Free IMMORTAL MATCHMAKERS, INC. by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff Page B

store. When she realized that telling him to go away wasn’t going to do the trick, she filed a restraining order. Thankfully, he stopped coming around right about the time she met Tim. Then there was her last boyfriend back home, whom she’d dated for six months. Unbeknownst to her, he liked to come to her window at night and watch her sleep. She finally found out when her father caught him. Anyway, they weren’t all complete weirdos, but she definitely reeled in men from the oddball end of the spectrum.
    “I think you should call me coach,” she said. “And if you must, Coach Sadie.” There. That would establish a professional boundary.
    “Coach Sexy Sadie. I like it.” He backed out, nearly running over a Fiat in the process. “Ah. There, you see? Had we been in your little woman-wagon, you would be dead. I have saved you.”
    Sadie clenched her eyes shut. Dear Lord, please give me the strength to not strangle the barbarian. “I am praying that was your character talking, because if you’re really this big of a man-pig, there are no amount of acting lessons that can help you.”
    “I assure you I am every bit the man-pig you just accused me of being, and I offer no apologies. If it weren’t for men such as myself, you’d all be sex slaves to packs of psychopathic, blood-drinking rapists.”
    Her head whipped in his direction. “Jesus. Dark much, Andrus?”
    “You have no fucking idea.”
    Sadie was about to speak when she noticed he suddenly radiated that same lethal vibe she’d seen at the restaurant. Only this time, it didn’t make her nervous as much as it intrigued her. His technique for taking on personas and creating a mood was phenomenal.
    “I know I’m going to kick myself for saying this, Andrus. But you really are pretty impressive.”
    He smiled and flashed her a cocky grin. “So I’ve been told.”
    She huffed out a breath and rolled her eyes. “Knew I’d regret that.” More importantly, she was beginning to wonder something. This man might not be a dignitary or the embodiment of civilized gentlemen, but he seemed like a very capable actor. She hadn’t seen one lapse in this persona he’d taken on.
    Something about this situation felt…off.
    Welp. No choice now but to move forward. She just hoped he got the role.
     
    ~~~
     
    After an awkwardly quiet drive, they’d parked and found a somewhat quieter spot under a palm tree on the crowded beach. It was Sunday, so the crowds were typical for a sunny fall weekend, but the beach still had way more room to walk around and practice some role-playing.
    “So, Andrus,” she said, laying out her red beach blanket. “I assume you’re doing some kind of action film. What’s the setting? Air carrier, skyscraper, urban sprawl?”
    A woman in a very tiny pink bikini strolled by, and Andrus just stared.
    Okay, maybe the beach was a bad idea.
    “Did you see that one?” he asked. “Her ass is hanging out. Her parents should be informed.” His head flipped in the other direction as a blonde in a black thong bikini jogged by. “Good gods. Were they raised in a brothel?”
    “Don’t you think you’re being a little harsh?” she said. “Especially coming from someone who showed me his penis about an hour ago?”
    “That was very different,” he said, in a deep authoritative voice. “I am a man and you are a grown woman. Those females are children, no older than seventeen or eighteen.”
    “I thought you said I was a little girl.” She flipped out her blue folding chair.
    “I was referring to your mental age; however, if you wore something so revealing to a public beach and you were my woman, I would throw you over my shoulder and give your exposed ass cheeks a lesson with my hand.”
    The mental image of that was wrong in so, so many ways, yet it somehow turned her the hell on.
    No. No, it didn’t. You definitely do not want to be flung over his shoulder and spanked. And it was a chauvinistic thing to say. Of course, he is just