Chapter 3 Gavin
Gavin
Before we even make it to the front of my home, Daphne is diagnosing my land. She takes one look at my barbed-wire wooden fence and looks… horrified. It’s almost funny enough to laugh, but the sound doesn’t come. Not when I notice the pinch of her brow and the worried look in her eyes.
Guess she doesn’t have anything like that where she’d come from, huh?
“I live near a lodge. Had a problem with skiers breaking my fence and trampling over my lawn. Funny enough, the barbed wire helps them stop in time.” Explaining it to her, I catch myself actually smiling.
Not exactly disproving you’re a bad guy here…
But then she laughs, making me relax as we both loosen up to the sight. “Interesting approach, but a bit extreme. You should probably take it down before someone gets jabbed. Don’t want to be sued now, do you?”
That wire is staying right where it is. It fits pretty well with the aesthetic of this place. Once she sees all the No Trespassing signs, she’ll understand where I’m coming from. Probably. Hopefully.
Could this be something she could adjust to, or is it a complete deal breaker?
Leading her inside, I get the fire going as she takes in my home. Appreciating the few pictures I have on the wall, a soft laugh leaves her. “I have a hard time believing you were a swimmer.”
She’s looking at a picture from my high school days, when I still looked like a freaking baby.
“Barely. My mother thought it would be a good way to burn energy. Dad said it would get me chicks.” When she lifts a brow, I shrug. “I may have caught some interest. Nothing stuck, clearly.”
Now I’m nearing my forties, and all I can show off are some dusty awards I’ve got tucked away in the attic. I’m still the same awkward person I’ve always been, I just have a beard now.
“Football, too?”
“Lasted a year. Couldn’t keep up.” Jabbing a log, red crisps of heat tickle my arm. “Not huge on playing sports. More of a fan of watching them.”
Humming her agreement, she continues to look around, assessing. What is she thinking?
Finishing up, I offer her something to drink, and she accepts. Sticking with the juice I’ve got in the fridge, it’s no time before we’re settled on the couch. She’s got her legs tucked in before she’s pulling stuff out of her bag. A clipboard with some papers.
She wasn’t kidding about the manual stuff. When technology fails, she’s going old school.
Tapping her pen against her lips, I watch escaped curls of hair sway with the motion.
To think she tried to find someone for her, but no one matched.
Had to be before I got involved. Surely, if that fate crap they throw around in their slogan were true, I feel like she would’ve been the first woman to show up at my door.
This thing stirring around in my chest? This sensation?
None of my matches made me feel this way.
Fuck, I’m not even nervous. It took me at least a week before I could share the same space with them without picking at my clothes or pacing. Here I am sipping at my juice, waiting to be interviewed.
I haven’t felt this comfortable around another person in ages. Not even the staff at the bar. That has to mean something.
Can’t mention it though, not to her. She’ll want to end this session before it even begins. Knowing confidently that I won’t find another woman who does this to me, I’ll just play along so I can go just one day experiencing something I’ve yearned for over a lifetime.
“No pets?” Hitting me with her first question, she taps her lips again. They’re nice lips.
“Had a dog growing up, but the loss turned me off getting another. Cats are the devil.” Sinking back, I drink in the crinkle to her nose and the small smile she tries to hide as she looks down at her paper and writes down my answer. “What about you?”
Now she looks up, surprised, like she’s not expecting me to be curious. Surely, the other people she’s dealt with have asked her.
“My parents thought animals were dirty.” Rolling a shoulder, she thinks about it. “I’ve kind of thought about getting one of those Persian cats, but they’re high maintenance and a terrible choice for someone who travels.”
Those are the long-haired ones, right? God, if they shed… Now that would take some getting used to.
“Hobbies?” Moving on, she glances around. “Let me guess, hiking, reading, and… woodworking.”
My mouth twitches. “It’s almost like you read my dating profile before meeting me. Well, I enjoy camping, too.” Watching her write, I notice her nails. They’re painted blue, but some of the paint on the nails is more chipped than the others. “You ever go camping?”
She laughs at that. “Unless we’re talking about school events way back in my youthful years, I have to say no. Slept on my trampoline all night a few times if that counts.”
It doesn’t, but I like the thought of her watching the stars long enough to fall asleep. I think I’ve done that myself a time or two. “You should come camp on the mountain during your free time. Between making matches and all that. I know of a few spots that are undisturbed.”
Her pen stops for a moment, and I notice her eyes flick up. “I, um, don’t typically spend time with my clients after a job is done.”
Ah, shit. The rejection stings, but it’s to be expected.
“You won’t want to spend time with me when you’re married,” she continues before tapping the page. “If everything goes right, I mean. Which, I think it will.”
