LITMIR.BIZ

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better than nothing. Barely.

      “I wonder if she’s coming to the reunion,” he mused.

      Next to him Chica whined.

      “Yeah, you’re right, what does it matter?” Jonathan muttered. These days she was way too busy to hang out with nerdy guys she’d hung with as a kid. And if he went to the reunion, history would repeat itself and the high school hunks would squeeze him out.

      He listened as the guest expert talked about how to make a first date with an internet match-up successful. If only there was an expert out there who could help a guy have a successful encounter with a woman he’d known all his life.

      “I can’t keep just seeing her this way,” he said to Chica. “And I can’t go on doing nothing. She won’t stay single forever.”

      As if, when she finally walked down the aisle, it would be to him! “You’re dreaming,” he told himself.

      Well, so what if he was? A man needed dreams, needed to think big. Go big or go home.

      Oh, yeah. He was already home. Forget about it, he advised himself.

      The morning show ended and Jonathan turned off the TV, leaving Chica in charge of yard patrol and napping, and then got in his car and drove down the long, gravel road toward town. He passed a few large lots with big houses on them, but mostly here, in his neck of the woods, the land remained dense with trees and brush.

      He liked it that way. Jonathan Templar, rugged mountain man. Well, mountain man, anyway.

      The town itself looked picturesque on this sunny morning. The window boxes and hanging planters that decorated the quaint Bavarian-style buildings overflowed with red geraniums and pink and white begonias. And with the mountains rising up behind, he could almost believe he was somewhere in the German Alps. A few people were stirring, some running errands, some visiting, others sweeping off the sidewalks in front of their shops.

      It sure wasn’t New York or Seattle but that was okay with Jonathan. Icicle Falls was perfect the way it was. Who would want to live anywhere else?

      Lissa Castle, that was who. Would she ever give up her TV career and move back to Icicle Falls? Probably not. Would he say goodbye to this beautiful place and follow her wherever her career led? In a heartbeat, if only she’d ask him.

      Even a man caught in the net of unrequited love had to think about other things once in a while. Jonathan parked his car on Center Street and turned his mind to business.

      He had plenty to keep him busy the rest of the morning, so busy in fact that he wound up working clear through lunch. He found himself with twenty minutes to kill before he had to be at Mountain Escape Books to work on Pat Wilder’s computer, so he decided to duck into Bavarian Brews for a quick pick-me-up.

      The aroma of coffee kissed his taste buds as he walked in. Yes, he was probably going to go a million years without sex, might never connect with the woman of his dreams, but at least he had coffee.

      Coffee. Sex. Was there really any comparison? Jonathan frowned at the thought of what he was settling for in life.

      Cecily Sterling came in right behind him. “Hi, Jonathan. You need a caffeine fix, too?” she asked as they got in line to place their orders.

      “Yeah,” he said, showing off his suave to the most beautiful woman in Icicle Falls. Jonathan Templar, lady killer.

      He was racking his brain to come up with something clever to say when Todd Black, who had just entered the coffee shop, stepped confidently into the conversation. “By this time of day, who doesn’t need a hit?”

      Cecily rolled her eyes at him. “You make it sound like you’ve been up for hours.”

      Todd owned the Man Cave, a tavern on the edge of town. He kept late hours and so was bound to sleep late.

      “I was up early this morning doing the books. Not easy after a hard day’s night.”

      “I’m sure you work very hard watching over your kingdom of Kahlua,” she sneered.

      “It’s not a bad kingdom. By the way, Kahlua and chocolate go well together. Bring me some more of yours and I’ll prove it.”

      “I’ll take your word for it.”

      Jonathan had been standing in line behind Cecily, but somehow Todd managed to cut in front of him. He watched with a mixture of irritation and envy as Todd leaned in close to her and said, “One of these days you’re going to watch some sappy movie where the couple is dancing real slow and you’re going to remember my offer to give you a tango lesson.”

      She shook her head and moved away a step. He closed the distance.

      Oh, this was a master in action. Jonathan eavesdropped shamelessly.

      “Or you’re going to get an urge to come check out the action on my pinball machine. You said you were good but so far you haven’t proved it.”

      “I don’t have to prove anything to you.” She turned to look at him and they almost brushed lips.

      “You’re invading my space,” she said, frowning.

      “I bet that’s not all I’m invading. How you sleeping these days, Cecily? Do you get hot? Throw off the covers?”

      Her cheeks went pink. “I sleep fine, thanks.” She took two giant steps away and placed her order, leaving Todd with a confident smirk on his face.

      Jenni, the barista, whipped up Cecily’s coconut mocha latte and set it on the counter, but Cecily chose that moment to send a text on her cell phone. Todd’s drink order came up and she put away her phone and picked up her to-go cup. They stood trading words that, Jonathan suspected, had secret messages attached, then, with her cheeks even pinker, she left the coffee shop. Todd watched her go, smiling like a man who’d just landed a fish and was now contemplating how he’d cook it.

      Speaking of cooking, there’d been enough current zipping back and forth between those two to light the giant fir tree in the town square at Christmas and the rest of the town, too. How did guys like Todd manage to stir up a woman’s hormones with nothing more than a few well-chosen words? Jonathan wished he knew.

      The only way to find out was to ask.

      Todd was about to saunter out the door. Jonathan grabbed his drink and hurried after him. “Uh, Todd. Can I ask you something?”

      Todd turned, an easy smile on his face, his brows raised. “Sure. What?”

      “How do you do that?”

      The brows knit. “Do what?”

      Okay, maybe he didn’t want to have this conversation in the middle of Bavarian Brews. He opened the door and motioned that they should go out on the street. Once outside he wasn’t sure how to frame his question.

      “What’s on your mind, computer man?” Todd prompted him.

      “I was watching you with Cecily. You’re smooth.”

      Todd shrugged and took a drink of coffee.

      “How do you do it? How do you know what to say?”

      “I just say what comes into my head.” Todd watched Cecily running across the street toward Sweet Dreams. “She likes being chased. But you know what? She’s about ready to let me catch her, and she’s going to like getting caught even more.” The smile on his face oozed confidence.

      Well, Jonathan would have confidence, too, if he looked like Johnny Depp’s kid brother. He realized he was frowning. He probably looked like a pitiful loser.

      “Woman troubles?” Todd guessed.

      “Always.”

      “Yeah, well, women and trouble go together.” He clapped Jonathan on the back. “But you’ve got to hang in there. Never give up. That’s what Winston Churchill said, and he saved England in World War II.”

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