Virtually Yours: A Virtual Match Anthology Page 2
“Name it.” He’d do almost anything to make up for the crap impression he’d apparently left her with back in the summer.
“My cousin’s birthday is next week, and I’m not going to make it home for the party, so I want to send a nice care package.”
“Okay, what did you have in mind?”
“Well, she’s really into comics, but I have no idea what she’s read and what she hasn’t. And as my knowledge of the subject extends only as far as exactly how many plot holes Chris Hemsworth’s abs make up for, I thought I’d consult someone who was rather more of an expert.”
Reed felt his lips twitch. “I can’t decide if that was a compliment or an insult to both my abs and my level of pure geek.”
“You can talk pure geek when you can quote the entirety of Pitch Perfect, including all the music and choreography—”
“—while under the influence of a pitcher of strawberry daiquiris,” Christoff added.
Reed lifted a brow.
“Yeah, that happened.” Cecily shrugged and dropped her gaze to his stomach, as if she could see through the button-down he wore. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure your Captain America board shorts were a compliment to both abs and geekdom.”
He flashed back to summer, to the feel of her hand trailing up and down his chest as they lay by the lake, watching the stars and lightning bugs come out.
“So maybe you could channel some of your natural Steve Rogers and help a girl out?”
Reed blinked, coming back to the now and hoping she meant post-super serum Steve. Putting on his best Chris Evans impression, he said, “Happy to help, ma’am. Right this way.”
He led her over to the wall of comics and graphic novels. “Tell me a bit about your cousin.”
“She’s turning seventeen. She’s brilliant and independent and stubborn and fierce in the best possible way.”
“So she’s your mini me.”
Cecily cut her eyes to his, a faint wash of pink staining her cheeks. “She also towers over me by a good five inches.”
“What you lack in stature, you make up for in personality.”
She flashed a rueful smile. “Yeah, let’s go with that. Anyway, I’d love to introduce her to something new and awesome.”
“Well, if I was going for new and awesome, with fantastic art, and a serious showcase for strong women, I’d give her this.” Reed reached past her to grab an issue off the shelf.
Cecily sucked in a quiet breath, drawing his gaze to her mouth. He’d only kissed her once—a languorous exploration that’d slid a long-running flirtation into serious what the hell had taken him so long. Looking at those glossy, pink lips, he wanted to do it again. Did she still taste like honeysuckle?
Reed realized he was all up in her space, but before he eased back, he shifted toward her, just a little. She didn’t move back, and her dove gray eyes dilated before they dropped to his mouth.
Not disinterest then. Whatever had gone wrong between them hadn’t been about lack of attraction. Reed filed that away.
“Dark Defenders is a noir style comic with a lady hero. She’s kind of a ’40s vigilante—think Agent Carter meets Batman. She has a small support team a la Team Arrow, including a detective in the local precinct, who she saves from getting shot by the big crime boss.”
“Please tell me there’s a will they/won’t they almost romance.”
Is that what this is? “Naturally. It’s an indie published comic by S.J. Wayfield that’s been taking the comic world by storm. But it’s pretty new, so unless your cousin keeps up with the cutting edge, she probably hasn’t read it.”
“Works for me.”
“You want to just grab the first issue for her to try or the first collected volume? That’s the first eight.”
“Volume.”
“Excellent choice.” Reed grabbed the relevant volume, and they headed for the register. “So how’s the job search going?”
“It’s…going. I’ve had a few interviews, but nothing that I really want.”
He sensed reluctance rather than disappointment under that statement. She loved Wishful. He knew she did. And that gave him hope that maybe, just maybe, she wanted to stay. If she did, if she could, he might get another shot.
“Well, good luck. I’m sure the right thing will come along. Brenda, you want to take this one?”
“Sure.” Brenda offered up a genuine, if rusty, smile.
Reed kept an eye on the transaction, but she rang up the purchase with no problems. She’d be fine on the register while he did some work on inventory.
