Free Intimate by Noelle Adams

wasn’t
based on naiveté. Having sex doesn’t make people more mature, or more
knowledgeable, or more in control of their surroundings—and I’ll defy anyone
who says it does. I haven’t spent the last five years in a convent or a
deserted island. I am perfectly capable of realizing when a man is hitting on
me. I can tell when he wants to get me into bed.”
    She was right, for
the most part, but he hoped she was wrong about one thing. Hoped she didn’t
know that for the last two weeks he’d been dreaming of getting her into
bed.
    “I was just
trying to help.”
    “No, you
weren’t. It was some macho pissing contest. I don’t know what’s gotten into you
lately, but I’m really getting sick of it.”
    He was getting
sick of it too. Even though he’d suppressed it, Caleb’s lust was already
tainting their friendship. He couldn’t let this continue. “You’re right. I’m
sorry. Just forget it.”
    The apology
didn’t sound quite as sincere as he’d intended, since he was still bristling
over the way that bastard had been slathering over Marissa. And how she didn’t
appreciate his coming to her rescue.
    She seemed to
recognize his continued annoyance because her face didn’t soften.
    That sat in
silence for a while, except for a brief interruption when their server came
over to take their orders. Caleb’s jaw was clenched, and Marissa’s chin was
still sticking out. Every once in a while their eyes would meet and they’d
trade resentful glares.
    Both of them
were hopelessly stubborn, which raised a real question about who would cave
first.
    Their meals
came, and Marissa starting picking at her salad. Caleb ate several bites
without even tasting what he was swallowing.
    Then their
gazes met once more, and this time they didn’t immediately look away. He saw
another brief flash of humor in Marissa’s eyes—the force of irony she could
never escape—and then he saw her hide a wry chuckle.
    He couldn’t
help but smile too about the way they both were pouting.
    At his smile, Marissa
stopped trying to stifle her amusement. She laughed out loud.
    “Does this mean
you forgive me?” he asked, trying to tear his eyes away from her beautiful,
laughing face.
    “I don’t know.
You haven’t even apologized.”
    “I did apologize.
I said you were right and that I was sorry. Do you expect me to get down on my
knees?”
    Marissa raised
her eyebrows. “I wouldn’t say no to that.”
    Caleb had to
close his eyes to hide a wave of desire at the thought of what he might do on
his knees in front of her.
    “But mostly I
want you to admit that you weren’t just trying to help me.” Her voice had grown
serious again. “Admit it. That was some sort of silly cockfight.”
    That would be
one way to put it.
    “All right. I did want to help you, but I was also playing cowboy. The guy annoyed me, and I
wanted to put him in his place.”
    Marissa didn’t
seem to question why the bastard had annoyed him so much. Her face relaxed into
a smile, and she seemed pleased at what she’d made him admit to.
    “Plus, he was
in my seat,” Caleb added, hoping to lighten the mood.
    This made her laugh
again, which was exactly what he’d intended.
    “How was
rehearsal?” she asked, obviously trying to change the subject to something
neutral.
    “It was fine.
Pretty good.” His answer was lie, but he habitually lied to her about things
like this. He did it naturally, unconsciously, without any malicious intent at
all. Anything that would make her worry, that would disappoint her, he always
just lied about.
    She searched
his face, as if looking for clues about his sincerity. “Good. How’s the music?”
    “It’s movie
music. It’s about what you’d expect.” His voice might have been just slightly
snide.
    “You’re a music
snob. You know that, right?”
    “I like all
kinds of music. What I don’t like is sappy, over-emotional tripe masquerading
as high art.”
    Marissa laughed.
“Poor Caleb. Is it really bad,