Page 42 of Hottie on Her Shelf
Hallie did a quick mental review of the basic data she’d skimmed on him this week to come up with his undergrad school as UCLA. “’Cause you’re the Bruins? That’s adorable.”
His side-eye was laser sharp. “It’s cutesy as fuck. Ergo, a really horrible acronym, but it stands for Peer Assistance and Wellness Support. We got training in, well, how to listen to people. Not our job to fix things. Just listen. It’s amazing how much of a difference that makes.”
That was also impressive. Hallie clasped her hands and tapped them on her lips as she stared at him. Really seeing more and more of Fitz. Liking what she saw—and not just the thick hair and long eyelashes and dreamy lips.
Although those things did have to be mentioned as notable assets.
“I can see you’d be good at that. After all, you’ve been patiently listening to me all night.”
“It doesn’t require any training to listen to a beautiful woman be insightful and witty.”
Good thing she was sitting down. Her knees had just turned to jelly.
“Wow. That sentence was sweet enough to be dessert, especially if it’s true.” Because Fitz Montgomery could wink and get any woman in town to come running. Heck, any woman on the entire Maine coast, and he probably had. Which made Hallie wonder how many times he’d said that exact sentence to other women.
A furrow appeared between his brows, as if he were able to see her churning thoughts displayed in a cartoon thought bubble, and he said, “Not a line, Hallie. I swear.”
“You’ll forgive me for being skeptical.”
“No, actually. I won’t. Why would I invite you to my home unless I genuinely wanted to be with you? Unless I wanted to make an effort?” He scrunched up his entire face, as if a skunk had just sprayed the room, finished off in a grimace that would win him a costume contest as The Joker. “I’ll let you in on a secret. I didn’t cook this dinner.”
Aha! “I had a feeling…”
Talk about too good to be true. Charming, handsome, thoughtful, and a good cook? Not a chance in hell. It was disappointing, on the one hand, but Hallie did appreciate that he was leveling with her.
“I didpeel the shrimp. Have you ever done it? I’d call it harder than almost the whole rest of the meal put together.”
“Mmm. Like Everett’s degree,” she teased.
“Funny you should mention him. He’s the one who made all of it. I now owe my best friend a massive favor. He skipped out on work to do this for me. I don’t like owing people, but I do now—for you.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. Asking his friend for help did seem above and beyond. It did make her feel…special. It also made her wish more and more that this was, indeed, a real date.
“Well, thank you. And thank Everett too. I feel a tad guilty that he did all this work and didn’t get to enjoy any of it.”
“Don’t feel too bad for him. One, I still owe him the aforementioned favor which I guarantee he’ll collect. And two, this wasn’t hard for him. It was a time suck that he hadn’t planned on, but he’s good at cooking. I doubt he slummed it on drive-thru for dinner.”
“Thank him anyway.”
Fitz dropped a nod. “I will, as long as you get that accusing me of not being truthful with my compliment wasn’t an insult to me. It was an insult to yourself.”
Darn it. He was right.
Hallie was the ultimate bookworm, good-girl, teacher’s pet cliché, all grown up. She knew she was smart and successful. A good friend. A gold-star date? Not so much.
And…just maybe…she was letting reverse snobbery get in the way.
Fitz Montgomery was the golden child, the shining supernova in town. The man other men wanted to be and women wanted to…well, whatever they could get away with. It wasn’t fair to punish him for her own insecurities.
Hallie dipped her head too. “I feel like you’re using your Psych 301 knowledge on me. And I bow to your wisdom. Your skills aren’t rusty at all.”
“No chance to get rusty. I still do volunteer shifts.” Fitz drained his water.
It was impossible not to notice his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed. So…masculine. So…large. “At UCLA? Aren’t you a tad long in the tooth for peer counseling? How do you keep up with the modern lingo?”
“First of all, that’s what the urban dictionary is for. And TikTok.”
Her jaw cracked, it dropped so fast. “You’re on TikTok?”
