The Stars in the Sky

Chapter 6: Arguing Plus Benefits

"No."

The word was out of my mouth before I could articulate the reason why I did not want Will to kiss me. The truth was, I wanted to kiss him, I wanted to explore that sensual mouth, get up close and personal, again, with the body I had slammed into when I first met him. I wanted to do more than kiss him; I wanted to feel every inch of his huge, hard body and I wanted him to explore me and for him to satisfy the parts of me that tingled when I thought about him. It was like I was suffering from withdrawal from not touching him, even though I had just met him. Guess this is what happened when you met a man while he was naked.

But still, no on the kiss. Or, as I thought more about it, perhaps hell no.

His eye twitched. "What do you mean, 'no'?" He paused, and then he smiled a sexy half smile. "So you'll kiss me anyway, even if I still call you a 'fucking liberal'?" Now I was seeing a new side to him: Playful Will. I liked Playful Will as much, or more, as Naughty Sense of Humor Will and Mischievous Will. It balanced out Asshole Will and Conservative Will, and was intriguing. But no.

"No. You're my boss." There, a concrete reason percolated to the surface of my brain and came out of my mouth.

"I'm not your boss," he said immediately and resolutely.

Now it was my turn to twitch. "How's that?"

"Your checks are signed by the Headlands Program, not the Ranch. I run the Ranch. Janine is your boss. Not me. You're just living on my land for the summer. The nonprofit has a separate board of directors from my family trust, provides its own staffing, and I donate the space, animals, and supplies."

Well, that clears one hurdle. But still, the answer was no kissing, and I thought of more reasons why. "You chew."

"So?"

"It's disgusting."

He stared at me and gave me a sort of chin lift. "What else you got?"

"You're a Republican. I have never, to my knowledge, ever kissed a Republican."

His grin was now a full smile, not a half smile, and honestly, it was dazzling. "Let's try this. I'll give you a choice. We can continue arguing politics all summer — and I think we're a match for each other and I'm looking forward to the arguments, darlin' — and I don't lay a hand on you. Or, we can continue arguing politics all summer, but I can fuck your hot, sexy body whenever you want. Which do you pick?"

I spasmed. His phone rang.

"'lo?" He strolled off to the side to take his call, his hand in his pocket, and I pet Trixie, who had come up around my legs.

I would not have guessed that this was the way that my summer adventure was going to happen. Still, I was wildly amused and turned on, but simultaneously repelled. Decisions, decisions.

My first thought was that I had just met the guy, yesterday, but it was not like I had never had a one night stand before. I could be a bit wild. Well, 'total party girl' might be a better description of me. But this was potentially more than a one night stand. It could be a summer fling, and frankly sounded like fun to me, although I did not really need all the bickering that was destined to occur.

As I thought about it, however, I knew that if things didn't go well with him, I would have to avoid him all summer and that could be awkward, especially if I knew how he was in bed.

Yum, Will in bed.

Turning back to the issue of awkwardness, however, was the fact that things were already awkward; I already had a preview of his body and it was spectacular. I wasn't avoiding him because I had seen him naked. Quite the opposite, actually.

So, what to do? I was definitely attracted to him and he was definitely a conservative asshole. I felt pulled to him and pushed away at the same time.

As I thought about it, though, we were already sniping at each other at almost every chance, so it was hard to see how things would get any worse. Maybe they would get better.

I needed to know more, though, before I made a decision.

He finished his call and walked back to me and Trixie.

"How Republican, Republican are you?"

"Very. I'm just not racist or homophobic. Gotta gay uncle, if you must know."

"Are you a feminist?"

He shook his head. Uh-oh. This was not acceptable. "Not really. Guys and girls are different. Treat 'em different. You gonna argue with me 'bout that?"

"Fuck yeah."

"Bring it on."

Then I realized something. "Since you're not my boss, I can tell you, you're a fucking asshole for saying something like that."

He smiled. "And you're a commie pinko. What else you got?"

"'Commie pinko'? What is this, 1969?"

"What's that about 69?"

Oh, fuck. Walked into that one.

"How old are you?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Thirty-four. You?"

"I'm thirty-two."

None of this was helping me to make a decision of whether to jump him. I needed to press him about his backwards thinking. But I also wanted his body pressing into mine.

He let me off the hook by saying, "Tell you what. I'll show you some more of the ranch and you can decide whether you want arguing or arguing plus benefits."

I didn't know if I could stay focused on the tour of the ranch, and judging by the way he had his hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans, neither could he.

Still, I knew that I couldn't take him up on it yet. I wanted to, badly, but no.

Maybe.