Chapter 6
"You can't ask me that." I spring up from the bed into a sitting position. I'm suddenly even more aware of how visible every inch of me is right now.
He teeters back on his heels trying to regain his footing on the mattress. "Whoa, calm down. It's just a question."
I reach aimlessly for any part of a sheet that I can use to cover myself. I knew this was a mistake. My inner good girl was screaming at me that I'd regret this. I'm not five minutes in and I'm wishing I could dive under the bed and hide. I don't want to talk about sex with him. I want to have sex with him. "You didn't say anything about personal questions." I don't actually sound as freaked out over this as I feel, do I?
"I was trying to get you to relax." He drops to his knees now and I can literally almost reach out and brush my lips against his. He looks so devastatingly alluring. Why am I not having sex with him right now?
"By asking me about my sex life?"
"Alexa." His hand grazes across my shoulder. "This is a process. I need you to relax and talking about sex helps people relax."
"What people?" I push my arm across my breasts to cover them at the very same moment I pull my knees to my chest. I'm not going for attractive right now. I'm going for coverage and this stance, albeit awkward, is working for me.
"Women." His tongue flits over his lips. "When a woman talks about the men she's slept with, her body changes."
"Changes?" I swallow hard to stave off the increasing dryness that is overtaking my mouth. I'm so parched. I feel as though I'm sitting in the middle of a desert with absolutely nothing in sight to satiate me.
He studies me with a furrowed brow as he stands to reach for a chilled bottle of water sitting atop a small table by the window. "Here." He twists the cap to open it before shoving it harshly into my hand.
I greedily take it from him and swallow half the bottle in a single gulp. My teeth finally feel as though they aren't glued to the inside of my lips. "What changes?" I repeat, not wanting to miss the answer that I'm sure will make little to no sense to me. His curiosity about my last lover has nothing to do with our photo shoot. I know I'm right about that.
"I asked the wrong question." He leans back and rests one hand on the bed. "Let's start with your most memorable lover."
I crease my forehead in confusion. "No." I shake my head. "Let's start with why you think it's necessary to talk about the men I've f*cked."
I fully expect him to dodge the question yet again but he surprises me. "You'll relax if you share."
"I don't think so." I have to temper a laugh. "My sexual past isn't your business."
He leans forward again so he's close enough for me to touch. "I don't give a shit about it, Alexa. The details are irrelevant to me."
The words bite. "Why ask then?"
"You'll open up more if you share." The corner of his lip twitches slightly. "It will help you feel less vulnerable and more in control of what we're doing. It's part of my process."
His process? Asking me intimate details about my past lovers is part of his process? That makes about as much sense as my being here in the first place.
"You're strange," I mutter as I lean back on the bed. "Let's just get this over with."
He's back on his feet again, his cock lazily hanging in my direction. "The lover you can't forget, Alexa. Tell me about him."
"That would be Nathan."