Cecily lifted her bag in salute. “Thanks for the recs. I’m sure Blair will love them.”
“Happy to help.” If he asked her out right now, what would she say? He still hadn’t sorted out what had gone wrong. Better to think things through before acting.
When they’d gone, Brenda shook her head. “So strange.”
On his way back to the tiny room that housed his office, Reed paused. “What is?”
“Her friend just bought out every copy of this month’s M & S.”
“Really?” That was strange. M & S wasn’t one they usually sold out of, certainly not days after release. And Christoff had already bought a copy the first time he’d come in. “Weird.” Making a mental note to order more, he retreated to his office to hide from the cougar on the prowl.
Chapter Two
“I’d hoped it was just a one-time thing, but it’s been a week and she’s still coming onto me.” Reed tipped back his Corona and shuddered. “It’s…weird, y’all. And I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Just tell her you’re not interested.” Eli Hamilton, king of stating the obvious, dug a chip into the guacamole at the center of the table tucked into the corner of Los Pantalones. The Mexican cantina was actually named Vaquero, but years ago, all of the neon cowboy on the sign had burned out, except for his pants. Nobody knew who’d started the nickname, but it’d stuck.
“All that time spent in the woods away from people has given you the sensitivity of a bulldozer, little brother.” Leo, the elder of the twins by ten minutes, merely lifted a brow when Eli flipped him off. “Classy.”
“And yet, I’m not the one who’s single.” He shot a grin and a wink at his girlfriend, who sat on the far side of the restaurant with her friends. Jessie blew a kiss back.
“Any day now, Jessie is going to wake up and realize what a Neanderthal you really are and drop your ass. In the meantime,” Leo turned back to Reed, “couldn’t you say something to the effect that personal involvement with employees is against company policy?”
“For one, I don’t want to draw attention to it at all because that’d make us both feel even more weird about it. For another, I wouldn’t put it past her to point out that I’m the boss and I make the rules, so I could change them.” He could just imagine being trapped in the tiny office with Brenda between him and the door, those perfectly manicured nails hooked around his arm like talons.
Zach Warren refilled his glass from the pitcher of Corona. “You’re overlooking the obvious solution.”
“I’m not going to fire her. Do you know what kind of fight that would lead to with my mother?”
“Your commitment to avoiding conflict has moved beyond pacifism and into wuss territory. No, you need a girlfriend.”
Went for that. Landed flat on my face.
Cecily hadn’t been back by the bookstore, leading him to conclude she really had just been shopping for her cousin, not out to renew some flirtation with him. He wondered if Blair liked Dark Defenders.
“There aren’t exactly any real candidates in that department at the moment. And I’m not going to start dating some woman with the express purpose of getting Brenda off my back. It wouldn’t be fair to lead somebody on like that. Not to mention I don’t need my mom to start hearing wedding bells where there are none. Now that Cam’s biting the bullet, the entire family has weddings on the brain.”
“What about a virtual girlfriend?”
“Not that kind of virtual girlfriend. Geez. I’m talking about Virtual Match.”
Eli picked up the pitcher. “Virtual what now?”
“Virtual Match. It’s this service where you can basically get an invisible significant other to get people off your back. You get to set up a profile, make up your story, pick a headshot or whatever, and when anybody asks, you have texts and emails that prove their existence.”
Reed’s interest piqued. “How’s that work?”
“They’ve got actual people on the other side writing the texts and emails, so you’re interacting with a human, not a computer. There are different levels of the service. But think about it. It’s perfect. Takes the lie of a long distance girlfriend and backs it up with actual proof. Then nobody’s the wiser, and your cougar backs off without being embarrassed about her crush on a much younger man.”
“The man makes a good point.” Eli peered down at his phone. “And at this price per month, it’s cheaper than an actual girlfriend, that’s for damn sure. Look, I’ll even sign you up for a gift subscription.”
