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apparently thought I was some kind pervert. Then I got her medical attention when she fell and cracked her head on the road. Then I drove her home because the paramedic told her not to put pressure on her sprained ankle. Then, after my car broke down, I cooked her one of my famous omelets, and I complimented her. For that I got thrown out. What did I do so wrong?” Max had to fight to keep the smile out of his voice. Every time he thought of Audrey, he grinned, and he wasn’t quite sure why. The girl had lived up to the EMTs description of her in every way. She was prickly and stoic and a general high-maintenance pain in the butt, but he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. When he found himself trudging through Colette’s parking lot this morning to clean the snow off her abandoned car, he decided he must have been the one who’d hit his head and he just didn’t remember it.
    On his way to the diner to meet Cassie for breakfast, he’d resisted the urge to pass the pub and see if she’d reclaimed her car and his note. Why was he so anxious to hear from her? Clearly she didn’t like him, so he should just forget her and get on with his life.
    “Well, you must have done something. I’ve never had anyone, especially a woman, not call me immediately after a date I set up. You must have really insulted her.”
    “I would pay someone to tell me how.”
    “You can be a bit abrasive, you know. And you have a penchant for zeroing in on people’s faults and telling them about them. Did you do that?”
    “No, I swear.” Well, maybe he’d let her know she was too picky, too anxious, and a tad desperate when it came to shopping for a man, but he’d only done that because something instinctive told him A ppendix G uy would not have been right for her.
    “I’m going to wait until noon and call her to apologize,” Cassie said. She pushed scrambled eggs around on her plate unenthusiastically.
    “Why not call her now?”
    “With you here? No, that would be bad, especially if she’s mad at you.”
    “I promise I won’t say a word.” He would have duct-taped his mouth shut if it meant finding out what Audrey really thought of him. He had to shake this sudden obsession. Maybe it was just the fact that she hadn’t been bowled over by his charm that bothered him. He’d been told he had a knack for putting people at ease and making them laugh, a good skill for a photographer who needed people to smile all the time. The idea that he hadn’t been able to put uptight Audrey at ease and make her smile irked him. Yep, that was it.
    “No. I’m sorry. It’s better I deal with this on my own. Besides I want to call John and find out how he’s doing so maybe I can set up the date she was supposed to have.”
    That thought practically iced his coffee. “Oh, don’t do that.”
    “What? Why not? He’s really her type, very responsible, smart, normal in every way.”
    “I met this girl. She doesn’t need a normal guy.”
    Cassie almost cracked a smile. “Seriously? You just said that? What woman wants a guy who’s not normal? According to her, she’s dated every nut job in the county, and she wants someone regular.”
    “Regular means boring. She’s a spitfire, and she needs someone who can handle her.”
    “Handle her? Do you hear yourself?”
    “You know what I mean. She needs a guy with personality.”
    “So you’re a matchmaker now?”
    “No, I just got a feel for her and—”
    “A feel? Please tell me you didn’t—”
    “Perfect gentleman. I told you that. I just got an instinctive read on her.”
    “And you know what she wants in a man?”
    “I know what she needs.”
    Now Cassie did laugh, explosively in fact, and the few other patrons in the diner swiveled around in their seats to look at her. She covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled discreetly. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head too?”
    Max shrugged. “No, I’m actually not sure. But do me a favor, if you’re going to