“I grew up not far from here. My parents still live close by. Shit! That reminds me, I was supposed to go to their house tonight for dinner.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “Give me one second. I need to let her know why I’m not there.”
“Sure.” Hallie smiled, thinking that it was really sweet that of all things this sexy man could have scheduled for a Saturday night, it was dinner with his parents.
“Hey, Mom. Yeah, I’m good. But I wanted to let you know the narrows washed out, so I’m not going to make it tonight. No. That’s not possible. I know, but there was a woman who needed help. Her SUV almost washed away in the mud. No. No. She’s safe. She’s here now. Kinda stuck until the hurricane is over and the water goes down. Okay. I love you too.”
It was odd to listen to only one side of the conversation. It wasn’t like she could hear his mom’s side of the call or anything, and not that she really wanted to. Though, she was curious about what his mom thought about him rescuing a strange woman who was now stuck at his house.
“Sorry about that. She worries. No matter how old I get. No matter that I’ve been living on my own for a long time now.” Rev smiled.
“It’s no problem. Parents worry. Especially moms.”
“So, tell me more about you. Are you single? I mean, do you need to call anyone?” Rev asked.
“I’m single. I have been for a while,” she replied with a shrug. “What about you?”
“I just haven’t found the right woman, and I’m over the bar scene.”
“Me too.” She actually hated bars and how they made her feel. She had never been what she considered beautiful. Her fiery red hair and freckles had always been more of an annoyance than anything, and she certainly wasn’t what anyone would deem as skinny. She had hips and curves and more boobs than most women. She definitely wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Despite that, she’d always had a steady string of boyfriends until the last year when she had gotten so fed up with the backhanded comments likeyou have such a pretty face,oryou’d be so pretty if you’d just lose weight.
She was done with letting assholes make her feel like her body wasn’t worthy, and therefore, she wasn’t worthy of love because she was curvy. Hallie wanted someone who would love her for being her. Just the way she was.
“Yeah, I’m not a fan of bars. At all. I just threw myself into work for the last year and kind of shied away from all things dating and men to work on my own life for a bit.” She wasn’t about to feel bad for not dating. Not when she had taken the time to get her mind right. To decide what she wanted and what she didn’t want. It had given her a better perspective on why she dated some of the guys she had.
She didn’t like what she found, so she had worked hard to change it. When Sierra told her about using a dating agency, Hallie figured why not give it a try. Maybe she would meet the type of guy who would treat her the way she deserved to be treated.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve pretty much done the same. I’m tired of all the games. I’m tired of being set up on useless blind dates with women I’d never consider dating.”
“Oh, God. Those are the worst. I once had a friend set me up with a dude who had just been released from prison. He had to be back at the halfway house by six p.m., so it was, thankfully, a very short date.” Hallie laughed at the memory.
“Wow. Some friend!” Rev laughed.
“I know. I couldn’t believe she did that to me. I don’t think I’ve talked to her since. I guess I’m just done with the crazy. I really don’t want or need any of that. I just want a relatively normal, calm life without all the drama.”