Free Falling for Max by Shannon Stacey Page A

I can’t seem to resist text messages. So what’s up?”
    “This is slightly awkward.”
    “Are you calling to cancel our mock date?”
    Even though he heard the amusement in her voice, the need to assure her that wasn’t the case was urgent. “No! Not at all. I’m looking forward to it. For the practice, of course. I need the practice.”
    Her soft chuckle touched him in a way that was almost physical, and he held the phone just a little bit away from his ear. He needed to focus.
    “Relax, Max. If you have to try too hard to make a woman like you, then she’s not the woman for you. Now, what’s awkward?”
    “Josh and Drew invited me for lunch at the diner today.”
    “Really? At this rate you’re going to be a regular soon. You might even turn into one of those guys who has a very particular seat at the counter and refuses to sit anywhere else.”
    “That would be rude,” he said. “If somebody was sitting at that spot, would I just turn around and leave?”
    “You’d be surprised. Sometimes the regular will ask the person sitting on his stool to move over one. And there’s one older gentleman who kind of looms and stares, which is creepy. But he comes in at the same time every morning, so we’ve started making sure nobody sits in his spot.”
    “I don’t foresee myself becoming that rigid about which seat at the counter I occupy.”
    “Just one more reason to like you. Let’s get to the awkward part.”
    “During lunch they were talking about the ATV club. They need a professional logo and a website banner, but I explained to them that’s not my kind of art. I suggested they ask you.”
    There were a few very long seconds of silence. “You volunteered my services?”
    “Of course not. I didn’t tell them you’d do it. I suggested they ask you if you’d be willing to help.” He knew it was an important distinction.
    “And they said?”
    “They suggested I ask you because you’re my friend.”
    She sighed. “I’ll send Josh an email and see what they’re looking for. If I can’t do it, I can at least connect them with somebody who can.”
    “Thank you. I hope I didn’t impose too much on our friendship.”
    “You didn’t. I do need to get back to work, though. I’ve worked enough extra hours at the diner, so I need to chain myself to the computer for a few days.”
    He knew the time she spent with him was also taking away from her working time. “I understand if you want to cancel our date. Mock date. I know you’re busy.”
    “No way. You and I are going to go out and have a good time. It’s all part of the plan. So you’ll pick me up about four-thirty?”
    “At four-thirty, yes.” Driving into the city meant starting an evening date a little earlier than was the norm.
    “Okay, I’ll see you then.”
    Once they’d hung up, Max pulled her contact info up again and looked at the picture he’d taken at the diner. She was very pretty, even in her work T-shirt and ponytail, so he was going to have to put his best foot forward on Saturday, even if the date was only pretend.
    Even he knew a man looking like a schlub didn’t take out a woman as beautiful and vivacious as Tori.

Chapter Six
    Tori let loose a string of curses and used a balled-up tissue to scrub the lipstick off of her mouth. Between working at the diner and the time spent at her computer, she hadn’t been outside enough and she was too pale for that color. Rummaging through the plastic bin that held her makeup, she dug up a simple lip gloss she liked and called it good.
    It wasn’t even a real date. She knew that, since she’d reminded herself of it often enough over the course of the day, but she couldn’t stem the slight buzz of excitement she’d woken up with. Mock or not, she was going out for a nice dinner with a very handsome man whose company she enjoyed.
    That was reason enough to look forward to the evening. She didn’t need to read anything else into it, or she’d drive herself crazy.
    She stood