Chapter 3—

The thing with Danny was that I was getting too used to him. I barely even batted an eyelash when he showed up and inserted himself into my sphere. Oh, he still irritated me. His attitude of 'I'll have you, no matter what' really soured me. I'd decided that, if not for that attitude of his, he'd be exactly the type of guy that I'd be attracted to.

The attitude though—I was getting tripped up on the attitude.

It would be so easy to just sleep with him and get it over with. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I probably did want to sleep with him. In fact, no probably about it; I wanted to sleep with him. Plain and simple.

The only thing keeping me from doing that very thing was the gloating he would partake in. He wasn't going to win. He was not going to break me. The physical attraction wasn't nearly strong enough for me to give up my dignity.

The fact was that I didn't like him as a person.

"So school is out for this semester, huh?"

"Yes Danny," I loudly sighed, "school is out for the summer."

"How much longer do you have until you graduate?"

"Another year," I replied, smiling at the waitress who delivered my fruit smoothie to my table (the table that Danny seemed to believe he was welcome at). "Why do you care anyway?"

"Just wondering," he shrugged. "I am curious about your life, Joie."

"Really?" I drawled. "Gee, I wonder where I got the impression that you were merely trying to get into my pants."

"Oh, well you'd know I were lying if I said that didn't play a part in it."

"More than a part," I corrected him. "Let me ask you something, Danny; do you get off on the rejection? Because I don't seem to recall encouraging you in this endeavor of yours."

"What endeavor would that be, Joie? To get into your pants?"

"Obviously," I nodded. "And obviously it's not happening. So why do you keep hanging around?"

"You fascinate me."

"I told you to stop with the stupid lines, Danny." He leaned back in his chair and arrogantly crossed his arms over his chest. I seriously was beginning to loathe that pose. "All right, you want me to take you seriously?"

"I'd love nothing more," he confirmed.

"Then tell me something real about yourself."

That made him uncomfortable. I took great delight in that, let me tell you. I could see his eyes shifting around the room and I just knew that he wasn't going to be able to take the challenge. It was just as I thought—Danny was all bravado and very little substance.

"I hate peanut butter."

I put my drink down on the table. "That's hardly what I meant by real," I told him.

"That's as real as it gets, sweetheart."

"Oh, well now you've convinced me," I sarcastically began. "I mean, wow—what a revelation. I just can't resist you anymore. Come on—take me. Go ahead. Take me right now … on this table."

The smile that spread onto his face would have made my knees buckle out from under me had I been standing. And I hated that. I hated that he was so … beautiful. I hated that, despite insisting the opposite, I did want him.

"It's the small things that count, Joie. I told you something mundane that seemingly doesn't mean anything. But that's where you're wrong. I told you something very real about me."

"That you hate peanut butter? That doesn't mean anything, Danny. You can spin it until you're dizzy, but it doesn't mean anything."

"So we'll agree to disagree." He smiled at me again and then said, "Now it's your turn. Tell me something real about you."

"Fine," I smirked. "I love peanut butter."

He full-heartedly laughed at that. And, despite myself, I laughed too.

"You know what I think, Joie?"

"Mmm, what?"

"I think that you like me."

I shook my head in the negative. "I strongly disagree."

"Not even just a little bit?"

"Not one little bit," I insisted. "You're too obvious. Contrary to what many women all over the world say, we like a mysterious and hard-to-figure-out man. It give us a bit of a challenge, you see. You just lay everything out on the table … and … I'm sorry, but that is not attractive."

"Uh-huh," he replied, obviously not believing a single word out of my mouth. "You are so unconvincing that it's really kind of sad."

"You're so obvious that it's very sad," I countered.

"Touché."

"Well, Danny," I said, rising from the table, "as usual, it was a blast to spar with you. Unfortunately, I have places to be and people to see."

I left him with that. As I walked away, I could swear I heard him chuckling.