AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Marsie’s jaw got tight, a sure sign Beck was right. Or, at least, not wrong. “He said we have no spark.”
“So he’s as blind as you are, with some stupid criteria, when you can’t really judge how good you’ll be together until you give yourselves a chance.”
“Not true,” Marsie insisted. “There have been men who have been obviously wrong for me, from the moment they opened their mouth.”
“Well, sure. But for the guys who are possible, how do you know how possible they are until you take them for a ride?”
Beck seemed to realize how what she had said sounded, because she snorted. “And not just a ride in the saddle. Get a sense for how well he respects you, for what he says about the things you disagree on, for how comfortable your silence is.”
Her friend shook her head. “None of those things are in your algorithm. And I don’t think they’re in his unknown ‘spark,’ either.”
“I’m going to go out on a date with Trevor, again.”
“Okay. That’s in the spirit of what I’m saying, I guess. Maybe on the third date, whatever is missing to make you want to kiss him, no matter the timing, will show up. Seems like three is all you should give him, though.”
Marsie had read a book on dating that talked about chemistry. The author’s advice had been to decide if you wanted to go on another date with a guy based on three things: could you imagine sleeping with him, could you imagine introducing him to your friends and could you imagine spending a long weekend with him. Reading the book had felt like talking to a favorite aunt, and she’d believed the woman’s insistence of chemistry. Putting it into action was another thing.
She could imagine introducing Trevor to her friends. She could imagine spending a long weekend with him—though probably not time on the beach doing nothing. She tried to imagine sleeping with him and didn’t get any further than thinking he was a good-looking man.
God, what was she doing? And was she leading him on? Or setting them both up for unhappiness?
She thought about Jason and the book’s prescription for chemistry. She’d sit and drink coffee with him in a café in Paris for hours. Paris, New York, some small town in Iowa. She’d already imagined having sex with him. Her mind wandered there every time he came into her office now. And her friends would like him. Everyone liked Jason. He was friendly, personable and his interest in people’s lives wasn’t feigned.
“Maybe you’re right,” she said, finally.
“About which part?”
“Well, you’re right that I shouldn’t give Trevor more than three dates if I’m not interested in kissing him.”
“And…”
“And I’m heading back online to look for more guys, probably this weekend.”
“Honestly?” Beck asked, clearly exasperated. “And with the same algorithm?”
“No. I’m going to reevaluate that. I’m a good researcher for a reason. I don’t stick to things that aren’t working.”
“Huh. I would think that means you should scrap your algorithm completely, but I guess this is a step in the right direction.”
“Dating is hard.” The unknowns of it wore her out.
“I’m going to find out, soon enough.”
Chagrinned, Marsie wrinkled her nose. “I’m sorry for taking so much time to talk about me. I came over here to keep you company.”
“It’s fine. I asked for it. It wasn’t the excitement I was looking for, but it took my mind off my own problems for ten minutes. And that’s all I really wanted.”
“Want me to stay the night?”
“I don’t need…” Beck paused. “It doesn’t matter what I need. I don’t want to spend the night alone in this house yet. Tomorrow night will be soon enough.”
“Too soon, I’ll bet.”
“Yeah. But I have to do it. Like ripping off a bandage.”
Marsie laughed. “That’s how I feel about dating.”
Beck laughed with her. “Thank you for not treating me like I’m fragile. I don’t want Neil to be the thing that held me together.”
