Brandon helped her all the way into the bathroom. Then she waved at him with a smirk. “I got the rest from here.”

“You sure?”

Regina laughed. She was beginning to love seeing his playful side. The fact that not too long ago she’d actually wondered if he ever smiled made the silly grin on his face now feel like that much more of a treat.

“Yes, I’m sure,” she said, leaning in and kissing him.

He brought his hand around her waist and kissed her a little deeper before pulling his face away. “I’m serious. You sure you’re gonna be okay on your own?”

“Absolutely,” she assured him. “But I’ll probably be in here a while, so if you have anywhere else you need to be or any errands to run, by all means, go.”

Frowning as she once again rejected his help, he exhaled. “I have a few phone calls I need to make, and there’s something I needed to do at the base but was going to wait until Monday. Maybe I can knock it out today. You sure you’re gonna be a while and you don’t need me here?”

“Positive, and even after I’m done, I’m sure I’ll find a way to keep myself busy.” She squeezed him. “Just get back in time for our movie night.”

“Oh, I’ll be back way before that.”

After a few more kisses that had her wondering if maybe she should’ve taken him up on his offer to help her in the shower, he was gone.

Just as she anticipated, the shower took forever. Moving around with that damn splint and trying not to put weight on her ankle slowed everything down. She had plenty of time in there to think about what was happening between her and Brandon.

The untimely delivery had interrupted a conversation that had begun to make her insides wild. Was he really going to suggest a relationship? Or was it his way of trying to warn her he didn’t do them and this weekend was just an exception? On the other hand, he’d been pretty aggressive about getting down to the business of whether or not she was single.

Was she ready to move on as Dr. Devereux had insisted she needed to? As much as she’d enjoyed her single status in college before settling down—which had given her the opportunity to deal with a lot of different personalities—she’d never met someone quite like Brandon. He’d proven he could be such a sweetheart already, but there was something deep in those eyes that could go hard in an instant. She’d seen it happen several times now.

He admitted to never wanting to make attachments and that he had no family, nor did he mention any friends or acquaintances. That was a little alarming as well. Was it really a good idea to finally start to move on with someone like Brandon, so intense and atypical, which most likely translated to difficult?

Sure he’d been easy enough to get along with now that he’d finally come around. He’d been wonderful actually, and while he had his intense moments, he could be so down to earth. Even their kisses felt like something they’d been doing forever. But they hadn’t gotten into any heavy subjects yet. Everything so far had been light and fluffy. There was no hiding the fact that they were both skimming the heavier stuff and allowing each other to do so. Avoiding the tougher subjects was not the smartest way to start a relationship, but she’d tread cautiously for now.

Deciding she wasn’t even sure where this could go and that could very well mean nowhere, Regina wasn’t going to worry about all that yet. She’d take her weekend with him for what it was worth and enjoy it. At least, she didn’t have to worry about feeling dirty or used afterwards because she’d already set that boundary, and he’d assured her today he would be respecting it.

“I can’t believe that’s the first time you’ve ever seen When Harry Met Sally!” Regina said, shaking her head as she clicked the remote, turning the television off.

Smiling, Brandon shrugged. “It just never seemed like something I could get into.”

Brandon slid down from his sitting position on her bed and lay back all the way. Regina did the same, turning to her side and resting her head on her fist. “So what’s your take on it? Do you agree men and women can’t be friends?”

“Yep, absolutely.”

This surprised her. “Really? They absolutely can be friends?”

“No, I agree that they can’t, and I think Harry nailed the reason why perfectly. Men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.”

“Wow, you really do have a good memory.”

“Not that good,” he said, smiling and playing with her hand. “I said I’ve never seen the movie, but I’ve seen plenty of parts, like that one and the part where she fakes the orgasm in the diner. Actually, I’ve seen most of the more famous parts. I just never sat through the whole thing from beginning to end before.”

“Well, this will probably get my woman card taken away, but I’m gonna have to agree too.” This seemed to surprise him. “But not exactly for the reason you or Harry think. I think it comes down to feelings, not just sex. I think, even if you don’t have sex, the relationship can be ruined because one side starts developing feelings and the other side might not.”

He shook his head. “Maybe for you that’s the case because you’ve probably never met a man who hasn’t fallen in love with you immediately. So you’ve never been able to keep friendships with men. But most of the time it’s about the sex, especially if, say, the woman you had sex with—and didn’t fall in love with, so you remained friends—gets an actual boyfriend or even husband. There’s no way that friend is gonna stay a friend without her man having issues with it, unless, of course, she lies about never having slept with her friend.” He frowned, glancing at her, his expression going grim. “In that case, if they’re starting off with lies or cover ups, the relationship with her new man is probably doomed to begin with.”

With her heart beating a little faster, Regina tried not to put too much weight on his statement about her not having met a man who didn’t fall in love with her immediately. He was just being sweet. She’d already established that he could be sweet—very.

Caught in his eyes for moment, her heart pounded even harder before she managed to counter. “But that’s not exactly what Harry argued in the movie. He said that men and women can’t be friends because attracted to them or not,” she laughed nervously, “you pretty much want to nail them all anyway. You seem to be saying that only if you have sex with them you can’t be friends but if you don’t you can?”

“I’m probably the wrong person to be arguing this point to begin with, because I’ve never had many friends, period.” He reached out and ran his fingers through a few strands of her hair that fell to the side of her face, making her shiver. “So I can’t say for certain if I would or wouldn’t want to nail every one of my female friends if I had any. All I know is that’s my reason for no return visits with them whether we’ve had sex or not.” He paused, and it almost seemed to Regina as if he wanted that part emphasized. Then he went on. “Return visits with anyone form attachments. So maybe your reasoning is more correct than mine. Those attachments could lead to wanting sex, and, therefore, unless that turns into a relationship, the friendship is ruined.”

Regina tilted her head, staring at him curiously. “Why is that?”

He seemed confused. “Why is what?”

“Why is it that you don’t form attachments with anyone? You mentioned that before. You really don’t have any friends?”

He brought his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling, his features going a bit stiff. “I really don’t.”

“But why? It’s obviously not for lack of personality or ability to hold a conversation. I’ll admit after the start we had I’m a little surprised, but never in my life have I felt as comfortable being around someone as quickly as I have with you.”