Lisa chuckled. “He was a real manly man, you know? Like old school, a guy who liked to take care of me. A gentleman type. He was dirty when he wanted to be, but he had manners, too. He wouldn’t let me pay for anything and got offended if I tried. His gait was powerful, and he constantly had eyes on him wherever he went. He was cocky, and I liked that because it wasn’t all bluff; he backed it up with actions. I knew if anything went wrong, I could call him, and he’d be capable enough to sort it out.”
“Capability is sexy as hell.”
“Mmhm.” Agreed, Lisa, with a hum. “He could fix anything without even struggling. He changed my tires and even sorted out the front yard. It was like a jungle when I moved in. He’d meet me from work just to walk me home, holding my hand. And he would call me when he said he would.”
“Damn, babe. I think you had a book boyfriend.”
A tickle in the back of Splice’s skull intensified because he was ninety percent sure Lisa was describinghim. Describingtheirrelationship.
That whole summer, he’d taken care of her garden. When she moved into that apartment, the yard was a shithole.
When she’d broken up with him, he’d gone to her apartment two days later, hoping to fix whatever had gone wrong, but he found out she’d broken her tenancy agreement and moved out.
And then that last ten percent joined the rest of Splice’s certainty when he listened to Lisa saying, “He’s a lot younger than me. Don’t be scandalized too much, Nina, but he was only nineteen.”
Holy fucking fuck. Lisawastalking abouthim.
His body wanted to jackknife to his feet and make himself known. To force her to look at him and to say all that shit to his goddamn face.
Had she never forgotten him in ten years?
Un-fucking-believable.
There was a sort of mist over Splice’s eyes as his slow brain tried to process everything he’d heard and attribute it to himself. That’s when he tuned his ears back in and heard.
“You sexy cougar! I love that for you, actually. A toyboy under your thumb, and to boss around, having him as your lapdog,” laughed Nina. “Why the hell didn’t you hang onto him? Didn’t you try to get back with him at any point?”
“No. Once I left town, I changed my number because I knew he’d try to find me.”
Splice had never bought the garbage excuse Lisa had given him about being on different roads of life, or that he was too young.
They’d been so compatible in every sense.
“Assessing everything you’ve said, I don’t think we could find you the perfect blind date to check off all those boxes.”
No, the fuck Lisa couldn’t.
Because her perfect man was sitting in the next booth with his heart beating outside his goddamn chest, he’d eavesdropped on more than he’d expected, so now all the blood in his head had shot down to his dick.
“But let’s see if we can write a list of things you want today. Forget the hot fling; he’s probably bald, fat, and jobless now. Good riddance to him,” declared Nina.
If only she knew how wrong she was.
And if Lisa was about to verbally make a list of shit she wanted in a man, there was no way he was moving his ass from that spot.
He slid his phone out from his inside pocket, pulled up the notes app, and looked at the blinker, waiting to copy her list.
EIGHT
Lisa
Lisa was drunk.
She was such a lightweight with drinking spirits; after only four shots, her head was slow and fuzzy.
Under the influence, she shared personal details she’d usually keep to herself.
“Must enjoy cute dating. Going to the cinema, walking hand-in-hand, visiting farmers’ markets every weekend, that kind of thing. Taking random out-of-town trips to the beach. Oh, and he must support my love of drama shows. I can’t have a man around me who ridicules how many fictional boyfriends I collect. That’s a hard limit. It’s my hobby, and I’m not ashamed of it.”
