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“Oh, yeah.” His mouth curved into something that almost resembled a smile. “Yeah, she’s cute.”
Got ya! It was perfect. Jinny liked him, and he liked her. She was doing them both a favor by setting them up. She was being a good Samaritan. “So you’ll do it, then?”
He frowned again and rubbed his hand over his jaw. Up close, his beard looked a lot less scraggly. And his eyes actually were a gorgeous shade of blue. “It seems kind of sketchy. Why do I have to ask her out? Couldn’t you just fix us up on a blind date or something?”
Esther shook her head. “She hates blind dates. She’d never agree to it.”
“But I don’t even know her. Won’t she think it’s weird that a stranger is asking her out, out of nowhere?”
Clearly, this guy did not get out much and had no idea how often men propositioned women they didn’t know. Which, again, was sort of sweet. Naive, but sweet. He was like a character from a Jane Austen novel who needed a formal introduction before he could commence his courtship. “You’ve seen each other around plenty of times. It’s not weird.”
“What if she says no?”
She nearly had him on the hook. He just needed a little nudge. “She won’t say no, because she thinks you’re cute too.”
“Really?” His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, which was pretty damned adorable. Fine. Jinny was right. He was cute.
“Yes, really.”
“She told you that?”
“She told me that.”
Doubt crept into his expression again. “It still seems weird.”
Oh, my god. What was it going to take to get him to say yes? Blackmail? Because Esther could do blackmail if she had to. “Do you want me to read your script or not?” The carrots weren’t working; it was time for a little stick.
His frown deepened. Then he nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll do it, I guess.”
Yes! Not as much enthusiasm as Esther would have liked, but it was good enough. “You have to take it seriously and give her a real chance though. No blowing her off after one date.”
He scratched the back of his head. “What constitutes a real chance?”
Esther pursed her lips as she considered the question. How much dating did Jinny need to do to get over Stuart? A single date might not be enough. It had to be enough to put Stuart out of her mind for good. “Three dates,” she finally decided.
Jonathan’s eyes widened. “Three? No way.”
“That’s the deal. Take it or leave it.” If it was only one date, he might half-ass his way through it. But if he knew he had to go out with her two more times, he’d make more of an effort. Theoretically.
“I’ll do two.”
“Three,” Esther repeated. Now that she’d gotten him to agree to the plan, she had the upper hand. She wasn’t budging.
His mouth settled into a scowl. “You have to give me real help with the script, then. Not just scribble down a few notes, or mark the stuff that’s inaccurate. You have to work with me and help me come up with ways to make the science work with the story.”
Lord. The things Esther was willing to do for Jinny. She’d better appreciate this. “I’ll science the shit out of that script for you. Do we have a deal?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Okay.”
Esther stuck out her hand. After a moment’s hesitation, Jonathan took it.
It was official. They were doing this.
“We have to move fast,” she said, “before Jinny goes back to Stuart.”
“How fast?” Jonathan asked.
Esther grinned at him. “What are you doing tonight?”
