Page 18 of The Match

“For Pete’s sake, go with the hot man!” Joanna says, and I hear her garage closing again. What a pusher. “I’m officially retracting my offer to come pick you up.”

I turn my back briefly to Jacob and Sam and cup my hand around the phone like I’ve seen people do in the movies. Apparently, this keeps anyone else from hearing what I’m saying. “Are you sure? I don’t know if it’s such a good idea.” I haven’t told Jo yet about my teeny-tiny, almost nonexistent attraction to Jacob.

“If he’s half as cute as he sounds, I’d say it’s a fantastic idea. And besides, you need more friends under the age of sixty. Honey, it’s about time I kick you out of the nest. Fly, little Evie birdie, fly!”

I roll my eyes as she ends the call. I never get to end it first. One of these days, I’m going to end it mid-conversation just to throw her.

I turn around with a tense smile. “Well, my ride just bailed on me, so I think I have to take you up on your offer.”

CHAPTER 8

Jake

How am I doing in my attempt to keep Evie Jones at bay? Not great, considering she’s sitting in my passenger seat right now. I nearly ramped the curb when I saw her standing there with Charlie. She looked sad and concerned with her phone pressed to her ear. I threw the truck in park and almost sprang from my seat before I mentally grabbed myself by the collar and shook some sense into my sorry ass.

“How are you?” I ask after Evie puts Charlie in the back seat with Sam and buckles herself into the passenger seat.

This is ridiculous. I’m ridiculous. I saw this woman not even four hours ago, and I’m already feeling needy to know how she is? What she’s been doing since she left our house? Why she looks so sad?

“Fine.” She gives me the universal female answer for everything is horrible, but I resist asking any further questions, because I’m not her boyfriend. Never going to be.

Next time I date, it will be someone who doesn’t take my breath away and definitely not someone seven years younger than me. (She told Sam her age. I was eavesdropping.)

“Thanks for giving me a ride.” Evie crosses her legs.

“Happy to.” And I am. Actually, I’m far too happy to have her seated beside me. “Where am I headed?”

“Oh, here, I can type my address into your phone.” Her emerald eyes, along with her soft vanilla scent, hit me for the first time since she got in the truck. She’s saying normal words, and her tone is completely casual. And yet, my heart is racing as if she just whispered something dirty in my ear.

I hand my phone over to her, and once she’s done typing in her address, we set out toward her apartment. Because I have no idea how to talk to this woman without accidentally flirting, I do the same thing I’ve been practicing all day in her company: keep my mouth shut. I also squeeze the steering wheel, because out of the corner of my eye I can see an impressive amount of her tan legs, and I swear to myself that I will not give in and look at them.

I will not.

After a minute of silence, Evie adjusts in her seat to turn around and look at Sam. I’m not sure why this takes me by surprise. “What do you think about your first day of training with Daisy?”

Man, I like her southern accent. I grew up here. I’m used to women all around me having accents. Hers is different, though. It’s sweeter somehow. Drenched in honey.

“It was great. I wish she could have stayed with me tonight,” says Sam.

“I know. It’s sad to have to say goodbye to them at night, isn’t it? But until you’ve learned everything you need to know about how to interact with her, it’s better to let her sleep at her volunteer’s house. But you did so great today. I was really impressed with how quickly you caught on to all the techniques.”

I catch Sam’s eye in the rearview mirror and see the moment Evie’s praise hits her bloodstream. She wants to smile. She wants to soak every ounce of that compliment up, wring it out, then soak it up again. Other than my sisters, she hasn’t had a woman offer her praise like that since Natalie left. I feel as if I can see the void inside her and watch Evie’s words fill a small part of it.

“Thanks.” Sam pushes away her unruly hair, which I have a hard time brushing behind her ear, and looks out the window. Only when her head is fully turned do I see the slight grin touch the corner of her mouth.

I’m torn. On the one hand, I want Sam to receive the praise she needs. But on the other hand, I’m scared to death of Evie. After this week she’ll be gone, and it’ll be just me and Sam again.

Evie turns back to the front, and I hear her take in a deep breath through her nose. She lets it out like it’s the first one she’s taken all day.

“How was your dinner?” I ask, proud that it sounded innocuous enough. Polite. Business talk between two colleagues.

“Dinner?” she asks with a furrowed brow.

“Yeah, weren’t you just leaving that restaurant? I assumed you had eaten there.”

“Oh.” She looks down at her lap. “I was supposed to, but . . . my company wasn’t so great, so I left before eating.”

My eyes slice to her, and my mouth goes rogue. “Was the guy a jerk to you?” I have no idea why I said that. I don’t even know if she was there with a guy.

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