Page 6 of Love on the Line

“No. I like indulging in pizza and burgersand ice cream while also keeping my figure in shape as an ice girl.” AJcouldn’t help the burst of laughter that escaped her.

Mathias followed suit, laughing as well. “Ilike your laugh, Amelia Jane. And your name. Do you always go by AJ?”

“Thank you, and yes, AJ’s always been easy.”

“Okay, but I hope you won’t mind if I tendto say your full name. It’s a beautiful name.”

“Thank you.”

“And to answer your question honestly,yes, I do enjoy hiking and kayaking. I also mountain bike, no street cycling. I’vedone some rock climbing and BASE jumping.”

“Wow. Really adventurous.”

A chuckle preceded his words of “I suppose.”

“I really enjoy being outside, losingmyself in nature. And our area provides a lot of opportunity for that.”

“Do you live in Boise?”

There was silence for a moment before hespoke again. “You did read my profile, right?”

“Um, no. I know nothing about you.”

“But you called me, based on our matchingprofiles and similar interests. Right?”

“No again,” she stated. “I had no ideawhat was going on when one of my friends just handed me the phone as she suddenlydecided she needed to be elsewhere. She told me about thisFlirt Chat, and how it worked, but I didn’t know she’d actuallyregistered me until it all came spilling out in a rush.”

“Right before rushing out the door.”

“Precisely.” She hesitated beforecontinuing. “Um, I’m sorry?”

“Why are you sorry? It wasn’tyourdoing. Your friend must really be desperate for you tofind someone.”

“You have no idea.” AJ sighed. As much asshe loved Jen, this act was pushing the envelope between caring about her andbeing intrusive.

“Are you upset with her?”

“I don’t know yet. I know she cares, butthis … this was…”

“Pushing it?”

AJ laughed. “Exactly. Very uncanny how yousay just the right things.”

“Well, I try.”

His attitude came across as relaxed, nice,and truth be told, AJ didn’t mind talking to him at all. He was witty, and shecould truly listen to his voice all day long. Possibly into the night.

Her face heated at the thought. Thankgoodness they weren’t video-chatting, because how awkward would that be? Anonymitywas safer.

“So, AJ, would you like to keep talking? Becausetruthfully, I’m enjoying this.”

She hesitated a moment before confessing. “Iwas thinking the same thing.”

“Excellent! So, what would you like toknow? Since you know nothing about me and I know everything about you.”

“Oh, is that so? And what exactly iseverything you know about me?”

“Well, besides what I already said… AndI’m still fantasizing about you being an ice girl.” He chuckled. “I know you’rethirty-two and passionate about your career in advertising. You want to visitall twenty-three World Heritage Sites in the United States, five of which youalready have. And that’s just for starters.”

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