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“I was hoping my next relationship would come together a little more organically.”
“You stealing my potential dates is what you callorganic?”
Heidi’s teasing smile was thousand-watt. “I can’t help that I have more swagger than you.”
“Then remind me to keep you away from the lady I have in my crosshairs right now.”
She lifted the eye cover and gave him ahow-dare-youglare. “Who is she and what does she look like?”
“Like a ghost. She’s not sticking around.”
“I thought you preferred it that way.”
“I thought I did, too.”
Heidi sat up straighter and removed the mask entirely. “You found someone you like. Is that what you’re saying?”
“I guess I am.”
“Well, damn. Tell me about her.”
“I don’t know what I can say except that she’s transient. Moving on to the next thing as soon as she can.”
“What is it about her that appeals to you?”
Good question.
Tim had been operating more on instinct than logic and hadn’t really tried to put Valerie’s allure into simple words. His gut had just been telling him, “Fuck yes,” and he never ignored his gut. Brainstorming the situation with Heidi wasn’t the worst idea ever, though. He thought maybe she could help him make sense of how to approach Valerie.
“I think it’s the passion she has for what she does,” Tim said. “She’s got something of a one-track mind for success, and that’s so fucking raw and relatable, you know? But that’s the same passion that’s going to keep her from sticking around. I have no idea how she would react to knowing about you or meeting Kevin, but I haven’t let myself put the cart before the horse.”
“At our ages, I don’t think pondering the what-ifs is avoidable.” Heidi tweaked her face into its familiarthinkingconfiguration and tapped her chin. “Well. You’ll just have to figure out some way to make her stay, or at the very least, promise to come back.”
He scoffed and took a sip of his drink. “I’ll solve the problems of world hunger and poverty while I’m at it.”
“You could start with expensive gifts and see where that gets you.”
“I doubt that would work on her. She doesn’t seem to care one way or another about my net worth.”
“Seriously?”
“Dead serious.”
That said, before leaving for the airport, hehadarranged for a special surprise to be delivered to the business office in Shora. He could only hope she didn’t throw it in his face the next time she saw him. Assuming therewasa next time.
Kevin was obviously begging for attention and there were only so many ways Tim could divide his time.
He swirled his drink and watched it circle around the plastic cup. “I keep wondering if I should go ahead and put this thing on ice now. To not get too invested in something with a low probability of panning out.”
Heidi squinted at him. “You don’t mean the drink, do you?”
“No.”
She sighed. “Tim,no. You deserve to be happy, and if there’s even the smallest chance you’re going to click with someone, you should pursue her aggressively.”
“I thought the same thing, but it seems like a potentially futile endeavor.”
Valerie wasn’t a woman who needed anyone. For that matter, he wasn’t that kind of person, either, but sometimeswantswere as important as needs. Wants fed happiness, and Tim would take happiness wherever he could get it.
