Read Online A Perfectly Imperfect Match (Matchmaking Mamas) by Marie Ferrarella - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Marie Ferrarella
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wasn’t being altogether successful in keeping a lid on it. Apparently, he had somehow managed to at least partially telegraph his less-than-chaste vision to her.
“Dinner,” she all but choked out. “If you postponed your meeting until another day, I was going to suggest dinner.” It was all that she could do to keep from stumbling over the simple words.
Dinner definitely had some appeal, he thought. Actually, the idea of an intimate setting with the woman was what actually held the most appeal for him.
Intrigued, Jared asked, “You mean a home-cooked meal?”
That quickly snapped her out of the very warm place she’d found herself slipping into.
Elizabeth laughed as she shook her head. “Oh God, no. I want to thank you, not kill you or send you to the intensive care unit of the nearest hospital. What kind of way would that be to pay you back and say thank you?” she wanted to know.
Her laugh melded with his as he tucked the edge of his shirt back underneath his waistband. “Your cooking can’t be all that bad.”
Spoken like a man who’d never sampled her cooking efforts, she mused. Elizabeth knew what she could do and knew her limitations as well. Cooking definitely came under the heading of the latter.
“I wouldn’t take any bets if I were you,” she advised. “Not unless you really like losing. Even my father, who thinks the sun rises and sets around me, will tell you that if you value your life, don’t eat anything I’ve had a hand in preparing.”
“He thinks the sun rises and sets around you, huh?” Jared repeated, intrigued as well as amused. “Let me guess, you’re the only girl in the family.”
“I’m impressed. You got it on the first try. Yes, I’m the only girl.”
He tightened the parameters a little more and asked, “Only child?”
She shook her head. “Nope. I have two younger brothers. So much for your winning streak. You’re slipping.”
He took her taunting in stride. “Just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea and feel as if you were in the presence of a clairvoyant.”
Her amusement reached her eyes, managing to capture him the moment he noticed it. “Is that what you think you are, a clairvoyant?”
He could tell by the way she asked that she didn’t believe in people who claimed to see into the future.
That made two of them. But he decided to tease her a little longer. “Let’s just say I have exceptionally good instincts when it comes to making decent calculated guesses about people. So, since your father dotes on you, does your mother dote on your brothers, or does one of them feel as if he’s getting shortchanged?”
The moment he asked about her mother, she could feel the wave of sadness sweep over her. Wasn’t that ever going to stop?
“I think we all got kind of shortchanged, actually.” When the quizzical look on his face deepened, she offered him a sliver of the story she rarely shared with anyone.
“My mother died when I was five. My brothers were still babies when she left our lives.” There was an incredible amount of sadness in her voice.
Jared felt instantly guilty for having brought up something that obviously hurt her so much. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to dredge up any painful memories for you.”
“You didn’t,” she assured him, and she was being truthful. “Any memories I have of her are cherished, not buried because it hurts too much to remember her. Memories—and her violin—are all I have of her,” she explained.
“Now, about that dinner,” Elizabeth began, deftly switching topics. She was rather convinced that Jared was pretty vulnerable to a blitzkrieg right now, seeing as how he obviously thought he’d upset her with his unintentional comment. “I haven’t had anything to eat since before lunch, and because I’ve imposed on you to help me, I know for a fact that you haven’t had dinner yet. So why don’t I show you my gratitude by buying you dinner at the restaurant of your choice? The
“Dinner,” she all but choked out. “If you postponed your meeting until another day, I was going to suggest dinner.” It was all that she could do to keep from stumbling over the simple words.
Dinner definitely had some appeal, he thought. Actually, the idea of an intimate setting with the woman was what actually held the most appeal for him.
Intrigued, Jared asked, “You mean a home-cooked meal?”
That quickly snapped her out of the very warm place she’d found herself slipping into.
Elizabeth laughed as she shook her head. “Oh God, no. I want to thank you, not kill you or send you to the intensive care unit of the nearest hospital. What kind of way would that be to pay you back and say thank you?” she wanted to know.
Her laugh melded with his as he tucked the edge of his shirt back underneath his waistband. “Your cooking can’t be all that bad.”
Spoken like a man who’d never sampled her cooking efforts, she mused. Elizabeth knew what she could do and knew her limitations as well. Cooking definitely came under the heading of the latter.
“I wouldn’t take any bets if I were you,” she advised. “Not unless you really like losing. Even my father, who thinks the sun rises and sets around me, will tell you that if you value your life, don’t eat anything I’ve had a hand in preparing.”
“He thinks the sun rises and sets around you, huh?” Jared repeated, intrigued as well as amused. “Let me guess, you’re the only girl in the family.”
“I’m impressed. You got it on the first try. Yes, I’m the only girl.”
He tightened the parameters a little more and asked, “Only child?”
She shook her head. “Nope. I have two younger brothers. So much for your winning streak. You’re slipping.”
He took her taunting in stride. “Just didn’t want you to get the wrong idea and feel as if you were in the presence of a clairvoyant.”
Her amusement reached her eyes, managing to capture him the moment he noticed it. “Is that what you think you are, a clairvoyant?”
He could tell by the way she asked that she didn’t believe in people who claimed to see into the future.
That made two of them. But he decided to tease her a little longer. “Let’s just say I have exceptionally good instincts when it comes to making decent calculated guesses about people. So, since your father dotes on you, does your mother dote on your brothers, or does one of them feel as if he’s getting shortchanged?”
The moment he asked about her mother, she could feel the wave of sadness sweep over her. Wasn’t that ever going to stop?
“I think we all got kind of shortchanged, actually.” When the quizzical look on his face deepened, she offered him a sliver of the story she rarely shared with anyone.
“My mother died when I was five. My brothers were still babies when she left our lives.” There was an incredible amount of sadness in her voice.
Jared felt instantly guilty for having brought up something that obviously hurt her so much. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to dredge up any painful memories for you.”
“You didn’t,” she assured him, and she was being truthful. “Any memories I have of her are cherished, not buried because it hurts too much to remember her. Memories—and her violin—are all I have of her,” she explained.
“Now, about that dinner,” Elizabeth began, deftly switching topics. She was rather convinced that Jared was pretty vulnerable to a blitzkrieg right now, seeing as how he obviously thought he’d upset her with his unintentional comment. “I haven’t had anything to eat since before lunch, and because I’ve imposed on you to help me, I know for a fact that you haven’t had dinner yet. So why don’t I show you my gratitude by buying you dinner at the restaurant of your choice? The
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