Free Only Uni by Camy Tang Page B

need to persist and trust Him no matter what happens.”
    “Oh.”
    Was she being a good witness for Christ in telling him her three rules, or did it make her seem like an idiot? “You think I’m just spouting off. I’m serious.”
    “I believe you.”
    She shot him a look that should have squished him like a grape under a car tire. “No, you don’t. You’re making fun of me.”
    “I wasn’t making fun.”
    “You were trying to swallow your chortles of laughter.”
    “Chortles of laughter?” He waggled his eyebrows as he said it. “You’re reading too many romance novels.”
    “Oh yeah? How would you know unless you read them too?”
    “I read serious stuff. Like Star magazine.” He gave his little-boy grin.
    That stopped her mid-breath. She coughed. “You read Star ?”
    “I got a subscription free.”
    “Oooh, can I borrow it when you’re done?” Goodie. She couldn’t get herself to actually pay money for it, but she couldn’t help reading it. It was more entertaining than reality TV.
    “Is it in your rules?”
    She wanted to smack that sarcastic smirk off his face. “My rules will work.”
    Spenser snorted. “You won’t last a week.”
    “What are you talking about? They’re good, biblical rules.”
    “They’re legalistic. Rules don’t change people.”
    “I told you, God will change my heart.”
    “You’re being optimistic and idealistic. Think about it. No looking? Resisting basic animal attraction? Everybody’s programmed with it.”
    Her words sliced out clear and slow. “Maybe some people think with their lower regions, but not everyone acts on their lust.” Like you did, chickie-babe? She tried to slam a lid on the insidious voice, but it echoed through her empty places inside.
    He snorted. “Not looking is like trying not to read. And the telling everyone about Christ? Most people are plain scared to even talk about God.”
    “I’m not.” She really wasn’t.
    He loosed a superior smile. “Sure.”
    “I’m not — ”
    “And then, persevere ? Everyone’s inherently lazy.”
    “I told you, God will help me — ”
    “If rules could have made the Israelites faithful, they wouldn’t have had to wander in the desert for forty years instead of entering the Promised Land.”
    “But my rules are good.” She needed those rules to remind her, because otherwise she wouldn’t think about God at all in the course of a day. “Wait a minute. How do you know about the Israelites?”
    For a second he froze, as if thinking about his answer. “You assumed a lot, considering you don’t know me very well.”
    “Assumed what?”
    “That I’m not Christian.”
    “What do you — ” It dawned on her like the undead-destroying morning sun in a vampire movie. “You’re Christian?”
    His face was neutral again, as it had been when she first turned him down. Now she knew why. She had totally blown it. “How can you be Christian?” It flew out of her mouth before her brain had a chance to censor it.
    He looked like he’d swallowed a frog. “What do you mean?”
    Was he trying to deny it? “You’re always flirting with girls. Everywhere. In the hallway, in the parking lot, on the phone. Even on email, I’ll bet.”
    A glowing red the same shade as New Year’s firecrackers started sparking upward from his neck. “I do not flirt.”
    “Oh, sorry. You don’t flirt — you smile excessively when you talk.”
    “How is my friendliness so bad?”
    “Who are you trying to kid? You love women.” Just like her father, who always got along with everyone — especially the women who came into Grandma’s bank. She’d always thought he just liked working with new people, but look how faithful he was. “You’re either dating all of them or you’re leading them on.”
    Okay, that sounded completely irrational even to her heated brain, but she didn’t care anymore. She was tired of men like her dad, like Spenser, who got along with lots of women. She wanted to date some