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asked as the customer walked out the door.
    "Talk like what?" Gideon ran a hand through his dark hair.
    "You know exactly what I mean." She scowled at him.
    "I'm not great at mind reading." His eyes flickered toward her lips. "I'm great at many other things, just not that."
    "You're disgusting." She growled, her eyebrows furrowed. "And because of what you said, that woman probably won't come back to the store."
    " What did I say that was so bad?" he asked.
    "You were talking about, well, you know." Her cheeks grew hot.
    "What?" Gideon grinned.
    "You know what I mean." She was shaking because she was so angry.
    "Do I?" He raised an eyebrow.
    "Yes, you do." If he only knew how close he was to being punched…
    " People were less sticks in the mud in the seventeenth century," he said. "You can't even talk about coming back to my place without turning red."
    "What?" s he sputtered.
    "You heard me." He leaned in closer and looked her straight in the eye. "You're a stick in the mud. A prude."
    His words stung, even though she was trying hard not to let him get to her.
    "I am not." She gave an indignant sniff.
    "Then let me ask you a question." He grinned. "How many times have you been kissed?"
    "How many times have I been kissed?" she repeated dumbly.
    "That's what I asked." Gideon nodded, his eyes glistening.
    For a moment she was silent, her mind reeling. Kevin had forced a kiss on her in a parking lot after a date. After him, she'd been with a man named Tyler. Then there had been Robert. Yes, she'd kissed Robert. He'd asked her how she felt about him and she said she didn't know. The next thing she knew, he laid one on her. It had been a swift, unnatural affair for them both. He was too much like her older brother for her to consider him boyfriend material.
    "Don't tell me you've never been kissed." Of course Gideon had to fill up the silence with another jab.
    "I've been kissed." She slammed her hand down on the desk in frustration.
    "How many times?" Gideon asked.
    "Why do you care so much?" she asked. "I don't have to tell you anything."
    He chuckled. "I don't think you've ever—"
    "Three times, okay!" Her nostrils flared in her frustration. "I've been kissed three times."
    "Three times in total?" He scrutinized her .
    Blood rushed to her face. Okay, so she hadn't been kissed that many times. So what? It wasn't like a person's worth was decided by the number of kisses they'd had.
    " Yes." She gave an indignant sniff.
    "Wow." Gideon stared at her in disbelief. "Three times in your entire life. I can't even imagine that."
    "Shut up. " Her fists clenched at her sides.
    "I'm really surprised." Gideon eyeballed her.
    "Why?" Her brows furrowed in frustration . "Unlike you, I don't make a game out of trying to seduce as many people as possible."
    "Ouch." Gideon clapped his hand to his chest as if she'd stabbed him. "I was going to pay you a compliment, but after that comment, I don't think I will."
    "I don't like compliments anyway." She snorted.
    "If that's the way you want it…" Gideon gave a nonchalant shrug and leaned against the desk.
    To her surprise, the man fell silent. She wasn't sure why, but that bothered her, even though it shouldn't have. She found herself casting glances at him, waiting for him to open his mouth to say something to annoy her. When he didn't, she was left with nothing to do but study him.
    When he's silent, I can actually see why women like him, she thought with a frown.
    His shoulders were broad and he had the body of an athlete. When he wasn't smiling, his caramel eyes were dark. He looked like the type of guy who had way too many secrets, which was why it was even more dangerous to get attached to him. But that didn't mean she couldn't study him when he hung around. At least he was easy on the eyes.
    She must have been watching him for a bit longer than she thought because he gave a bewitching grin.
    "You're staring," he said. "Like what you see?"
    She hurled a bag of tea at him. It bounced off his