Make Your Move - By Samantha Hunter Page 0,2

the right person, and had been stalling. When it came to her business, she was nowhere near as daring as she was in her social life. She’d been meaning to ask Dan his opinion; maybe he would like to conduct interviews with her.

Jodie was a social butterfly and Dan was more solitary. She dated a lot of guys and was sexually and socially adventurous, enjoying going out with her friends and traveling when she could. Her female friendships were the cornerstone of her social life, though. After growing up with a dominating father and watching her mother suffer for it, as did Jodie, she had no desire to attach herself to any man for longer than a night.

Men were just for sex, and none of them seemed to mind.

Dan was the exception to the rule, in a platonic way. He’d never made a move on her, and for that, she was grateful. He was as dedicated to work as she was, and that, as well as their college friendship, was their glue.

Dan had dated three women that she knew of, one in grad school and two later, fairly seriously, but he was ultimately married to his work. Not many women could put up with his frequent absences and the times when, even though he was sitting right there with you, his mind was off solving some problem.

The women he dated tended to be as smart as he was. Jodie knew she didn’t compete in that area. She wasn’t stupid, but she was hardly on Dan’s level when it came to brain power.

Dialing quickly, she called his cell, which she knew by rote.

“Jodie,” he greeted her warmly on the second ring. The same surge of comfort and happiness overcame her, too, hearing his voice.

“Dan, I’m sorry, I just got your message. I was, uh—” she said, glancing toward the front room where Jason waited.

“Out on a date, yes. It’s Friday night. I’m sorry. I remembered just as soon as I left the message. I’m a little bleary on what day it is. They’ve all blended together lately. Who’s the lucky fella?”

“Um, just a guy. Actually, um, he’s…”

“There. I understand,” he said easily. “You didn’t need to call me right back.”

She smiled, shaking her head at how he finished her thoughts. They’d been friends for that long. Suddenly the sexy night she’d had planned with Jason didn’t seem so exciting.

“It’s been a while,” she said, letting the black gown fall to the floor and yanking open a drawer, grabbing some underwear, yoga pants and a tank top. She dressed as she was talking. “How long are you home?”

“I’m teaching, so I’ll be here for the year this time. Wanted to get home a few weeks before the semester started to get ready. Didn’t I tell you before I left?”

“Nope,” she said, though there wasn’t any blame in her tone. She was used to him forgetting details like that.

“Listen, there’s no hurry. Go enjoy your date.”

She paused, a little ding of hurt around her breast-bone. Didn’t he want to see her, too? But he sounded tired. That had to be it. Dan didn’t do subterfuge. If he didn’t want to see her, he’d say so.

“Are you okay?”

“Braincloud,” he said wearily, and she grinned, understanding immediately. “Braincloud” was the inside joke they shared after watching the movie Joe Versus the Volcano to describe the complete fog and exhaustion Dan suffered when he came out of his work-saturated life.

Dan worked with such intensity. In college, he’d get so stuck in a project that he’d forget to eat, sleep, or to even leave his room. Once, he’d stayed in his room for so long working out a problem that the people in adjoining rooms thought something was terribly wrong and called her, the dorm student rep, to check it out.

He’d barely noticed when she’d gotten security to open the door and they found him amid a forest of books and papers, his attention completely tuned to his work. He hadn’t eaten for two days, and Jodie had taken it upon herself from then on to bring him food when he was working.

Eventually, it became a ritual. She’d come to his lab or his dorm room with food and they’d share a break. She made him laugh, and he helped her get through three years of required math for her business degree. She baked him things all the time, and it had been his idea for her to open a bakery.

When other guys were trying to find