A Match Made at Christmas - Courtney Walsh Page 0,18
didn’t want to talk about.
What if he’d had his heart broken? What if one of his casual relationships had actually meant more to him than he’d let on?
If that was the case, it was better that he stayed quiet. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“So, we should get a plan,” she said.
“Right.” He poured a ridiculous amount of syrup over his buttered pancakes.
She quirked a brow, nodding at his plate.
“What?”
“Do you think you’ve got enough syrup?”
He picked up the bottle, turned it over, and squeezed another circle onto his plate. “Now I do.”
She shook her head. “You’re like a twelve-year-old boy.” If only that made him less—and not more—adorable. These childlike qualities only endeared her to him, and she hated that.
“Maybe we should talk about Peggy,” Pru said, desperately needing a mental subject change.
“So, we’re actually doing this.” He said it like a statement, not a question.
She stopped mid-bite. “Didn’t we say we were?”
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s just so bizarre. And Aunt Nellie left for Paris today. What would she have done if I’d said no?”
Pru grinned. “She knew you wouldn’t say no. She flattered you into saying yes.”
“You think I’m that easy?” he asked. “That a little flattery will make me do something I’m morally opposed to?”
“Morally opposed?” She took a bite. Her pancakes were perfect today. She wouldn’t let on that she’d tried extra hard. And she certainly wouldn’t show him the pile of burnt ones that had landed in the garbage can. “Why?”
He ate another piece of bacon. Oh, to be a man and eat bacon like it was fruit. “I just don’t think this is how it works. It’s like online dating—not natural.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
“You think so?”
“Sure,” she said. “First, you’re a good-looking single guy, which already puts you at an advantage. Second, you’re good with people, so you have no problem meeting women. But for someone like Peggy Swinton, that’s not reality.”
“You think I’m good-looking?” He grinned.
She rolled her eyes. “Is that all you heard?”
He shrugged. “I’ve learned to filter out what’s not important.”
“You’re right, it’s weird Aunt Nellie picked you as her replacement.” She took another bite. “You know nothing about the plight of the single woman.”
“So, tell me.”
Heat rushed to her cheeks. “No.”
“No, really,” he said. “I want to hear about your plight.”
She squinted at him. “Why do you sound skeptical?”
“Because I don’t believe you suffer any kind of plight.” He chewed another bite, swallowed, then raised his eyebrows, waiting for her reply. “I think you could have any guy you wanted.”
She knew it was her turn for a witty retort, but her mind had gone blank.
His smile wasn’t helping her focus.
Finally, words returned. “Well, good men are typically harder to find than good women,” she said. “So, we already have that working against us. It’s like men are genetically dispositioned to not seek out meaningful relationships, whereas women are.”
He frowned. “That’s a little stereotypical, don’t you think?”
“I’m just trying to explain why someone good and kind like Peggy can’t find a decent man.”
“I thought we were looking for her soulmate.”
She knew that would be back to bite her. “Take the soulmate out of the equation.”
“Because you know it doesn’t exist?”
“No,” she said. “Because we’re just talking about dating right now.”
“Okay, so what about you?” He shoveled a stack of pancake onto his fork.
“What about me?”
“If women are created to seek out meaningful relationships, why are you still single?”
She picked up her mug and did her best to avoid his gaze. Her best wasn’t good enough. Nothing could’ve withstood the magnetic pull of Hayes’s hazel eyes. “I’m not a good case study. I think more like a guy.”
“So, you don’t want a meaningful relationship.” His tone turned casual. “A soulmate.”
His emphasis on that word was very effective.
“That’s not what I said.” She didn’t like this conversation one little bit.
“But you haven’t had a meaningful relationship for as long as I’ve known you,” he said. “I mean, I remember you dating a few different guys, but after about two months, you were single again.”
“With one exception, we have that in common.”
He sipped his coffee, seemingly unfazed by her attempt to steer the conversation.
“What’s your point?” She asked, much more flustered than she should be.
“I’m just trying to debunk your theory here,” he said.
“Well, we’re not talking about me,” she said, wishing they actually weren’t talking about her. “We’re talking about Peggy.”
“Okay,” he said. “So why has it been hard for Peggy to find a good partner?”
She chewed her mouthful, swallowed,