Slow Ride (Fast Track #5)(52)
Author: Erin McCarthy

“My suggestion of just skipping the movie was a good one,” he told her. “I wish you’d listened to me.”

She ignored that. “You know, this woman in the pound is who Tramp should have hooked up with. They have more in common. And really, Lady is just a puppy in comparison. Long-term she’s not going to be able to hold Tramp’s interest.”

Why was he supposed to care? He needed more candy. It wasn’t a replacement for sex with Tuesday, but it would keep his mouth busy.

Tuesday was keeping her mouth busy with running it.

“I mean, what is this obsession men have with innocence? They think they want it, then they get bored with it.”

They did? “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he told her in all honesty.

She turned to him. “What attracted you to me?”

Oh, damn. This was a bear trap waiting to snap. “It wasn’t your innocence,” he assured her.

She rolled her eyes. “That’s not an answer.”

What did she want him to say? He cared about her, he was attracted to her on a whole lot of different levels? But an open-ended question like that was overwhelming and he didn’t want to risk pissing her off. “I feel like there’s a right answer and a wrong answer here and I’m going to get reamed if I misstep.”

She looked so astonished that for a second she didn’t speak—always amazing when it came to the woman he loved.

“Really? Is that true? That a lot of times men don’t say anything because they’re afraid of saying the wrong thing?”

“Um. Yeah.” Where the hell had she been? “It’s like women have formed the answer they’re looking for in their head and we can never match it.”

“Interesting. So if I promise not to get mad at you, no matter what, how would you answer the question of what attracted you to me?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Sweetheart, I don’t think you can guarantee you won’t get mad. You’re a bit of a hothead.”

“What? I am not.”

“See your voice raised right there.” It was tempting to laugh, but he held it back. The grin he couldn’t contain.

She pulled a face. “God, I hate it when you’re right.”

“Then you must be hating all the time.” Diesel reached over and touched her cheek. “No, in all seriousness, I was attracted to your smile, your laughter. You looked like you were having fun. And of course you’re beautiful. Gorgeous.”

He wanted to tell her more, and he searched for the right words. He’d never been particularly good at expressing his feelings.

“Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate it. The wrong answer would be saying that you were attracted to me because I looked like an easy lay. Anything else I’m going to take as a compliment, so don’t be afraid to flatter me.”

That sounded like the Tuesday he had come to know and love. He wanted to get closer to the truth of his emotions, put something out there, and pull her a little closer to him if that was at all possible. “I’m attracted to you now for all those same reasons. But also now I know that you’re smart, generous, loyal, and big-hearted. I think you’re an amazing woman and I want to be with you, only you. I don’t want either of us to be seeing other people. Just you and me.”

There it was. Out there and he couldn’t take it back.

But you never got what you wanted unless you asked for it.

Maybe he was too boring for her, maybe she would lose interest in him, but between now and then he would like to enjoy it knowing she was with him, and only him.

Tuesday clutched her popcorn and stared at Diesel. She knew she should say something, but she was stunned speechless. She hadn’t turned the conversation in this direction because she’d been fishing for compliments. It had really just been her natural curiosity as she’d been watching the movie to ponder what drew people to each other. She had just wondered what had drawn him to her because truthfully, they were almost as much of opposites in temperament as Lady and Tramp were in personality. Tuesday was verbal and easily agitated, Diesel was neither. She dealt with her emotions poorly, he didn’t deal with his at all. She liked to dance and talk and laugh and be the life of the party whereas Diesel liked to be an observer. He sought his thrills quietly, with a firm hand, in the bedroom and elsewhere.

She liked those qualities about him. He, too, was loyal, and generous, and intelligent. He meant what he said and nothing was hot air with him. So for him to say he was attracted to her and wanted to be with her, only her was something she trusted one hundred percent. It might mean that she wasn’t the only one who was falling head over ass here. It meant that this man that she was falling in love with just might be falling in love with her as well, or might at least at some point in the future, and that made her speechless. Breathless. Her heart raced, her palms sweated, her chest felt inflated.

For the first time in her adult life, she didn’t know what to say to a man. But he was looking at her expectantly, and she forced the words out past her tightened throat, the first ones that popped into her head. “I’m cool with that.”

It wasn’t good enough. She knew it immediately from the flicker of maybe disappointment in his blue eyes. Why was it so easy for her to rant and express agitation or dissect other people, but so damn hard to throw her own true feelings out there?

Diesel had been there for her, as a friend, as a lover. He deserved more. He deserved honesty, even if the thought of making herself vulnerable made her want to run and hide behind a steel door with a massive lock. She almost said something like, “You know I dig you,” but stopped herself. That wasn’t right either.

She was squeezing the box so hard, the popcorn was forced to the top and a piece tumbled into her lap, but she ignored it. It was scary to be real, but she swallowed hard, making eye contact. “I think you’re a very attractive man, Daniel, both inside and out. You’re thoughtful, loyal, responsible, kind, sexy as hell, and amazingly calm. I’m really grateful to have you in my life.”

God, had she really just said that? Her instinct was to tack a snarky comment on to the end of it, but she resisted, fishing the popcorn out of her lap and eating it out of pure nervousness. Doing this right with Diesel mattered.

It earned her a smile from him, a genuine, wide smile. “Thanks, sweetheart, I feel the same way. I care about you, you know.”

Caring was good. That was how she felt. And wasn’t caring a pit stop on the road to love? She was hoping it was. “I care about you, too.”