AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Charlie picked up the pencil and got to work while I started getting dinner ready. My weekly pay packet might have been shitty, but I couldn’t complain about the fifteen percent staff discount we received.
As I dug out the ingredients for fettuccine Bolognese, I heard my phone ping. I pulled it out of my handbag and swiped it to open the dating app. I was shaking by the time I clicked on the newest request. I wanted to hit delete right away. Honestly, what was I thinking by doing this? How was it beneficial to me?
“Because I’ll actually get out of the house and be able to enjoy some adult conversation,” I mumbled to myself.
“Did you say something, Mom?” Charlie called out.
“No, sweetie.”
When I looked back at my phone, the image of the man looking back at me made me pause. He had an intense, but not unkind gaze. He wore a red-checked shirt that suited his auburn hair and short, stubbled beard that did nothing to hide his strong jawline. He was wearing different shades of red in almost all of his pictures, and for good reason—it looked so good on him.
Calm the farm,I thought. There was no need to get ahead of myself. I came to his video and after a moment’s hesitation, I hit play.
“Hey, my name’s Emmett. It’s been a while since I’ve been on here, so I thought I’d update my video message. A little about me . . . ahh, I’m thirty-two. I like to go for a five-mile run along the beach every morning. I love wine; in fact, my family owns a vineyard up north where I’m from. I have a pit bull named Tank, but don’t worry, he’s a bigger sook than me.”
I giggled.
“Basically, I’m on here to put myself out there, have a little fun, and hopefully, sooner or later, meet a beautiful Aussie lady who might take a chance with me.”
He looked so hopeful and so soulful in that moment, and I found myself wanting to be that Aussie lady.
After a short pause, he waved his hands casually. “Anyway, that’s enough out of me. Take care.”
I bit my bottom lip and put my phone down. But I kept his picture up on my screen while I cooked dinner.
Later that night, once Charlie had showered and gone to bed, I was sitting on my lounge watching the first of a double episode ofSurvivor.I had the lights off and the sound down low, so I didn’t disturb my little boy’s sleep. I opened the dating agency’s app on my phone and looked at Emmett’s profile again. I looked at the message from him I hadn’t opened. It was mean of me to leave the guy hanging.
I knew once I clicked on the message, he would see that I’d seen it. This knowledge had me hesitating yet again.
I grumbled to myself and went into his message and began to type one of my own.
