Read Online Nerds Are From Mars by Vicki Lewis Thompson - Free Book Online
Authors: Vicki Lewis Thompson
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mean?”
“I can be emotional, even sappy.”
“So you cry during Hallmark commercials?”
“Every time. But the contradiction is that too much intimacy scares me. I’m afraid of a deep emotional connection.”
He liked knowing that about her. Maybe there was something to this introspective astrology stuff, after all. Or maybe he thought that because he was slightly toasted.
“And FYI, you have a similar issue.”
“I knew that. I’ve had two different women accuse me of it, in fact.”
“Well, according to your chart, they’re right.”
“Yeah, yeah, but we’re supposed to be focused on you, now. Tell me about your folks.”
“My dad is a control freak and my mom is a closeted free spirit.”
He gazed at her. “While your free spirit is out of the closet?”
“Exactly. I’m determined not to close myself off the way she has. I crave an unusual career, which she probably did, too, but didn’t allow herself to have it. I’m better off working for myself, I like to learn and I love a good argument.”
“I knew you loved a good argument. You were on the debate team in high school.”
“Briefly. But I discovered the flaw in debate. You have to be able to argue both sides of an issue convincingly. I have Mars in Virgo. I have to act with integrity. I can’t fake a conviction in something.”
“Me, either.” He sighed. “Which means if I can’t convince myself this is real, I’ll have to say so and then . . . goodbye Darcie Ingram.”
“You sound as if you’re ready to throw in the towel already.”
He looked into those blue eyes. He wanted to be able to look into them a lot, but what were the chances he could make this work between them? “Face it, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool scientist. You told me earlier that I’m loyal to my beliefs.” He finished off the last of his wine and put down his glass. “Considering the evidence, how can I expect to adopt a whole new way of thinking?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” She grabbed the charts away from him and flipped through them. “Here’s your birth chart. I’m not going to explain how I know this because that would take too long and you’d want me to interpret every symbol individually.”
“I would not.”
“You would so! It’s who you are! But control that urge and just listen for now, okay?”
“Okay.”
“You can be moody at times, which you’re displaying right this minute, but —”
“See? Hopeless.”
“No! Stop whining and listen! You’re also a highly original thinker who needs the stimulation of good intellectual connections. Your chart clearly indicates that you’ll be happier if you expand your views and your value system.” Her eyes flashed with blue fire. “So there. You need me.”
In spite of himself, a smile tugged at his mouth. No man could look at Darcie in full battle mode and not smile. “You know what? I think you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right.”
He reached out and grasped the arms of her chair so he could roll her close. Their knees bumped. “You know what I need right now?”
“What?” Her voice had a slight quiver to it.
“A kiss.” His voice was perfectly even, but then he’d had a lot of wine to calm any nervousness. Wine also tended to make him moody, like she’d said, but also steady as a rock when it came to this next thing. He took off his glasses and laid them on the small table beside the chair. “Lean down here for a minute. Let’s try this without making a big deal out of it.”
“You want me to lean down and kiss you.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes, I do, because we have to start somewhere, and I think kissing when we can put some distance between body parts is wise, all things considered.”
“What things?”
“Our disparate careers, but mostly our common problem, fear of intimacy. Let’s just kiss without getting intimate and see how that works out.”
She leaned closer, but not close enough. “A kiss is pretty intimate. Some
“I can be emotional, even sappy.”
“So you cry during Hallmark commercials?”
“Every time. But the contradiction is that too much intimacy scares me. I’m afraid of a deep emotional connection.”
He liked knowing that about her. Maybe there was something to this introspective astrology stuff, after all. Or maybe he thought that because he was slightly toasted.
“And FYI, you have a similar issue.”
“I knew that. I’ve had two different women accuse me of it, in fact.”
“Well, according to your chart, they’re right.”
“Yeah, yeah, but we’re supposed to be focused on you, now. Tell me about your folks.”
“My dad is a control freak and my mom is a closeted free spirit.”
He gazed at her. “While your free spirit is out of the closet?”
“Exactly. I’m determined not to close myself off the way she has. I crave an unusual career, which she probably did, too, but didn’t allow herself to have it. I’m better off working for myself, I like to learn and I love a good argument.”
“I knew you loved a good argument. You were on the debate team in high school.”
“Briefly. But I discovered the flaw in debate. You have to be able to argue both sides of an issue convincingly. I have Mars in Virgo. I have to act with integrity. I can’t fake a conviction in something.”
“Me, either.” He sighed. “Which means if I can’t convince myself this is real, I’ll have to say so and then . . . goodbye Darcie Ingram.”
“You sound as if you’re ready to throw in the towel already.”
He looked into those blue eyes. He wanted to be able to look into them a lot, but what were the chances he could make this work between them? “Face it, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool scientist. You told me earlier that I’m loyal to my beliefs.” He finished off the last of his wine and put down his glass. “Considering the evidence, how can I expect to adopt a whole new way of thinking?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” She grabbed the charts away from him and flipped through them. “Here’s your birth chart. I’m not going to explain how I know this because that would take too long and you’d want me to interpret every symbol individually.”
“I would not.”
“You would so! It’s who you are! But control that urge and just listen for now, okay?”
“Okay.”
“You can be moody at times, which you’re displaying right this minute, but —”
“See? Hopeless.”
“No! Stop whining and listen! You’re also a highly original thinker who needs the stimulation of good intellectual connections. Your chart clearly indicates that you’ll be happier if you expand your views and your value system.” Her eyes flashed with blue fire. “So there. You need me.”
In spite of himself, a smile tugged at his mouth. No man could look at Darcie in full battle mode and not smile. “You know what? I think you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right.”
He reached out and grasped the arms of her chair so he could roll her close. Their knees bumped. “You know what I need right now?”
“What?” Her voice had a slight quiver to it.
“A kiss.” His voice was perfectly even, but then he’d had a lot of wine to calm any nervousness. Wine also tended to make him moody, like she’d said, but also steady as a rock when it came to this next thing. He took off his glasses and laid them on the small table beside the chair. “Lean down here for a minute. Let’s try this without making a big deal out of it.”
“You want me to lean down and kiss you.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes, I do, because we have to start somewhere, and I think kissing when we can put some distance between body parts is wise, all things considered.”
“What things?”
“Our disparate careers, but mostly our common problem, fear of intimacy. Let’s just kiss without getting intimate and see how that works out.”
She leaned closer, but not close enough. “A kiss is pretty intimate. Some
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