“Seriously?”
“Don’t look a gift girlfriend in the mouth,” Leo told him. “Having regular female contact has apparently loosened his wallet. Just go with it.”
“Oh, what the hell. It’s not like I have any better ideas. Fire away.”
Over chips and queso, they signed Reed up for the service.
Leo plucked the phone out of Eli’s hand to take his turn. “Okay, so we need to name your girlfriend. I submit that since she’s rescuing you from your cougar, she should be named after the real-life alter ego of a superhero.”
“I second this motion,” Zach said.
“We’re doing this by committee now?” Reed asked.
Eli thumped him on the shoulder. “I think it should be Anna Marie after Rogue, since it's a virtual girl who can't touch you.”
“Oh, oh, or Jennifer Walters, the She-Hulk, since Reed needs protecting from the cougar.”
This time it was Reed flipping Zach the bird.
“No, she ought to be Sue Storm because she's an invisible girlfriend,” Leo argued.
“I am not dating a member of the Fantastic Four.”
“What about Betsy Braddock? She actually sounds like a real Southern girl,” Zach offered.
“Plus, lots of people haven’t ever heard of PsyLocke,” Eli added. “Less chance of being outed by accident.”
“She’s going to be my girlfriend,” Reed protested, “so I’m picking. Selina Kyle. Because who better to take on a cougar than Catwoman herself?”
Zach hooked his fingers into claws and pawed the air. “Rowr.”
“Selina Kyle it is. Here, pick a selfie.” Leo passed over the phone.
Reed scrolled through the gallery of pics, pausing over a few brunettes who vaguely resembled Cecily. No, he’d rather have the real thing or nothing at all. Moving on, he ultimately settled on blonde with Slavic blue eyes and a sassy smile. He hit next.
“Apparently we get to pick her personality, too.”
“Oh, gimme.” Zach snatched the phone.
“Remember, this has to be believable,” Reed reminded him.
They settled on something basic enough—intellectual rather than cheerleader bubbly—before moving on to customize the story of how he and Selina had met.
“She’s a graduate student at Ole Miss, getting her PhD in English. I met her at a reading up at Square Books,” Reed said.
“What’s she doing her dissertation on?” Leo wanted to know. His thumbs hovered over the phone.
“Gothic novels. Basically old school horror.”
“Seriously?” Eli looked up with interest. “You can actually write about cool stuff like that? I thought English was all about a bunch of boring, dead white dudes.”
Reed gave him a pitying look. “Go back to your woods, Ranger Rick.”
Leo finished entering the details and hit a button. “Okay. Last detail.”
Whatever that detail was faded into the background as Reed caught sight of Cecily standing near the hostess station, scanning the room. Her eyes met his, and she went very still for a moment, as if waiting. He thought about sliding out of the booth, crossing to her and laying his mouth over the lips she’d parted in surprise. Was it his imagination or were her cheeks going pink?
“Dude, how long have y’all been dating?”
Startled by Leo’s words, Reed blinked, and the tenuous connection was broken. Cecily began weaving her way through tables over to Jessie and the rest of her friends.
Idiot. Of course she hadn’t come here looking for him.
“It shouldn’t be too long or people will want to know why they didn’t know,” Zach pointed out.
Cecily slid out of her coat and took a seat, reaching immediately for the drink one of them held out.
It should be after the disaster at the lake. Reed forced his attention back to his friends. “Two months. Long enough to have talked and gotten to know each other and decided to date.”
A few button clicks later and Leo gave the phone back to his brother. “You are officially off the market.”
“I wonder how long it’ll take to kick in.” Before Reed even finished the question, his phone was buzzing. He tugged it out of his pocket and read the incoming text.
Hey, Tiger. What are you up to tonight?
“Well, I guess that answers that question.”
“What’d she say?” Zach asked, craning his head to see.
Ignoring him, Reed thumbed a reply. Mexican out with the guys. You?
