The Love Wager by Lynn Painter

            Jack: I will not.

            Hallie: You don’t seem like a truck guy.

            Jack: Are you calling me a wuss?

            Hallie: No. I think most guys who drive trucks do it to prove they’re manly. You strike me as someone confident enough in his masculinity to drive a Prius.

            Jack: So you ARE calling me a wuss.

            Hallie: You’re an idiot.

            Jack: Better, thanks. Call me when you’re done and we’ll hatch a plan.

            Well, the plan turned out to be something along the lines of “just do it.” After getting the keys, running up to her new place, calling Jack, and dancing around like a maniac, she went home and threw her stuff together.

            Jack showed up an hour later and got to work, hauling her bed, dresser, nightstand, and desk out the door like he was the Rock. She helped, but they both knew she was more like a spotter than an equal lifter.

            On a side note, he looked very good in casual clothing. She’d only ever seen him in a tux, naked, and in nicer date-night clothes so far, but that day, he was wearing faded old jeans and a Cubs T-shirt that was so worn it looked baby soft. He looked like the kind of guy they’d cast in a commercial for grabbing beers with the guys or picking up two-by-fours at a home improvement store.

            Once the bed of his truck was full and her room was cleared out, she followed him downtown in her car. She was a little shell-shocked that mere hours earlier she’d had no plans for the day and now she was moving into her new apartment, but it felt good.

            This was her spring.





Chapter

NINE





“You’re so wrong,” Jack said, shaking his head. “It was the look on his face when she showed up at Pemberley with her relatives. The guy didn’t even have to say a word. He beamed like a lovesick fool.”

            They were both lying on their stomachs on the floor of her new apartment (she didn’t have a couch yet), watching the end of Pride & Prejudice. After moving everything in, they’d decided to order beer and a pizza and watch a movie since neither of them had anything else going on.

            “I do love his face there,” she agreed, picturing Matthew Macfadyen’s sweet smile. “But the near-kiss in the rain is the best moment.”

            “Agree to disagree,” Jack said, rolling onto his side to face her. “It’s too devastating when they pull back.”

            “If I didn’t know better—and I do, so don’t worry—I’d think you’re kind of a hopeless romantic.” Hallie grinned and just looked at him; Jack Marshall was an absolute question mark of a guy. “So how many times have you seen this, not-romantic-person?”

            “At least five, but it’s only because Livvie loved it and she whined the loudest in the house. She usually won control of the TV.”

            “You’re a very complex fellow, Marshall,” she said as he smiled back at her.

            “Oh, I know,” he replied, and his blue eyes moved all over her face.

            The moment held, and something passed between them. It was almost as if the memory of their past—the existence of their night together—suddenly reared its hot head, and Hallie was very aware of it.

            “I need another beer,” she said, climbing to her feet as she forced her mouth to stay in its smile, even though she felt unsettled all of a sudden. “Want something?”

            “No, actually, I’ve got to get going,” he said, clearing his throat while picking up his beer bottle and rising to his feet.

            “Well, thank you for helping me move.” Hallie walked into the kitchen, opened the pizza box, and grabbed a lukewarm slice. “Want a piece for the road?”

            “Nah,” he said, shoving his feet into his shoes and pulling on his jacket. “I’m good, but thanks.”

            After he left and she tossed the pizza box, Hallie started worrying. As she changed into her flannels, she wondered if that little second of weirdness was going to make things different for them. She didn’t want it to, because she really liked having him as her partner in crime.

            Her phone buzzed, and she was disappointed to see it was her mom.