AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?” I reach for the coffee pot and without asking, top off the mug in her hands. I return the pot to the burner and switch the thing off.
She looks down at the cup, smiles, and glances back up at me through her lashes. “I think it’s a double-edged sword, if I’m being honest.”
“I’m all about honesty.”
“So you say.” She brushes past me, and I catch a whiff of something sweet. Good lord, I think it’s marshmallow.
Chapter8
Gemma
What a day.
The sun is about to sink down behind the mountains. I’ve been sitting here in the log cabin’s rustic-chic kitchen, with the polished marble countertops, the bird-motif wall clock, and cheesy moose-print wallpaper almost the entire time the sun traversed the sky. Besides that brief foray to the garage with Parker and a walk around the loop to look for Queenie, I didn’t leave this barstool.
My work is paying off, at least.
I’ve endured the torturous task of watching Parker on Youtube videos and ESPN clips and reading about him in blog articles and newspaper articles. Thanks to all that, I filled out the entire section of the Right Match questionnaire that has to do with the nitty-gritty of how his mind works.
It’s not perfect. But maybe, if I’m lucky, it’ll be good enough to find him a decent or even above-average match.
I’ve done my best to get into his head and answer the questions the way I believe he’d answer them.
Now, however, I’ve reached a section of the digital form that puzzles me.
This part has to do with his resume, so to speak. Education, work experience, and all that. The first question is about his employment history.
I have a general idea. His first real job was playing pro tennis.
He did that for eight years, from the time he was twenty, to twenty-eight. Then, when his wrist acted up, he retired and moved here to Pines Peak.
I’m pretty sure he started teaching at the tennis center around then. Apparently, that’s over now.
Why?
That’s a mystery I’m going to have to solve, if I want to complete this section of the form—which I do. Badly.
But it's dangerous being around him.
This morning when he asked me if I wanted to go for a bike ride with him, I almost said yes.
As if being out in the woods with him last night wasn’t bad enough.
I must have a masochistic streak or something. I want to cause myself as much pain and suffering as humanly possible.
Parker is a human wrecking ball. He attracts women, then breaks their hearts. I had it happen to me. And yet, when I’m around him, my mind wants to throw down a veil of forgetfulness.Heartbreak? What heartbreak?
“Sure, Parker, I’d love to toodle around the back roads with you, taking in the scenic glory of Vermont in fall while intermittently gazing into your gorgeous brown eyes or eating up the eye-candy that is your hunky body.”
Ugh. Someone, slap some sense into me. If Carly was here, she’d do it.
I’m as bad as Hannah probably was.
Or, maybe I’m even worse.
I think I actually batted my eyelashes at him this morning. And IknowI whipped my favorite lip gloss out of my purse a few minutes after he entered the kitchen, while his back was turned and he was helping himself to oatmeal.
I smeared that shiny goop all over my kisser and then ran my hands through my hair. These are old, old habits. There’s a saying about a condition like mine:Old habits die hard.
