Almost Matched (Almost Bad Boys) by A.O. Peart Read Free Book Online Page B

need to get laid.” I grin right back at her.  
    “Hey, weren’t you supposed to call the radio station guy back?”  
    “Oh, crapiola. I almost forgot. Well, I don’t want to be rude and call now—”
    She makes a dismissive gesture and a ‘pfftt’ sound. “Please. Prudish is hardly your nature. Call him, quick.”  
    I take my cell phone out and dial. Waiting for Colin to pick up is unnerving. I’m about to hang up when I hear his slightly raspy voice, “Hello?”
    “Hey, Colin,” I make sure to speak rather blasé, as if my heart isn’t racing at a hundred miles an hour.  
    “Natalie.” Oh, Lord, he actually sounds totally pleased and surprised. Okay, score one for moi .  
    “So, yeah… good to hear your voice.” That’s a completely honest statement on my part. “What’s going on with you?”
    “You wouldn’t believe it.” No, I couldn’t believe that just a few words into a conversation, and the guy makes me feel so welcome, so… well, as if we knew each other and talked all the time. Wow. “I was just thinking about you. I was afraid you wouldn’t call me, and so I was actually getting up the nerve to call you .”  
    “Really? Do you have my number? Oh, wait. You saw it in your missed calls list, right?”
    “Erm… well. Yeah, I did.” He laughs. “But I already swiped it from the radio ad contract.” He sounds guilty.  
    “Oh, no worries.” It’s my time to laugh. “Sneaky though.” I wink at Ali.
    “Yeah, I know. What are you doing? Do you want to grab something to eat?”  
    “I’m having dinner with Ali. How about a drink later?” I say in, what I hope is a cheerful, but not too eager, tone.  
    “Sure. What time works for you?” He doesn’t seem disappointed. Phew, good.  
    “In two hours or so. We are still in Bellevue, and I need to drive back home to Seattle. Do you have a place in mind?” I let him decide.  
    “Let’s see… do you know Motto Bar and Grill downtown?”
    “Heard of it, but never been.”
    “I think you might like it. Cool place, good people, awesome beer.”
    “Sounds fine.” I shrug.  
    “That’s actually their motto. You know? Motto Bar and Grill? And that’s written on the wall above the bar,” he explains.
    I giggle. “No way.”
    “I’m serious. So okay, where should I pick you up?”
    “Well…” I stall. “I’ll drive myself. Or rather I’ll take a taxi from home, since I don’t drive after drinking.”  
    There is a brief silence. Brief, but I notice it, because suddenly the temperature seems to drop twenty degrees around me. He recovers quickly. “That’s a remarkable rule. I actually subscribe to it too.”
    “But you suggested that you would pick me up. So you weren’t planning on drinking that awesome beer they advertise?”
    “I was planning to pick you up in a taxi. I never drink and drive.” Colin sounds… withdrawn? Definitely serious, cold even. But there is something more in his voice. It stops me for a moment, but I decide not to dwell on that right now.  
    I motion to Ali to give me her cell phone.
    “That’s good to know,” I say, inclining my head, as if he could actually see me. I type the ‘Motto Bar and Grill’ into Google on Ali’s phone to grab the address.  
    “I’m looking forward to seeing you tonight.” There is a change in his voice again. It gets a bit velvety. Or is that my imagination? Maybe my vagina switched places with my ears again. That is very possible.  
    Ali and I finish our dinner, and I get up to leave. She decides to hang out a bit longer.  
    I smirk at her and say, “You’re so not over him.”
    “Oh, yes. I am. At least in the sense that you’re implying,” she whispers in my ear while giving me a hug.  
    “Then what are you doing?” I ask, looking into her eyes.  
    She glances away, a small smile playing on her lips. When she looks back at me, she tries to grin but fails. Her face is sad instead.  
    “What’s wrong? Ali?” I sit back