Page 31 of Ten Rules for Faking It
Okay. She could do this.Theycould do this. When his lips curved into a more relaxed smile, Everly’s brain brought up the memory of how sexy his mouth felt wrapped around her index finger.My brain hates me.
Chris’s eyes narrowed. “You good?”
“Awesome,” she said with way too much enthusiasm.
They made their way back to the living room. When they sat in the same spots on the couch, nerves washed over her again, threatening to buckle her knees.
“Again, I’m so sorry, Everly.”
The tone of his voice caught her off guard. He wasreallysorry. Was it because of her? Would he have been sorry if he’d accidentally sucked Stacey’s finger?Ew.
“The app?” Easiest way to get over something was to avoid thinking or talking about it. Said no therapist ever. Whatever. She was a producer, not a shrink.
Chris cleared his throat and pulled his phone over. His coffee table also held some remotes, his laptop, and a lot of paperwork. What did he do besides work? Outside of work? The next man she chose was going to be able to balance personal and professional.Like you?That was a bit of a pot-kettle situation, but she was working on it. She was here, ready to map out her dating life.
“I have some rules.”
Chris scrolled through his phone, pulling up an app. She couldn’t see it but didn’t want to lean in closer. He glanced at her from the side of his eye. “For dating?”
She gave a low laugh. “Dating. Life. Getting through birthdays.” Everly took a deep breath. “I actually meant for possible guys. No face tattoos, unkempt or abnormally long beards, weird fetishes, or nose rings.”
Chris set his phone down on the couch between them and gave her his full attention. “Defineabnormally long.”
She thought about it, then gestured to her shoulders. “No farther than the shoulders, I think.”
He nodded, and she felt like he was holding back a grin. “Weird fetishes could mean any manner of things.”
Like finger sucking.Oh. God. Get out of your own head.“Just… nothing too out there.”
“Those all seem reasonable enough.”
She wasn’t sure if he was on the brink of teasing her, but the way his lips almost curved made her head feel light. “I’m not done,” she said. “He should be outgoing. Bold. Like to try new things.”Basically my opposite.
Chris nodded. “You’ve given this some thought. Those are very specific.”
Her shoulders stiffened. If she was doing this, she wanted what she wanted. Why not? It was her dating show. Or whatever. “They are. I’ve had some lousy luck so far with men, so I might as well be up front about what I want.”
Was it her imagination, or did his eyes flash fire? He looked down at his phone.
“Everyone has their hard lines in the sand.”
He didn’t make her feel judged. He just smiled and nodded again, his fingers tapping the phone. “Anything else youdowant?”
Hmm. She bit her lip and gave it a moment of thought, appreciating that he didn’t rush her in any way. “Outgoing. Maybe someone artistic? Someone with a sense of adventure. Someone funny, but how do you know? I mean, anyone can write anything down on these things, and then you find out nothing is true.”
Chris started to stand but paused and looked her way. “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that everything is verified. We’ll have security nearby on all dates, so if it turns out the man who said he was a funny, outgoing artist is actually a long-bearded, face-tattooed guy, we’ll end it.”
She smirked, biting her lip so she didn’t laugh. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure. I’m going to plug this into my television,” he said, walking toward the huge screen. He did whatever he needed to do to get it set up and then grabbed one of his many remotes and turned the TV on. The screen was a deep purple with a black logo of anEcurling into a heart. To the right, it saidEver Love.
Everly’s mouth dropped open, and she stared at Chris.
He shrugged. “My brother tailor-made it for you.” Her eyes were drawn to his throat as he swallowed and then turned back to the screen. Everly forced herself to turn her head in that direction, too.
“Okay, so we’ll go through the candidates. They’ve been uploaded, sorted, and categorized according to things you’ve told me. We narrowed the age bracket and basic physical requirements based on the questionnaire we had you fill out. Each guy will pop up, and you can see him and read his bio. Several of them uploaded a video message.”
“Really?” Everly leaned forward.
