Read Searching for Someday for Free Online Page A

something in her file, since her voice threatened to be wobbly. After a few moments, Kate dove back in. “Let’s talk past relationships. Have you ever been married?”
    “Yes.”
    She paused and ventured a glance under her lashes. His previous amusement vanished, and a wall slammed down between them. Ah, she’d hit pay dirt. “Divorced?”
    “Yep.”
    “What happened?”
    “We broke up.”
    “Care to tell me why?”
    She waited him out. This was a turning point, because information on his past helped her plan his future. “I plead the Fifth.”
    His wife had hurt him. Ex-wife. The knowledge softened her heart and beckoned for her to reach out and touch him. She’d avoided any skin-on-skin contact, afraid the attraction would be more difficult to fight, but his comment made her curl her fingers into tight fists to keep from closing the distance. Kate gentled her voice. “Slade, I don’t mean to pry and upset you. Our past makes up who we are and what we want. It would help if I knew what happened so that I can avoid setting you up with someone who can hurt you again. Not that there are guarantees, of course.”
    He tapped his finger against his chin and studied her with brooding eyes. “How about we play truth for truth? Why aren’t you happily married? Unless you are and you like hearing other people’s horror stories to get your kicks and excitement?”
    The familiar pain sprang up, but she pushed it backdown with an expert ease that should have scared her. “No, I’m not married.”
    “Kinnections not working for you?”
    She lifted her chin. “The truth is, no man has ever wanted me enough to propose.”
    The silence pulsed and hummed. She’d learned early that fair was fair. If she asked her clients to trust her with their backgrounds, she owed it to them to do the same. He cleared his throat and spoke with no emotion. “She cheated on me. But it was my fault. I was too involved in law school and ignored her for too long. Classic formula for the classic divorcee.”
    Kate wanted more but knew how much the words cost him. God, how that must have affected him. He was obviously a strong man, and once trust was shattered, it took years to rebuild confidence in love. His profession was pretty deadly to any optimism regarding relationships. “Thank you. Makes sense loyalty and trust would be among your number one requirements. That will help me.” She lightened the topic, switching back to easy territory. “Give me your celebrity crush.”
    “Huh?”
    She smiled. “If you got to pick the celebrity female you want to sleep with, who would it be?”
    “Angelina Jolie.”
    The name slipped out so fast from his lips he looked surprised. Kate laughed and made the note. “Nice choice.But I must say a bit cliché. Do you know how many times men and women rattled off her name?”
    “Now I’m embarrassed. Change it to Zooey Deschanel.”
    “Ah, better. So definitely brunettes with curves. Too bad my friend’s sister is happily married. She always reminded me of Zooey.”
    “Do I have a chance at stealing her?”
    “Nah, Alexa is madly in love with her husband. But at least I’ve got an idea of your holy grail.”
    “Get me Zooey and I’ll take out a full-page ad in the Times for Kinnections.”
    She laughed again. “I’ll work on it. I see you don’t list many hobbies. What do you like to do outside of work?”
    “I work most of the time. I run every day. Golf. Boring stuff.”
    “Would you be open to an adventurous type of woman? Someone who skydives, likes sports, scuba diving, that sort of thing?”
    Another shrug. “Sure. As long as she doesn’t think I’m jumping out of a plane for her. Screaming may take away my manhood.”
    “Duly noted. Religion? Nationality?”
    “Open. Oh, no virgins.”
    Her pen paused. “Under any circumstances?”
    “Absolutely not. I can’t take the pressure of no sex before marriage, and a woman who hasn’t had experiencemay have a false attachment to me