Page 8 of Pretend Girlfriend

“I dated a Wiccan girl in college. She was into that sort of thing. I don’t really believe in palm reading, but it’s a fun party trick.” Before I could stop him, he reached across the table and took hold of my right hand, twisting it over to reveal the palm. “Let’s see…”

Despite his muscular frame and large hands, his touch was surprisingly tender. Goosebumps sprouted on my neck as his fingertip traced the lines on my palm, and an excited shiver ran up my spine.

“This is your heart line,” he explained softly. He was leaning so far forward that I could feel his breath on my hand. “It’s stronger than your head line. That suggests you typically lead by intuition.”

He wasn’t wrong. My impulsiveness was the entire reason I’d devised the point system on dates—to stop myself from following my heart too much.

Theo’s finger traced some more, then paused. “It also begins here, below the middle finger, rather than below the index finger. That suggests restlessness in relationships, or dissatisfaction.”

“That makes sense considering I’m out on a date right now, rather than being home with Mr. Right.”

“True.” His fingertip glided lower. “This is your life line…”

I yanked my hand away. “I don’t think I want to know how long I’m going to live or anything like that.”

Theo leaned back in his chair. “The life line has more to do with your experiences in life, and how much you’re influenced by others.” He gave me a warm smile. “You never told me what your secret skill is.”

“I’m good at memorizing useless numbers,” I answered. “Like sports stats. I can tell you Jay Cutler’s passing yards by year.”

Theo clicked his tongue. “This is why you should be a Cubs fan. Baseball is all about useless statistics!”

“I guess I missed my calling.” I swirled my drink around in the glass. “Okay, here’s a question.”

“Hit me.”

“What do you want out of life?”

Theo blinked. “Damn. After all those lighthearted questions, that’s an uppercut out of nowhere. I’m going to need between three and seven more strawberry martinis before giving you my answer.”

“I’ll go first, then,” I said. “I want to be happy. However I get there, whether it’s through a career or traveling the world or eventually starting a family, I just want to be happy in whatever I do. I have friends who have satisfying careers and relationships, but they’re not happy. I don’t want to sacrifice my happiness just to do what I want, if that makes sense.”

Theo was nodding along. “Solid answer. Being happy is way better than the alternative. And it totally matches with your palm reading.”

“I thought you didn’t actually believe in that.”

He spread his hands. “Hey, you can’t argue with results.”

“I can argue that you’re avoiding answering the question, though.”

“You got me.” He tongued the inside of his mouth. “I eventually want a family. A wife and kids. Two, maybe three, depending on how hellish the first two are. I want to know that when I eventually die, I’m leaving a little bit of myself behind. Children are that legacy.”

I was taken aback by his answer. I wasn’t expecting him to respond so genuinely.

“Wow,” I said. “That’s a serious response.”

“A serious question deserves a serious answer,” he said simply. “What about you? What are your thoughts on kids?”

I hesitated. “Honestly? I don’t really know. Maybe I will eventually want to start a family, but I don’t have that desire right now. Everyone tells me eventually I’ll realize my clock is ticking and I’ll suddenly want children, but right now I just don’t know for certain.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” he said. “Nobody knows how they’ll feel down the road.”

I slowly let my breath out. I wasn’t being totally honest, and that wasn’t fair to Theo. “Right now… I’m leaning towards not having kids.”

“Oh.”

A silence stretched. Three, four, five heartbeats.

“Ah,” Theo finally said with a rueful grin. “I ruined this first date with my serious answer, didn’t it?”

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