I wish she weren’t so confident.
“What’s the next question?” Trying to move on, my voice betrays me, turning rough around the edges.
She asks about my zodiac sign, and before, I had to look it up. The corners of her eyes crinkle when I admit I don’t have a clue. Moving from favorite pastimes, or top three movies, she keeps shooting them out, commenting on her own answers when I ask.
In the middle of her next question, there’s a soft, low growl that is undeniably her stomach. What time is it? I don’t think either of us has eaten.
“How about we call it a break, and I throw us something together?” Already standing, I head for the kitchen. “Pretty sure I have some beef stew I can heat up on the stove.”
She’s behind me in a matter of seconds, and I’m quick to assume that if I can’t win her heart over normally, I may be able to do so with her stomach. While I’m getting ready to heat it up, she’s claiming one of the seats at the table.
While I wait for it to bubble and heat, I turn, resting against the counter. Looking at her, I can’t help but notice how good she looks.
“So, what are you going to do?” Crossing my arms over my chest, I can feel my pulse kicking in overdrive. “You plan on giving the system another go ever again? Be it relying on technology, or going out to meet someone new, the natural way?”
I need some kind of hint that she hasn’t completely given up her life for this. I need to know if I stand a chance. Meeting her makes me not want to give up entirely.
She’s silent long enough to think of the answer. While she’s lost in her thoughts, I can’t help but notice the light pink hue on her cheeks. “It would be hard to meet someone in between traveling. Even if I do, it would be hard to maintain a relationship.”
Rolling her shoulders like she doesn’t mind, the lonely look in her eyes says otherwise. While I can understand her loving what she does, that doesn’t have to mean she has to stay with the same company. Hell, if she’s good at what she does, couldn’t she just do her own thing?
“Willowbrook Ridge could use a matchmaker. I can think of plenty of lonely guys up here who can’t get their hands on programs like Cupid’s Bloom.
” The words leave me, and all at once, my skin feels like it’s on fire.
“If your job doesn’t work out, you could settle down here and meet someone. All while doing what you already do.”
There is no acting shy about it. She’ll be able to tell that I’m trying to convince her to stick around. There’s only one reason someone would try to go out of their way to do that. I could really throw a wrench in the works if I expressed my interest in her.
“I think you should try again.” Pushing past this lump forming in the back of my throat, I continue. “You’re a beautiful woman, Daphne. Just take a walk around town, and I can guarantee at least one man here will want you in the way you’d want him to.”
Her lips part in surprise at my words. As her brows lift and her eyes widen, she almost looks… startled. Startled, but not displeased.
“You’re that confident?”
I nod. “Very.”
She glances toward the window and peeks past the curtains, her cheeks now darker in color. “It’s, um, really coming down out there. Is that something worth being concerned about?” Changing the subject, I don’t push us back to the last one. I think she understands my interest by now.
Throwing her meal in a bowl, I don’t bother looking outside.
It’s always coming and going this time of the year.
“Snow comes and goes up here. The weather man didn’t warn about any snowstorm.
Especially with spring right around the corner.
” Setting the bowl down, I move to do the same for my own.
“It’s nothing to worry about. It’ll stop eventually. ”
Her eyes linger outside until I’m settled across from her. The meal is mostly silent. Hoping I haven’t made her too uncomfortable, I sneak in glances in between bites.
She looks so pretty when her cheeks are painted with a blush. It’s a real shame that she’s never found someone to settle down with before. Whoever she has been with clearly doesn’t know how good he had it to leave her single.
Finishing one bowl and moving to a second, she finally offers up a small smile. “It’s good. Really good.”
Filling up her bowl a second time, her compliment strikes a chord in my chest. “You can add ‘good cook’ to my description. Maybe there’s someone out there who’ll put up with all of this for three hearty meals.”
My words make her smile disappear. Or, it’s the sudden darkness that swallows us up that does the trick before the generator kicks on. Either way, she’s still staring at me before blinking. “Is that normal?”
It is, but only when it’s not good outside. Setting her food down, I try to ignore the grim lump forming in the pit of my stomach.
“No.” Shoving the curtain to the side so I can look outside, I’m welcomed to a view of nothing but white. Snow is pouring down from the sky, making it hard to see. “Well, fuck.”
We stare out the window as everything gets swallowed up by the snow. “Told you it was coming down.”
Surprised by the sudden storm, I curse again and release the curtain. “So, you want the good news or the bad news?”
She cocks her head, lifting a brow. “Good first, bad second.”
“You’re going to have plenty of time to figure out what’s wrong with me because, as far as this weather’s concerned, you’re stuck on the mountain until the snow gets cleared.” Being honest, I grimace at her long pause. “At least you’re stuck with good company.”