The answer came back a few moments later. Up to my eyeballs in dissertation and wishing we were watching a movie and eating popcorn. Extra butter, naturally.
Jumping into the middle of a conversation with a complete stranger who was supposed to be not a stranger was totally weird. Well, in for a penny, he thought, and typed in a response.
~*~
By the time Cecily arrived at Los Pantalones, the parking lot was packed. She had to circle twice before finally snagging a space vacated by a pickup truck that’d been polished to a gleam for Friday night out on the town. Starving and tired, she was looking forward to the margarita the girls had ordered her when she’d texted she was leaving work. It’d been a good day, though, getting to present the marketing plan she’d developed for The Dixieland Biscuit Company to both Beth Carmichael and Norah.
Earlier in the week, Beth had taken advantage of the open door consult Norah’s office offered to local business owners twice a week, giving them an opportunity to get feedback and suggestions on how they could improve their marketing. As Norah got more and more tied up with other aspects of being city planner, more of that type of work fell to Cecily. And that suited her just fine. She enjoyed putting together campaigns for ways to market on a shoestring…creating something from almost nothing. Which was about the budget that most business owners in this economically-challenged town had to work with. Just last week, she’d swapped marketing expertise for some funky lamps at Parker Addison’s vintage shop, Park Place. She was still kicking around website ideas to offer in trade for a set of club chairs she’d been lusting over for the past month.
Cecily was still floating on a professional high from Beth’s delighted response and Norah’s approbation as she stepped into the busy cantina and began searching for her friends’ table. That high shifted to something a lot hotter as she caught sight of Reed Campbell watching her from across the room. She went still, as if by not moving, she’d somehow blend into her surroundings. How could his eyes feel like a caress from thirty feet away? She felt her skin heat, her body pull tight with wanting.
He blinked and whatever strange hold he’d had on her was broken. More than a little unnerved, she sucked in a steadying breath and hurried across to her friends.
“Sorry I’m late.”
Avery Cahill
held out a margarita with a sympathetic look. “We can go, if you want.”
Of course they hadn’t missed that little show.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Cecily shrugged out of her coat and took the margarita, drinking a tad deeper than she normally would.
“Are you sure?” Jessie Applewhite reached out to stroke a hand down her arm. “I know things have been weird between you and Reed since that weekend at the lake.”
“You’re making far too much of that.” No, she really wasn’t. “Reed and I are fine. Wishful is a small town. We run into each other all the time.” And every single time, Cecily had to remind herself why she’d walked away. She reached for the chip basket. “So, what are we talking about?”
“Men,” Avery said.
Of course they were. “Shouldn’t four adult women be capable of passing the Bechdel test and talking about something else on a Friday night out?”
“Not when Jessie’s looking all googly-eyed at her guy like we’re at some kind of middle school dance.” Brooke Redding rolled her eyes and sipped at a margarita. “Way better punch than they had in junior high, though.”
Jessie turned back to them, feigning insult. “I’m allowed to be googly-eyed.”
“According to the Girl Code, she is,” Avery declared. “She gets a full three months by default, plus an extra month due to his level of exceptional hotness.”
“I cannot argue with his hotness,” Brooke admitted. “Who knew working with trees did that for a man?”
“Mostly it’s just genetics. See exhibit A, the still very single Leo, who shares his DNA.” Jessie gestured toward Eli’s twin brother.
They all turned to look at Leo, distinguishable from his brother only by dint of shorter hair and a slightly leaner build. But Cecily’s gaze skimmed past him to Reed’s rangy frame. Tall, with swimmer’s shoulders, his brown hair curled a bit at his collar. She didn’t think he’d had it cut since summer. As she watched, he leaned forward, apparently in intense debate with Zach about something.
“I’m sure Leo’s just fine, but I’m on a man diet,” Brooke declared.
Cecily turned back to the table. “A man diet?”