Page 10 of Crazy Little Thing Called Love
“Hey, Doc.”
Faith froze at the sound of the familiar voice on the other end of the line and felt her insides do a slow flip. Maybe she was thinking about him so hard he’d picked up on the signals.
“Hey, yourself,” she said, her voice more husky than usual.
“I was hoping you could help me out with something.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, there’s this woman.”
Faith felt a quick stab of jealousy clutch her heart because of this nameless woman. She ruthlessly stomped it back down and took a deep breath. She was a professional.
“What woman?” The question didn’t really come out as professional as she’d hoped, more of a snarl.
Jake laughed, sending shivers straight down to her toes. “Do you believe in love at first sight, Doc?”
“Well, I suppose so, but more often than not it’s usually lust at first sight. Is that what you have?”
“No, it’s definitely love. You see, a woman left a message on my business answering machine yesterday, and the sound of her voice made me throw all my well-laid plans out the window. I had to meet her, so I went to her house this morning to see how I could be of service. One look at those amazing green eyes and I was head over heels, just like that.”
Faith’s heart hammered against her ribs. She was acutely aware of Lucy watching her with growing interest from across the console.
“You seem to be pretty sure of your feelings. Are you a man who falls in and out of love easily?”
“No. Can’t ever say I’ve felt anything close to it other than what I have for my family. The truth is, I’ve tried to avoid it. I’ve enjoyed the bachelor’s life over the years, but I was hit square between the eyes today. What do you think I should do?”
“Well, if it were me, I’d want to get to know this woman a little better than just the superficial impressions you got from one meeting. She could be a serial killer or organize her pantry in alphabetical order by can size. And if I were this woman, I don’t think I’d fall for the love at first sight bit, especially if you’ve been enjoying the bachelor life the way I think you have, so you should probably keep that to yourself. Romancing the right woman is hard work. And you might be surprised. She might not want to settle down in a relationship. Maybe she has plans or dreams she wants to act on. Or maybe she has a difficult time with relationships.”
“Do you think she’d tell me all these things if I asked her out on a date?”
“I think it’s a good place to start.”
“What if she turns me down?”
“You sound like a pretty nice guy. I would think she’d at least give you a chance.”
“I hope so. The problem is, whenever I’m around her all I can think about is taking her into my arms and getting lost in her eyes. They bewitch me.”
Faith caught her sigh before it could go out over the airwaves.
“Ask her,” she repeated.
“Thanks for all your help, Doc. It sounds like she needs to be swept off her feet, and I think I’m exactly the guy to do that.”
Faith somehow got her voice and her hormones under control enough to thank the caller and sign off, but it was all a blur. Jake had used up every bit of her last few minutes, and she would give him anything he wanted just for saving her from any more lunatics.
“Whew,” Lucy said as she burst into the room, a bundle of energy spiked with coffee. “That guy was hot.”
“You don’t even know what he looks like. How can you tell he’s hot?”
“I don’t have to see that man to know he’s hot. He just made every woman in America wish she was the woman he fell in love with. How romantic. I could tell you weren’t all that unaffected either.”
Faith knew her face was flushed, so she bent over to grab her bag to give her heart rate a little time to slow.
“Speaking of hot guys,” Lucy continued, following Faith as she gathered her things, “Mark’s cousin is in town next weekend. Successful accountant, never married, owns his own condo. And before you say no, he’s actually cute. Not male-model gorgeous, but definitely in the how-is-he-still-single category.”
“Lucy—”
