She fakes a frown then looks them over. “They’re comfortable. Isn’t that why you wear boxers, because briefs are too constricting?”
Thinking it over, I don’t really have an answer for her. “You’re probably right.”
“Besides, no one other than me sees them.” She folds them in thirds and places them on the pile with the others.
“That’s not true anymore,” I say placing a neatly folded towel on my pile.
“So you’re a panty snob?”
“No.” I drop my chin, eyeing her in her leggings and T-shirt. The woman could wear a trash bag, and my cock would harden. “I’d rather you not wear any at all.”
“I bet you would.” She pairs up another set of socks.
“You’re avoiding the question,” I say when she digs around her basket looking for another pair.
“You don’t think it’s weird to ask me about Derek?” she repeats.
“No weirder than standing here folding towels.” I drop a thin purple towel onto the pile and snatch up the last one in my basket.
“You’re right. It probably is weird, you doing a basic human chore.”
“Smartass.” I pick up the pile of towels and put them back into the basket. “I meant instead of doing this, we could be doing something much more fun.”
She rolls her eyes, but it’s all a facade. “I’m not sure my ass can handle any more ‘fun’ today.”
“You’ve done it again.” It’s amazing how easily this woman gets me off track. “I start the conversation in one direction and by the end, you have twisted us around to entirely different subject.”
With a smirk, she lifts her shoulders. “Yeah, sorry. I do that sometimes. Derek said I made him dizzy.”
I have the same problem, but it’s not just the way she navigates conversations.
“How did you meet him?” I ask again.
“He was a mechanic. I was on my way home from college for Thanksgiving, and my car broke down. My dad called Derek’s shop to pick me up and tow me in. They sent Derek.”
“Were you on a highway?”
“Yeah. Good thing I had my cellphone. The nearest town was still ten miles down the road.” She sinks onto the couch, folding her legs beneath her.
“Your father must have been worried. Sending a strange man to pick you up.” An idiot, too.
He should have gone himself to be certain she was safe. Anyone could have picked her up, stolen her. My blood heats thinking of all the things that could have happened to her because of his indifference to her safety.
A sad smile tugs on her lips. “My father was more worried that I’d be late to dinner, thus ruining his new girlfriend’s night. He wasn’t at all concerned about Derek until we started dating.”
I’m not going to like any of this, but I pursue anyway. “Why didn’t he like Derek?”
“Because Derek was a mechanic, and my father worked in finance. He thrived on corporate life.”
“And he didn’t think Derek would be able to make the same sort of life for himself as your father had?” The way she speaks, his dislike for Derek was more than the typical no one is good enough for my daughter.
“He thought anyone beneath him—and he thought most of the world was—wasn’t worth his time, or mine.” She glances away for a moment as a flicker of hurt crosses her features.
Did he feel the same way toward her?
“And when you married Derek?”
The little muscles in her neck work as she swallows, drawing my attention to the delicate dip at the base of her throat. My gaze slides upward to the faint flicker of her pulse just below her jawline, tempting me to press a kiss there, to feel the frantic beat beneath my tongue.
