Getting Gabriel by Cathy Quinn Read Free Book Online Page B

taken enough of that from my mother through the years."
    "Okay, okay," Alice mumbled as he let go off her. Matchmaker? Fat chance. The last thing she’d do was fix Gabriel up with someone. "Okay. You get to be my bodyguard on Friday. But I’m not making any promises about after that."
    "You have a date on Friday?"
    She nodded as she hopped off the car, crossed over to the hose and picked it up. She pulled it with her and squirted some water over the car, casually moving closer to Gabriel. Water sluiced down the hood, the resulting brown streaks not doing much to improve the car’s look. Damnit. Now she really had to wash it.
    Gabriel sighed. "Who is it? Some guy off the Internet, I assume? Someone nameless, faceless nerd that you know nothing about?"
    "Yes to the nameless, faceless, Internet part. I’ve put the prospective dates in alphabetical order." She frowned, trying to recall his vital stats. "This guy’s name is Alex or Alec, I think. He’s an architect, divorced, one kid. We’re meeting at a restaurant for dinner."
    Gabriel leaned inside her car, rolled up the windows and shut the door. "It’s wise to have the windows closed while you’re spraying water over the car, Alice. What precautions are you taking?"
    "Isn’t that rather a personal question?"
    "Just answer the question. What precautions are you taking?"
    She rolled her eyes. "You’re so bossy. What do you want me to do, wear a Kevlar vest? I’ve got you to scare him off. Why are you assuming I’m choosing axe murderers, anyway? They all sound perfectly nice and friendly."
    "Anyone can sound perfectly nice and friendly in an email or on the phone. You can’t trust those guys."
    "Anyone can sound perfectly nice and friendly in real life too. Believe me, I’m speaking from experience."
    Gabriel grabbed the hose from her, and sprayed the top of the car and the side windows with quick, rough movements. "You know absolutely nothing about these people. Better safe then sorry. Be careful. Don’t tell them too much about yourself. Don’t give them your name until you know them a lot better. Don’t reveal any personal information that might identify who you are or where you live."
    "Tell me, how am I supposed to get to know them if I’m not allowed to reveal any "possibly identifying personal information"? What are we to talk about?"
    He thrust the hose back at her. "Movies, music, books, politics, TV, the stock market, local news, global news, food, world affairs, websites, sports, global warming, the rain forests, the economy..."
    Alice held up a hand to stop him, as he seemed capable of going on forever. "I get it, I get it."
    "You can talk to people for a decade without telling them where you live or where you work. Use your imagination."
    "Sheesh. One would imagine you were the master of small talk, Mr. Strong and Silent."
    She found herself wishing she was going on that date with Gabriel, to talk about movies and music and books and politics.
    Then afterwards they could have a wrestling session... Mmm. Yum.
    Gabriel shrugged as he fetched a bucket from the garage and tossed some soap in. "Maybe I’ll get to see you try out your stun gun or your new self-defense moves." He threw a sponge her way. "Stop messing around, and hose the car down properly, will you? And put some water in this bucket. I’m looking forward to seeing what color your car is under all the gray and brown."
    Alice grinned and grabbed the bucket.
    One day, she promised herself, she’d get that water fight.
    Chapter 5
    "So, where is everybody?" Alice looked around the small YMCA gym, empty apart from the plethora of lingering smells that always haunted gyms. "And am I over or underdressed? I’m figuring it has to be one or the other."
    Gabriel glanced at her and she spread out her arms and spun in a circle. "You’re fine."
    "I didn’t know what to wear, so I just wore my not-so-hip gym clothes."
    "You’re fine," he repeated. "You look like a lollipop, but you’re fine.