“Why didn’t you say you knew me when we met at the club?” Wyn demanded, glaring at Raif across her living room.

“Look, I don’t hunt women down. I gave you an invitation. I told you to come find me. If you wanted to, you could have. When I didn’t hear from you when we were teenagers, I assumed I’d freaked you out with my kiss. It wouldn’t have been the first time. I was a bit hurt, but I really don’t hunt women down. I’ve never even kissed a woman first because I want it to be a hundred percent clear that she wants me.”

Wyn was losing her patience and the kitten she was holding was clawing at her. She put it down. “You could have said something at the club.”

“I thought you recognized me. Didn’t you?”

“No. I thought it was the first time I’d met you. Good grief. Five years have passed. Do you know how much you have changed in five years? I only saw you in the dark at that grad party and then it was dark again in the club and at the Christmas party. I probably didn’t get a good look at you until we moved in here together.”

Raif huffed. “Well, I guess that explains it. I thought you were giving me the cold shoulder and you had no idea who I was.”

“I also thought you were writing your phone number on my hand that night. It turned out to be no such thing. I was really disappointed, but I thought it was just one of those tricks players play. You had your fun with me and then you were finished.”

“Wyn… we kissed once. How could I possibly have had enough fun with you to be finished with you? Even if I was a complete creep, I’d want more than just that one kiss. You really could have found me if you’d wanted to.”

“I didn’t know your name,” she countered.

He laughed. “That’s never been an obstacle for me. I can always find out someone’s name. After I dropped you off, I went back to the party. Brad had less to drink than I’d supposed and he was looking for you. I told him I’d taken you home. He was relieved and I asked him to tell me more about you. I got your phone number from him, but I already had your name and address.”

“You sound like a stalker,” Wyn remarked sourly.

“Girls expect that kind of attention. Perhaps you’re just annoyed I didn’t call?”

She was. She was really annoyed he didn’t call.

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“Wyn?” he asked seriously. “Did you want me to call you?”

For a second, she couldn’t move. Frozen, she couldn’t lie and shake her head, or tell the truth and nod. She just stared angrily into a corner of the room.

“I get it. You like me, but you’re unhappy I’m a player. That was what bothered you that night when I kissed you. It was too smooth, too experienced, and it felt too good for you to handle.”

He was right, but Wyn did not like that he understood and said it so clearly, even before she understood it herself. She was too stunned to answer.

He bobbed his head like he heard a beat she couldn’t hear. “Bingo, huh?”

She managed a nod.

Raif cleared his throat and continued. “I’m not sure if you’re interested, but I haven’t had a date in over a year.”

Wyn gawked at him. “That can’t be true.”

“It is,” he said pleasantly. “I like flirting, and playing around, but the women I’m attracted to don’t enjoy that aspect of me. You are not the first woman to feel annoyed that I like women so much and enjoy dating a variety of them.”

“If you like it so much, then why aren’t you dating?” she asked in a raspy voice.

His eyes traveled the room like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to answer her. “I’m graduating this spring.”

“What does that mean?”

“I have a job set up that starts on May first.”

“And?”

“It’s in a territorial park, outside Yellowknife.”

Wyn gasped. She had never even met anyone who had visited Yellowknife, let alone someone who would move that far north voluntarily.

“It’s a good job,” he continued, “with interesting work, excellent salary, and good benefits. It’s what I want to do and the people there are willing to hold it for me. Nowadays when I tell women that’s where I’m headed, it kills the romance. I’m super appealing until I tell her I’m going to live in a place that experiences twenty-four hours of darkness. Then she smiles and I might as well have told her I was chosen as part of the first Mars colony. My honesty is killing my dating prospects.”

“You’re not worried about not being able to find someone to date when you get up there?” Wyn asked.

“Are you kidding? I’ll be fresh meat. It’ll be great…” his voice petered out. “Okay, I’m a little worried, but I can’t ask a woman to move up there or to have a long-distance relationship with me when I’m there. I’m better off seeing who already lives there and is cool with it.”

Wyn nodded, the wheels in her head turning at a frantic rate. “I think this might work out better than I thought it would,” she admitted.

“You’ll let me stay here until grad?”

“I don’t think it will come to that. My sister says Muriel and Trevor will get bored, fight, and they’ll want to switch back before the end of term.”

Raif nodded. “That’s a very real scenario.”

Wyn picked up the soft kitten for the second time, her mood improving. “We’ll wait.”