather sordid.”
“Yes, it does.” She remembered what her aunt said about Larry, that he was a lonely man. She called bullshit on that one. He was a horny man who had enough charm to get most women into bed. Well, she was not most women. She was not going to be one of a string of women who slept with him. No, sirree. No way. Even if he did look incredible in his khakis and untucked, partially unbuttoned, wrinkled white dress shirt. He should look like a slob; any other man would have. But not Larry.
“I am a bit put out with you though,” he said, settling down on the sofa. The way he sat down all loose-limbed made Kat realize he was a bit drunk.
“How so?”
“If you hadn’t come waltzing into the room, I never would have found out how old she was, and I could be having a wonderful time right now.”
Kat wrinkled her nose in disgust, and he laughed.
“I’m joking,” he said. “I’m a bit weak in the knees, but I’m not fully blotto.”
“I don’t think you are joking.”
“I am,” he insisted.
Kat chose to believe him and flopped down on the couch next to him. “I just don’t get guys, and I guess I never will. It really doesn’t matter who you sleep with, does it, as long as she’s beautiful.”
“And blond,” he put in, making her laugh. “Not all men are like me. Some of my best friends have settled down, and they seem happy enough.”
“Happy enough for what?”
That question seemed to throw him for a minute. “Happy enough not to live like me, I suppose.”
“Brian got bored. He must have. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have cheated on me. Isn’t that why you haven’t gotten married? Boredom?”
“There are dozens of reasons a man doesn’t wish to marry. As for me, fear of boredom is not one of them. But please don’t compare me with Brian. He’s an idiot.”
Kat pressed her lips together and took a deep breath. It was a waste of time and energy to dwell on something she couldn’t change.
“So are you saying I’m better or worse than your ex-fiancé?” Larry asked.
“Worse, from a woman’s perspective. I bet every woman who’s dated you thought she might be the one who makes you fall in love,” she said. “You are the worst sort of man. A challenge with just enough charm to make women not hate you.”
“You know me so well,” he said, and she couldn’t be certain whether he was being sarcastic or not. “And not every one was trying to marry me,” he said slowly, as if he were tallying them all up in his head.
Kat let out a snort. “Someday, it’ll happen to you. You’ll fall in love, and then you’ll find out what it feels like to be me and all the other women who were dumb enough to fall in love.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Are you saying you’re in love with me?”
“You are hopeless,” she said blandly. “I wouldn’t fall in love with you if you were the last man on earth.” She meant every word.
“All the more reason to sleep with me,” he said with mock sincerity.
“You need therapy.”
He laughed, and Kat just shook her head, got up off the couch, and headed for bed.
“Good night, Romeo.”
“Good night, Juliet.”
Despite herself, Kat smiled all the way to bed, wondering what it was about Larry that allowed him to get away with what he did. He was so damn likable, so accepting of his flaws, so charming.
And so very, very hot. Was she influenced by a beautiful face? Probably not. Kat usually found good-looking men either obnoxious, boring, or intimidating. Larry was none of those things. She snuggled under the covers because with the air conditioner blowing softly on her, it was a bit chilly in her room, and she willed herself not to think of the man sharing the cottage with her. Then she decided it was much better to dwell on Larry than Brian. Much, much better.
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