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hell, yeah, he did. No more twenty-two-year-olds. No more dating women who wanted his status and money more than him. And no more casual sex for a while. It was time to step back and wait for a woman he could really connect with.
    “I do,” he assured her. “And I’m sorry things didn’t work out. I hope you and Strickland have fun tonight.”
    Nikki’s face brightened. “We will. Thanks.”
    Then she nudged Jonas to get out of the car, which he did with a speed and dexterity that defied his rather bulky frame, and Nikki followed.
    Suddenly Ty was alone again in the car with Imogen, who was frowning.
    “God, I’m sorry about that,” he said, feeling downright sheepish.
    She just waved her hand like it was irrelevant. “It’s okay. But I find it incredibly curious that Nikki would want to marry you.”
    Ty laughed, at the same time he hoped she hadn’t meant that exactly how it had sounded. “Wow. Way to stroke my ego there.”
    The corner of her mouth turned up. “That’s not what I meant. It just surprises me that in this day and age young women still think they need to be married to feel a sense of completion.”
    “I don’t get it either,” he told her with all honesty. He truly didn’t understand why some women seemed to feel their self-worth was tied to being with a man. Especially one like him. He was always on the go, restless, inclined to make a joke when it wasn’t appropriate, and not exactly what anyone could call an emotional anchor for a woman.
    Which was why he had thought that casually dating Nikki made sense.
    Only now he knew that wasn’t what he wanted, yet was he really ready for a real, committed, mature relationship?
    He didn’t know, and wasn’t even sure why he was asking himself that question. It wasn’t like it was an option at the moment anyway.
    “And that they’re willing to just latch on to the first guy who shows interest in them whether he’s a total loser or not, it just baffles me.”
    “You know,” Ty said to Imogen as he wondered how many more slams he could be expected to take in one conversation. “It really sounds like you’re insulting me.”
    And he was having one crazy-ass kind of day. He hadn’t seen any of this going down when he’d crawled out of bed that morning, that was for certain.
    But she just looked at him. “I’m not insulting you. I’m speaking theoretically, not about you specifically. I’m sure you have many qualities that make you an excellent candidate for a serious relationship, but it doesn’t take a genius to see that your cup doesn’t exactly overflow with love for Nikki.”
    She pushed up her glasses to emphasize her point, and at the same time Ty thought he’d never heard any woman speak quite as strangely as Imogen did, he found her incredibly cute. Like, so adorable that he wanted to kiss the tip of her nose.
    He didn’t actually do it. He just grinned wryly. “No, it wasn’t love flowing out of my cup, that’s for sure.”
    “Is that a sexual innuendo?” she asked, looking curious.
    “Do you want it to be one?” He couldn’t tell from her expression at all.
    “It’s not a matter of whether I want it to be or not. I am just curious as to the exact intent of your words.”
    Ty thought about being a smart-ass, but then again, he was intrigued by a woman wanting to understand exactly what he had meant. Being dyslexic and unable to read at a functional level, Ty was always conscious of the meaning and mystery of words. He was addicted to audiobooks and found the flow of language in novels fascinating and wished he could see and read them for himself. That Imogen was looking at him and wanting to hear the true intent behind his words gave him pause.
    So he answered her truthfully. “I’m uncomfortable with this whole situation. So it was meant to be a crack at myself, that no, it wasn’t love leaving my body whenever I was with Nikki but something else entirely.” And beyond that, he wasn’t spelling it out. He