“And wise. Don’t forget wise.”
Michelle laughed. She hung up and texted Dex before she lost her nerve. Yes, things had changed after meeting his mother, but one thing that hadn’t changed was how much she desired him. So she’d own her desire. How much she craved him. And she’d prove her power over her desire first by giving in to it, then by telling Dex good-bye. They had little time left, and if Natalie was right, she wasn’t going to waste it staring at her phone.
Dex checked the fifth harness of the night and set it on the table once it passed inspection. He was with his crew for propelling practice and equipment inventory. Scaling cliffs was part of the SAR job sometimes, and it was smart to make sure the equipment was up to code. Then of course they had to “practice” hoisting up a mock victim and tonight the role was on Gage.
Dex swore the guy just loved making all of them lift his heavy ass to make sure they still had the muscle to do it.
He was receiving the training today, not the students, which unfortunately meant it didn’t count toward Dex’s requirement to “finish training a novice.”
Michelle. He couldn’t get her out of his mind. He’d gotten all the feedback he needed from his mother. Not to mention, when Michelle admitted what her lifestyle was like before coming here, he’d realized exactly that kind of woman she’d been raised to be. Maybe what kind of woman she still was. Except she said she wanted to break free from that.
He just knew better than most that trying to defy your nature didn’t usually work out well for anyone. You had to find out who you were and then accept that, good or bad.
So is this really who she is?
She’d full-on jumped from a damn helicopter. What uptight, snobby women from his past would ever have done that? And this whole time he’d known her, she had been tough and demanding, but she’d always tried to better herself for herself. Not for anyone else.
“Distracted there, big guy?” East asked, snapping another harness next to him to check the restraint.
“I’m good.”
“Thinking about the manicure you’re going to get with the city girl?”
“Shut up,” Dex said. Like he’d ever get a manicure. Actually, if that’s what it took to spend time with Michelle, he likely would. Not that he was about to admit that to East, though. The confident prick would never let him live it down.
“Have you seen her lately?” East asked, still talking about Michelle.
Dex didn’t answer. Because no, he hadn’t seen her in a few days. He didn’t know what the hell to do. Not after the way she’d behaved after jumping into the water. On one hand, she’d proven that maybe she was different than all the other women like her. But then she’d pulled away. All but disappeared.
He liked her. And that was not a good thing. What was worse was that he’d actually thought for a moment she liked him back. Had hoped, at least.
“She was looking really fine at Natalie’s cupcake shop the other day,” East said. And Dex flared with jealously. He knew his friend was trying to get a rise out of him, and it was working.
“She’s a fine woman,” Dex said around clenched teeth, moving on to his next harness to inspect.
“Yep, if I had a woman like that interested in me, I sure wouldn’t be here right now.”
Dex dropped his harness on the table and faced East.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Nothing, I just think it’s great you think you’re too good for her and all.”
That was the laugh of the year. “I don’t think I’m too good for her. She’s too good for me.”
“Aww, well isn’t that sad? Your feelings are hurt because she flaked on you? Treated you like crap?”
No, actually, she hadn’t done any of that. She’d treated him well. Never looked at him like he was less. But that wasn’t the point.
“She was looking for a good time. I gave that to her. That’s it.”
“If that’s all, then why have you been pissy these last few days?” East asked.
“I’m not. You’re making me pissy.”
“Nope, I think that ‘Good Time Dex’ is bummed because he wants the good times to keep going.”
“What I want is to check these harnesses and stop getting grilled by your ugly mug.”
“Ouch, and here I thought you were a smooth talker.”
He was! And that was the shit of it. He could handle women like Michelle when he knew the rules. Which were a night, a second night, maybe some morning sex. But more? No, he didn’t stick around for that, and they didn’t want him to stick around for that.
Easy, simple rules that kept him grounded. They were his tips for how to survive romantic entanglements.
And here he was coming dangerously close to breaking those rules.
Yeah, he wanted the good time to go on. And honestly, he had to get those last hours in. But his mom was right. He should have learned by now. Wanting Michelle and giving in to her were two totally different things. He knew better. He knew how this would end.