Page 107 of Fiery Romance

I don’t mind. She’s taken so much stress off my plate that I’d give her the whole desk if she asked. In fact, when I propose a contract between us, I plan to throw in her own office as an incentive.

“Let’s see.” Amy grins and taps her pale chin. “The restless fingers, the frowning, the sighing, the longing looks at your phone… we’re dealing with a man problem, right?”

“Nooo.” I draw out the word and send a desperate glance Regan’s way.

She’s got her headphones in and is watching a documentary about giraffes.

After running out of cartoons featuring the animals, I realized that she could probably graduate to more academic content. She’s devoured every nature documentary I can find and has several on repeat.

Amy glances that way too. “Is it her dad?”

“What? No?” I sputter. This is the second time today that someone’s hinted they see something between me and Clay.

A part of me wants to be hopeful.

The other part has her feet planted firmly in reality.

Even if Clay and I have an attraction, it really isn’t going anywhere.

“No, I’m thinking of dating again, but I don’t know where to start.”

“Why don’t you try an app?” Amy suggests.

I curl back. “An app? Isn’t that a little…”

“What?”

“Desperate?”

“No. It’s a perfectly modern way of finding someone. It’s how I found my boyfriend.” Amy blushes from her neck to her roots. It’s truly fascinating how she can change color so fast. “We, I mean, it was just supposed to be a one-night stand, but we realized it was so much more.”

“I don’t want a guy who’s just trying to have—” my eyes dart to Regan again—“relationswith me. I want to feel romanced. I want the flowers, the sweet words.”

No barking orders.

No sexual tension that could choke a horse.

No blue eyes that darken with dirty promises.

I shake my head. “I don’t just want to be thrown into bed. I want to feel…”

“Important to someone?” She offers.

I swallow painfully. “Yeah.”

“It might be tougher to find them, but there are men on the app who can do that for you too. Give it a whirl.” She holds her hand out. “You never know what you might find.”

“What if I don’t find anything?”

“Then at least you can say you tried.” She wiggles her fingers.

I give her my phone and she installs the app, walks me through the set up and even helps me choose which pictures to post.

I’m grateful for her help because I’m completely lost. This whole thing feels like I’m putting out a giant ‘hey, I’m lonely. Buy me a drink’ ad.

Even if Iamlonely, I learned from my gran that a lady never advertises it.

“So now, what?” I ask, giving the app a helpless look. “The hot eligible men will just come barging in?”

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