So she wasn’t entirely uninterested. “Cade Sinclair, though Bare-Chested Ape Man suits him just fine. He’s often wearing much less than what you saw in the shop. Roger makes him keep his pants on.”
Gemma’s mouth dropped open. “He’s a nude guy, nude person, nudist?”
God, he loved it when she got flustered. The veneer stripped away momentarily and he got a glimpse of the woman under that perfect surface. “They like to call themselves naturists. He’s always worn as little as possible, but a couple of years back we were seeing a woman who liked the lifestyle and Cade took to it very quickly.”
Her cheeks were flushed the prettiest red. Her skin was fair. He would bet her ass would take a spanking beautifully. “I don’t really understand everything about this place. Like you two. You were both seeing the same woman?”
There wasn’t distaste in the question, just a simple curiosity. Somehow, the minute Cade walked away, the tension in her deflated like a balloon slowly releasing its air. Jesse smiled at her and nodded toward her front porch. “I’d love to explain it to you, sweetheart. Will you sit with me for a minute?”
She huffed a little. “If you stop calling me sweetheart, maybe I will.”
He turned and let his face go cold. “That was rude and unbecoming of you. It’s a term of endearment meant to be affectionate, nothing more. I’d like us to be friends, Gemma. If you’re utterly uninterested in being friends with me, tell me now and I’ll walk away.”
The roundness of her eyes told him she wasn’t used to being talked to in such a frank manner. “I’m sorry. I would prefer it if you didn’t call me sweetheart. My ex-fiancé called me that and he didn’t mean it. It bothers me.”
“Excellent. Then I won’t call you sweetheart. You could have simply told me and I would have understood. Is it all terms of endearment you’re against? Or just that one?” He started to lead her toward the porch, making sure she didn’t stumble over the uneven ground. He sat down beside her, giving her plenty of space, setting the package beside him.
She seemed to think about it for a moment. “I don’t see why you can’t just call me Gemma.”
That was easy. “Because everyone calls you Gemma, and I want to be special. I want to call you something that only I call you because I think it could help to bond you to me. I’m interested in seeing you. I’m interested in taking you out and talking to you, and eventually I would very much like to get you in bed.”
There it was again, that ridiculously sexy flush. “Wow. You just put it right out there for all to see.”
He shrugged. “I don’t lie to myself. Why should I bother to lie to anyone else? I learned a long time ago that lying about what I want will just get me in trouble.”
A little flash of challenge came into her eyes. “You don’t lie?”
“I don’t.”
There was a little laugh, but it held no humor. “Fine. Tell me something bad about yourself.”
Honesty. He was actually glad she’d given him the opening. It was best to put his cards on the table. “I spent some time in jail. You should know that right off.”
“Jail? I thought you would tell me something dumb like ‘I care too much.’ You know like on a job interview where they ask you about your flaws and you turn it into a strength? Jail? Why?”
“I did eighteen months in a youth center for stealing a car. I was trying to fit in with a group of boys who had formed a tight-knit little group.”
“A gang?”
“Yes. My mom had died and my father left without a word. I was living on the streets and I thought being in a gang sounded better than being on my own. So I stole a car as part of my initiation. Turns out I am a horrible criminal, and I got caught not a mile from where I’d stolen it.” He shook his head. “It was a horrible experience. It was a minivan. It smelled like old milk, but it had been LoJacked so dumbass me went to juvie.”
“Eighteen months? That’s a long time. How old were you?”
“I was thirteen.”
“Thirteen? They sent you to juvie for a year and a half and you were only thirteen? That’s ridiculous. Who the hell was your lawyer?”
Damn, but he wished Cade had seen that side of Gemma. It might make it harder for him to turn away. “I was a really big kid. At thirteen I was just a little under six feet, and I always built muscle fast. I also already had this.” He scraped his hands over the scruff of his beard. He shaved every day, but by afternoon he always had some stubble back. “And I was a street kid, darlin’. I couldn’t afford a lawyer past the one they appointed to me.”
“You shouldn’t have spent time at all for a nonviolent offense.”
“I think they wanted to make a point, and I didn’t have anyone who would fight for me at the time. I was damn lucky they found a foster parent for me when I got out or I would have spent the rest of my teen years in a halfway house.”
“Is that where you met Cade? In juvie?”
He laughed at the thought. “No, honey. Cade was as straight as an arrow. I met him in the foster home. He lost his parents and his sister when he was nine, but he needs to tell you that story. We were raised by a woman named Nancy, and she saved me. She and Cade. They became the family I never had.”
She stared out at the party starting to take shape across the yard. Why wouldn’t she go over there? What kept her apart from everyone else? He wanted her to be honest with him, but he knew patience was going to be the key with Gemma Wells.
“Is that why you share? How does it work?” She shook her head, her eyes widening. “I meant that in a nonmechanical way. Emotionally. How does it work? I mean, is it all just casual?”
Oh, how he wanted to explain the mechanics to her. He was damn fine with mechanics. “Sometimes it’s just sex. We’ve had a couple of relationships, too. Nothing that lasted more than a year or so. We lived with a woman once. She moved on because she said it didn’t look good for her career to live with two men. She was a doctor.”
“Ah. So he’s opposed to evil career women.” She looked over to where Cade stood laughing with Zane and Cam.
“That’s not really his problem, but again, it’s his story to tell. His past was rough. I might have gone to prison, but at least I got out. Cade gave himself a life sentence a long time ago. You just need to give him a little time.”
An almost serene look came over her face. “Nope. He doesn’t like me. I should know. I get it all the time. Look, I appreciate this. I really do, but you two share and I just came out of a relationship so it wouldn’t work.”
“You just came out of a relationship?”
“Well, I did. Like six months ago.”
“That’s not just coming out of a relationship. That’s moving-on time, baby. As for Cade, well, we’ve also had relationships separately. And honestly, if he sat down and talked to you like this, I think he would see you for what you really are.”
“And what’s that?”
“He would see that under all that hardness, you’re soft inside. You’re trying to protect that part of you that you’re afraid will get you in trouble. You’re afraid of everything. You’re scared of anyone getting close because you’ve been hurt. I don’t know if it was one spectacular ache or a series of little ones, but they affected you. And they affected him, too. If he sat his ass down for ten seconds, he might see how much alike you are.” He frowned. Everything he said was true. He just wasn’t sure it would help Cade. It might make him run even faster.
She stood up. “Look, I don’t know if you think you’re some sort of amateur shrink, but think again. I am who I am. I’m not hiding away or anything. If you think you can come in and change me, you’re wrong.”
It was time to really figure out if this could potentially work. No relationship with him could work without a little softness. “Sit down, Gemma.”