A State of Jane by Meredith Schorr Read Free Book Online Page A

on my bed and said, “Nothing really. Just wanted to say that I'm glad you met another guy tonight and that I hope he's more worthy than Randall.”
    The unexpected kind words left me momentarily speechless, but I recovered and said, “Thanks, Lainie!” Feeling guilty over my earlier cockiness, I pointed to my computer screen and said, “To be honest, I really don't know anything about football. But I'm studying up now anyway.”
    Lainie gave me a soft smile and stood up. “You're sweet, Jane. You deserve a good guy.”
    I felt the sincerity of her words and felt a lump in my throat. “You do too, Lainie!”
    “Thanks, Jane. Unfortunately, I always find the bad ones so much more attractive! Well, goodnight.”
    “Goodnight, Lainie.”
    After she closed the door, I continued reading about the Lions. I gave up after five minutes and prayed the game itself would be more interesting.
    Tingling in anticipation of seeing Jim again, I turned off my computer and crawled into bed hoping Sunday would come fast.

C HAPTER 11
    “So they have ten chances to go four downs?”
    Laughing, Jim said, “Close. They have four downs to go ten yards.”
    We were watching the game at East End Tavern, not far from my apartment. “What are downs again?”
    “You're adorable. You know that?”
    Blushing, due more to being giddy from the compliment than embarrassed over my ignorance, I responded, “Thanks” and took a sip of my apple martini. Didn't exactly go with the football theme, but there was a 5 dollar special, so I wasn't the only girl not drinking beer.
    “This place is great. Love how each booth has its own television screen so you can control what game you watch,” Jim said.
    “I know! I saw that online and thought it was cool. Figured you'd like it.”
    “Never been here before?”
    “Nope.”
    “And you did research?”
    I said, “Yep” and took a sip of my drink before turning toward the television monitor where a bunch of players in dark blue jerseys had just jumped on top of one guy in a lighter blue jersey. When I looked back at Jim, he was staring at me.
    “What?” I glanced down and hoped I hadn't dribbled my martini onto my white long sleeved T-shirt. I wore it with dark blue jeans to go with the colors of the Lions.
    “Nothing.”
    “Then why are staring at me? Do I have wings in my teeth?” I knew I should have stuck with chicken fingers.
    Jim chuckled. “No, nothing nearly as dire as that. It was just very sweet of you to put so much thought into where we watched the game.”
    Blushing again, I said, “It was nothing. I like researching places before I go to them.”
    “It was still nice. You did good.”
    “Glad you're happy!”
    Jim said, “I'm very happy” and stood up. I thought he was going to tell me he was going to the bathroom and would be right back, but instead he walked to my side of the table, sat down, and surprised me with a soft kiss on the lips.
    Grabbing my hand, he said, “I'm having a great time, Jane.”
    Startled, but in a good way, I said, “Me too” before Jim reached over and kissed me again. Since I wasn't caught off guard like the last time, I kissed him back.
    After that, there was no point faking any interest in football so I just gazed longingly at Jim while he stared intently at the television and kissed me during time outs. We held hands except when Jim clapped excitedly or slammed his palm against the table in frustration.
    After the game, Jim walked me home and we sat on my front steps. “I'm very happy the Lions won for more reasons than one,” he said.
    I squeezed his hand and said, “I'm happy the Lions won too. Happy for you, that is. I won't pretend to suddenly be a football fanatic.”
    “Well, besides the obvious reason that I always prefer when my team wins, I can be quite a sore loser and I'd hate to make a bad impression on our first date.”
    Giggling, I said, “Since you only kissed me when the Lions did something good and sulked whenever the