Sheila Roberts - What She Wants

But how to say no to a pretty woman? Jonathan didn’t have a clue.

“Oh, please say yes. I need a tech wizard.”

“I guess I could.” What the heck. She was going to wear him down, anyway, and they both knew it.

He sighed inwardly. Now he could hear all about how successful his former classmates had been, see pictures of their wives and kids. Yuck.

Meanwhile, here was Tina, gushing away. “Fabulous! Thank you, Jonathan. You are just...”

A sucker.

“...the best.”

The best geek. Nothing wrong with being a geek, he reminded himself. It had worked fine for Bill Gates.

“I should get going,” Tina said. “I’m late for the committee meeting. But I’m so glad I ran into you.”

Yeah, him, too. Before he could say anything, sarcastic or otherwise, she was hurrying off down the sidewalk.

Jonathan continued on toward the bookstore, deep in thought. Lissa would be back for the reunion in August. Now that Rand was married, maybe he stood a chance of at least getting her attention for a few minutes.

Realistically, that was about all he’d get. She’d been way too popular, and practically everyone else would want to hang with her. Still, he and Lissa had known each other for years. Surely she’d want to visit with him, too.

But simply visiting wasn’t going to cut it. He had to figure out a way to shake things up, make an impression.

Hmm. Following that line of thought to its logical conclusion... If he wanted to make an impression, he had to come up with a plan.

His earlier conversation with Todd Black returned for a visit. You’ve got to hang in there.

He pulled his smartphone out of his jeans pocket and looked up Winston Churchill’s famous quote. “Never, never, never, never give up.” What chance did he have of winning Lissa’s love? About one in a million. If he didn’t even try? None.

He squared his shoulders. He was not going to give up. Somehow he was going to find a way to transform himself from zero to hero, find a way to make her see that her truest childhood friend could also be her truest love.

But how?

He needed a love coach.

Chapter Three

Adam was missing from the next Friday-night poker game. “He decided to stay up in Alaska for the weekend and fish after finishing his sales calls,” Jonathan explained to his fellow gamblers.

“Should be good salmon fishing on the Copper River about now,” said Vance. “Especially next week. I may have to take a run up there myself.”

“Going up to Alaska for a little fishing when the spirit moves you? Business must be great at the bookstore,” Kyle observed, his voice tinged with jealousy.

Vance shrugged. “It’s okay.”

With Vance’s lifestyle, it had to be doing more than okay. Vance didn’t talk about his business much. For that matter, he didn’t talk much about his life at all. Jonathan knew he’d been married and had a daughter, and that was about it. Maybe Vance had a rich uncle who died and left him a fortune. Maybe he was a Microsoft millionaire. Jonathan had no idea. When it came to sharing his personal life, Vance preferred to stick to topics such as his fishing adventures (especially the one that got away), how much he’d won or lost at the casino or his latest wine discovery.

“Okay,” Vance said, and started dealing the cards, “let’s get down to business. Five-card draw, jacks or better, to open.”

As they picked up their cards, Bernardo mused, “I don’t know how that boy can go off fishing on the weekend all the time. If I did that, my Anna would not be happy.”

“He’s already up there, anyway, since that’s part of his sales territory,” Kyle said, “so he may as well stay. I would.”

“You’re not married, amigo,” Bernardo reminded him.

That made Kyle frown. “Thanks for the update.”

“If a man wants to keep his woman happy he has to be around,” Bernardo continued.

Jonathan supposed Bernardo would know. He’d been married for fifteen years.

“Yeah, they like attention,” Vance agreed. “Lots of it. Another reason to stay single.”

“If I was with Jillian, I’d give her plenty of attention,” Kyle said.

Vance pointed a fat finger at him. “Don’t go there.”

Kyle frowned again and shoved two cards across the table. “I’ll take two.”

When Vance gave him two new ones, he was still frowning, but that probably had more to do with thoughts of Jillian than the cards he’d received.

Jonathan kept his thoughts about women in general and one woman in particular to himself. The last thing he wanted was Bernardo’s pity or Vance’s scorn. Let Kyle take that hit. Jonathan preferred to suffer in silence.

* * *

Saturday morning Jonathan attempted to ease his suffering by going with his sister, Juliet, to the library for the Friends of the Library monthly book sale.

A stranger seeing them enter the musty room in the library basement would never have taken them for siblings. Other than their hair color, they didn’t look at all alike. Juliet Gerard had big, brown eyes and perfect eyesight, where his gray eyes hid behind glasses. He had a long face, while she’d been blessed with a perfect oval like their mother’s. He was skinny and barely five foot eight; she was long-legged and stacked. She’d definitely gotten the looks in the family while he’d gotten the brains. Not that Juliet was stupid, but it quickly became apparent who the family genius was. In the world of kids, that wasn’t necessarily a blessing. When they were younger he’d often wished it was the other way around, but then he’d realized how unfair that would have been. Life was easier for a man who wasn’t all that attractive than it was for a woman. Theoretically.

Their lives were as different as their looks. Juliet was married and trying to get pregnant, a project that was taking much longer than expected. When she wasn’t working at that, she logged in part-time hours at Mountain Escape Books or met with her book club or hosted parties where all her friends had to buy candles or face goop. She was an awful cook, a good dancer and an avid romance reader. And her social calendar was always full.

Jonathan’s, on the other hand, had a lot of open space, and he was stuck in nonswinging single limbo. He couldn’t dance, but he could fix leaky pipes and install dimmer switches, something both his sis and his brother-in-law appreciated. Unlike Juliet, he read real fiction like action adventure or sci-fi/fantasy, and the monthly fund-raiser book sales gave him an opportunity to try out new authors.

He’d just scored big, finding a first edition of The Kingdom of Zoon, when Juliet, prowling the romance section a couple of bookshelves over, let out a squeal.

Hildy Johnson, who owned Johnson’s Drugs along with her husband, Nils, was standing next to her and already had several books in her basket, but she eyed Juliet’s find with envy. “Oh, Vanessa Valentine. I haven’t read that one.”

The woman was married and in her fifties. Why was she reading romance novels?

“I’ll lend it to you when I’m done,” Juliet promised.

Rita Reyes, who’d worked in the bar at Zelda’s restaurant, entered the room. She said a quick hi to Jonathan, then moved to join Juliet and Hildy in their treasure hunt. “I hope you haven’t taken all the good books.”

“We saved you a few,” Juliet assured her. “When’s Zelda’s going to open again?”

“Charley says by June.”

“I hope so,” Juliet said. “I miss those huckleberry martinis.”

“And I miss working there.” Rita sighed. “I’ll be so glad when we’re up and running again.”

A fire in December had forced the restaurant to close; it was now in the process of being rebuilt. Zelda’s was a popular place in town for both families and singles wanting to mix and match. Jonathan hadn’t gone there much.