Page 3 of Dirty Secrets

“Wow.” She’s quiet as Myrna brings over two menus, and a coffee for me without asking. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here for lunch before.” Jocelyn’s soft voice is sweetly feminine.

“I rarely take a long enough lunch break. But I had to come find you.”

Her perfect pink lips fall open for a second. “You… You came here looking forme?”

“Of course. I mean, I was in the middle of asking you out earlier.”

Her graceful fingers flutter to her mouth. “Oh…I didn’t think…I mean, I wasn’t sure…”

I hate that she seems so flustered. Glancing down at her books, I smile. “I keep hearing about the three girls who always have their noses in their books and notes. So I guess that makes you a logical, studious kind of woman?”

She nods. “Yes.”

“Okay. Let’s do the rundown logically to see if I’m qualified to date you.” Her adorable grin says she’s happy to play along. “I’m thirty-three. You’re…?”

“Twenty-one.”

My head tips back and forth. “Okay. Not such a bad age difference.” Her mouth contorts into something between a smirk and a giggle. “I own Valley Auto along with my brothers. I own my house, which has a large garage, where I putter away on my own cars on the weekends.”

Jocelyn is nodding along, as if checking off mental boxes.

“My hobbies include trying to figure out what to do with the backyard and shooting pool every few weeks in Josh Wolfe’s basement. I’m a three-beer max kind of guy. Red wine with fancy dinners. White wine is…” My nose crinkles. “Well, I’d rather have a soda, to be honest.”

“Employed, not a big drinker, a couple of hobbies.” Her fingers tap lightly on the table. “I feel like I should be taking notes on this,” she murmurs, half to herself.

“Please, go ahead, if you want.” I clear my throat. “I have a pretty great life, but I’ve never found a good woman that I felt a real connection with.” Her look is quizzical and intrigued, not creeped out, thank goodness. So I go for broke. “May I try something, purely for scientific purposes?”

She nods, amused. I take her hand and look deep into her eyes. “Do you feel that?”

Her breath hitches slightly, and her tongue darts across her plush bottom lip. “Um. Yeah…but I don’t know the precise word for it.”

“It’s a spark, sweetheart. A real spark. So how about we order lunch so that I can find out all about you, okay?”

“Just like that?”

“Why not? This is a pre-date, then we can go out very soon on an actual date-date.” From the startled look in her eyes, I would bet my truck that she’s never gone out on an official date. I’m not sure why that pleases me so much, but it does.

“If at any time you decide that the spark is gone, or you realize I’m not the one for you, just tell me. No hard feelings. Okay?”

Her eyes light up. Proof that I’ve said the right thing. Thank goodness for that psychology article I read years ago saying that anxious people feel better if they can see a doorway out.

We both order sandwiches, then I pepper Jocelyn with questions about her work.

“I can’t tell you the details of the project the three of us are working on, but I can tell you about some of my evening jobs,” she says, tucking into a turkey on rye. “I’ve always loved doing proofreading work. When it’s already been edited, and they need someone to look through for missing or misplaced commas and other silly typos. I don’t know… It satisfies some deep need for perfection in me. Is that weird?”

“Not at all. It’s like when an engine has been rebuilt, but you still have to start it up and really listen, putting your hand on the car to make sure there are no extra vibrations. Thefinalfinal check.”

“Yes! It gives you that deep satisfaction, like the big checkmark on the last item of your to-do list.” She beams. “I also love copywriting for various clients. And occasionally editing small corporate jobs.”

“You’re quite the busy little bee.” We laugh together, then I stop. “Wait – so you work all day with your friends, then you do other jobs at night? When do you rest?”

Jocelyn’s head drops. “Oh. Um. I actually find writing copy for product manuals pretty chill. It’s not like I’m running a marathon or anything.”

“Sweetheart, you need to rest your mind as well as your body. You’re obviously smart, so I’m sure you must know that, right?”

Her nose crinkles and she smirks at me. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. As soon as I get my student loans repaid, I’ll take a weekend off, okay?”

This precious girl absolutely radiates sweetness and light, but she has to work day and night to pay off her education? Forcing myself to take a deep breath, I stare down at the table for a moment. It’s not any of my business –yet– but I already know I’m going to fix Jocelyn’s finances so that she can relax a bit and enjoy life.

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