Page 33 of Partner Pursuit
“I can’t part with them. And records have a superior sound,” he said. Her CD collection was mostly pop and dance, with just a few jazz and alternative pop CDs. Not deep or angsty. “There’s a lot you can tell from a person’s music and book collection. Very revealing—especially theoneopera CD.”
“As you may have guessed, that was a gift.” It felt like she had passed muster.
“Well, I’m expecting you to throw good dancing parties.” He hooked up his phone to her speaker and light pop music filled the apartment. Jake moved along to study her DVD and book collections. “We like a lot of the same books—unless these were all gifts or part of a college reading course:The Sun Also Rises, The Great Gatsby, Catch22…”
“Pride and Prejudice?”
“Well, I can’t say it is in my top ten. But it has its wisdom, and my sister Fiona loves it, which is why I read it, so I can be wise to her tricks.” He’d readPride and Prejudice? Did she know any other guy who’d read it?
“‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a fortune must be in want of a wife,’” she quoted.
“Yes, which is the equivalent of my view that dating for men is like shooting fish in a barrel,” hesaid.
“Touché. I hadn’t thought of that.” As he studied her bookshelves, she said, “Now you’ve moved to the college reading course shelf: all the World War II history books. But I’m not supposed to point that out. Just think how brilliant my readingtaste is.”
“Ah, I found the chick lit shelf—double stacked and hidden behind the literature?”he asked.
She smiled. “Caughtred-handed.” He seemed to be checking out all her stuff, as if trying to figure out who she was. That had to be a good sign—unless she was found boring. She didn’t have any deep dark secrets—except her chicklit shelf.
“My sister likes romantic comedies too.” A warm curry scent began to emanate from the kitchen. “Smells good. I’ll set the table.” He entered the kitchen and openeda cabinet.
“Not there, that’s the pantry!” she yelped, pointing to another cabinet. “That’s the dishcabinet.”
“Too late. Interesting pantry items.” He pulled out sneakers from the bottom shelf.
“I make a fabulous sneaker souffle, you should try it sometime,” she said. The kitchen felt too small and too hot with Jake in it. It was impossible not to bump into him while passing. They both smelled of suntan lotion and warm summerdays.
“I’ll hold you to that.” He winked. “But seriously?”
“To remind myself to work out instead of snacking. And I don’t cook all that often, so it seemed like a good space touse.”
“Doesitwork?”
“Not particularly,” she said. “Do you want to open a bottle of white wine? There’s one in the fridge. Or there’s some beer in the fridge.”
Jake opened the white wine and poured two glasses.
“All right, dinner’s ready. Let’s sit,”shesaid.
He pulled out a chair at the white round table. She took the chair with her back to the couch. His presence seemed to fill up the entire room. Jake had this magnetism. He seemed so confident and yet friendly andeasy-going, radiating a zest for life. She needed to pinch herself to make sure that this was happening. Biscuit circled round and round and then curled up at Jake’sfeet.
“Oh, that’s so sweet,” she said and indicated he should serve himself first.
“Biscuit’s my boy. He’s ever hopeful I’ll drop some crumbs.” Biscuit’s tail thumped when he heardhisname.
He took a bite of the chicken curry. “Wow, this is good. I was worried when you suggested reheating a frozenmeal.”
“Was that the reason for your lookof panic?”
“I’m a guy. I’ve some basic requirements, like good food. And I eat a lot, so when you said there’d be enough, I had my doubts.”
“Then I should be flattered that you were willing torisk it?”
“Yes.” He smiled. “But it’s still a pretty low risk calculus, given that I could order more food later—especially since I’ve yet to try all the takeout menus that yougave me.”
“You know how to flatter agirl.”
“Do you think I don’t?” He quirked an eyebrow and held her gaze. Her face flushed. His gaze lingered on her face. He broke the tension first by serving himself more chicken. “So, did you always want to be a lawyer? Are your parentslawyers?”
