Page 78 of Hideaway Heart

I nodded, gulping in oxygen. “Yes.”

“That was...youare... I can’t even... Jesus.”

Laughing, I wiped my mouth and looked up at him. “I like you too.”

* * *

“So tell me about this wife.” We were curled up in bed, Xander on his back and me tucked in along his side. “The one you’re on the hunt for.”

He groaned. “There’s no wife, dammit. She’s not real. It’s just an idea.”

“But she is real. That’s the crazy thing, right? She’s out there.” I gestured grandly in the darkness with one hand. “Somewhere out there is the woman that will sweep you off your feet and make you fall madly in love with her.”

“Eh.. . I doubt that.”

“Why? Don’t you believe in true love? Once-in-a-lifetime, struck-by-a-lightning-bolt love?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe in it. I just don’t know if it’s for me.”

I slapped his chest. “That’s so unromantic, Xander. Remind me never to marry you.”

“Did I miss the part where I proposed?”

“I want my future husband to fall head over heels for me instantly, just like your dad fell for your mom. I want him to take one look andknow. I want it to hit him like a hundred million volts.”

He laughed. “No, you don’t. It sounds good in stories, but if some guy took one look at you and announced he was in love because the sight of you electrocuted him, you wouldn’t marry him. You’d think he was unhinged. You’d run in the other direction, and rightly so.”

“Okay, maybe love at firstsightis a bit much. But don’t you want to fall deep and hard for the woman you’re going to spend the rest of your life with?”

“I guess.”

“God, you’re so unenthusiastic! What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing! Look, if it happens, it happens, but I don’t think it’s a prerequisite to a successful marriage. Not everybody is cut out to have that kind of relationship. I’ve seen guys who fall in that kind of love, and it fucks them up. It’s too unpredictable. Too volatile.”

“What about Austin and Veronica? He’s in love like that, and he’s not fucked up. He’s happy.”

“Maybe, but Austin and I are different. Austin’s a perfectionist, the kind of guy who has to have all or nothing. I’m more laidback. I’d rather be with someone I genuinely like, with an easygoing temperament and a good sense of humor. Someone who wants the same things I do. Someone who doesn’t care that I’m not rich or famous or brilliant, just a good fucking time.”

“Got it. So she can’t be too picky.”

He tugged my hair. “Smart ass.”

I laughed. “I’m only kidding. I think you’ll be a very good husband. You’re protective and loyal and reliable. Plus, you give excellent orgasms.”

“Thank you.”

I snuggled up again. “What does she look like?”

“Huh?”

“This easygoing, funny, good-time future wife of yours. What does she look like? What’s your type?”

He was silent for a moment. “I don’t really have a type.”

“But she’d be beautiful, right? She’d have to be, to catch your eye.”

“Sure. I like beautiful.” He paused, then flipped me over onto my back, settling between my thighs as he looked down at me. “And if she has great tits and likes to suck a dick on occasion, so much the better.”