Page 43 of Courting Clemson

I ran the idea past my friend, and she listened to my thoughts and added something that made it seem manageable.

“Clemmie, think about it. This is just going to be like this until you pick one. Once you establish an agreement with one of these guys, it’s going to be just like having a boyfriend.”

“You’re right, but then again, that’s what I’m worried about. I have issues with too much of my time being taken up by other people.”

“Well, you need the money. Bottom line. You may have to make some adjustments to what you can give of yourself.”

“Very well put, my dear. Thank you for being my partner in this. I’d be lost without you.” I gave her a quick hug.

“I think the sooner you pick one and get on with it, the better,” she said and stood to put the stool back near my vanity.

“You’re absolutely right. I’ll definitely meet up with Brian if he asks. I’ll send replies to these others right now, but I don’t know if I can go through that many in the introductory queue like we did this morning.”

She paused in my doorway and said, “I think you kind of have to until you get involved with your guy. You don’t want to let the right one slip through your fingers.”

“Ugghh,” I whined and pretended to bang my head on my desk.

“I need some food, but I’m here to help. Let me fill the tank,” she said patting her belly, “And we can work through that list.”

“Girl, what would I do without you?” I asked, and truly meant it.

Grace smiled. “Lucky for you, you don’t have to find out.”

Chapter Ten

Luke

The work week was longer than usual, and to make it worse, I barely heard from Clemson. We did have a phone conversation that was the highlight of my lonely week, but the memory of her husky laugh could only keep me company for so long. I tried to pin her down again for our first official date but got nowhere.

I couldn’t quite figure this girl out. I got the vibe that she was into me. She said things that let me know she was interested. But something was going on with scheduling an in-person meeting. She had used so many different excuses by this point, I was ready to just throw in the towel.

That thought made me unhappier than it should have, though. I couldn’t figure out why I was so stuck on her. I mean, she was gorgeous—that was an easy answer. But there was more to her than that.

Something about the actual human being she was appealed to me in a way I hadn’t experienced before. Or at least in a very long time. People used the term kindred spirits to describe what I was feeling. But what was that even based on? We’d spent two separate days together and had had a handful of conversations.

But she was different… I just knew it.

Something deep inside me came to life when I talked with her. It felt like she understood what I was saying before I even said it. Almost like she would give the exact same answer if asked the same question. That was something I hadn’t found in a woman before.

Typically, I was the guy wondering if I even belonged on this planet. Why did I see things so fundamentally different than everyone else? Why did most of the world just seem ridiculous? But when something came up in conversation with Clemson that I’d experienced as a huge point of contention with another girlfriend, she and I were on the exact same page.

Whatever she had going on, I had to wait her out. Eventually, she would explain. She’d dropped hints here and there about being in some kind of predicament that forced her to do something out of character—and that was my interpretation of the small clues she’d dropped, not her words. So I had to be patient. And in the end, if I was wrong and she wasn’t the woman I thought she was, then I guess I’d be dealt a harsh lesson.

My gut was usually damn accurate, though. That’s how I got where I was in business. Yes, I had a leg up because I didn’t have to worry about income, but I worked every day like I had pennies in the bank instead of millions. Very few people at the office even knew my personal worth. Liam did, but he swore he wouldn’t talk about my life around the water cooler, and I trusted him.

I was scheduled to volunteer at the shelter this weekend. That gave me something to look forward to as I made my way through ridiculous traffic on Friday afternoon. If I didn’t love my car as much as I did, this daily trek would be unbearable. Instead, I sat back in the comfortable driver seat and listened to the engine purr.

“Siri,” I announced to the empty cabin of my baby. “Text Clemson Farsay.”

“What would you like to say?” the Irish-accented female voice replied.

“Can I take you out tomorrow night? Or if you don’t want to go out, I’m an excellent cook. Just sayin’,” I dictated, and the assistant read the message back.

I instructed the computer to send the message and waited for her reply. We had graduated to texting directly on our phones instead of through the social media app, so she usually responded a lot quicker. I knew she didn’t have classes right now, but the swim team kept her pretty busy even though it was summer.

“I would love to,” came her reply fed through the speakers. “Can we make it Sunday, though?”

Thank God traffic was crawling along, or I would’ve swerved right off the northbound side of the 5 freeway.

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