Page 11 of Imperfect Match (Imperfect Match 1)
Reid’s blue eyes meet mine as he catches me, and then his grin widens. “Wills. I always knew you’d try to fall at my feet.”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“You okay?” His hands are gripping my shoulders, keeping me from falling over, and I nod, straightening up.
“Yeah, I was in my head.”
“Scary place that is.”
“Not as scary as I was going to be if you didn’t show.”
He shakes his head and opens the large glass door of the department store. “After you, my lady.”
“Thank you, kind sir.” Delighted with his manners, I touch his arm as I walk past him and then he slaps me on the ass.
I give him a dirty look over my shoulder. “And they say chivalry is dead.”
“That was for the Ex-Lax comment. Never threaten my food again.”
I flip him off and decide to exact my revenge in other ways. After all, I control his dates for the next six months.
After an hour of Reid complaining as I pick out new clothes that don’t consist of Spiderman T-shirts and track pants, we’re finally done. I swear, he’s the most difficult human on the planet some days.
We found some nice formal and casual clothes. The kind of first-impression outfits that women appreciate. No one wants to date a slob, which he’s really not. He’s just a little juvenile sometimes. I find it endearing and funny, but other girls might not.
“What are we doing tonight?” he asks as we walk out.
“Well, I’m working. I have to find your next hot date.”
He groans under his breath. “Why do you hate me?”
“Because you’ll need company when I have my baby—”
“Not by some douchebag with a turkey ba
ster.”
I huff. “When it happens, and I’m a mom, things will change for us. I don’t hate you, I just want you to be happy too.”
Reid starts to loosen his tie, which I know is a telltale sign that he’s uncomfortable and doesn’t want to talk about this, but maybe my mother was right. Maybe the two of us keep holding the other back because we’re comfortable.
He’s a great guy. He’s everything that most women want, except maybe for the fact that he can’t boil water and isn’t very willing to share the remote, and yet he’s alone. I know Glinda was a bitch in the end, but that was years ago. Since then, he’s been dating the dumbest girls he can find so there’s no danger of entering a real relationship, and the rest of his time he spends with me.
Lord knows I never want to admit my mother could be right, but ... I can see it.
“Things will change, Reid. We’re both going to have to realize that and maybe it’s time we grow up.”
“I think we’re pretty fucking grown up. And you and I both know I don’t want a wife. I refuse to be my fucking father.”
I bite my lip. It’s so hard to watch him beat himself up over someone that he’s nothing like. His father is cold and distant. Reid is warm and sweet. He cares about his family. He took his brother Leo in with no questions asked. I wish he wouldn’t be so rough on himself.
“One day you’re going to wake up and realize that you and Vince Fortino are not the same person.”
“His blood is still mine.”
I touch his arm, squeezing gently. “Reid, that may be true, but your heart is nothing like his.”
“Glinda didn’t think so.”
