Perfect Pairing by Rachel Spangler Page A

item?”
    Hal opened her mouth, then hesitated. The answer was there, but she was smart enough to know she should worry about handing it over.
    Quinn gave her credit for the natural defense, but she wouldn’t let it hold. Stepping closer, right to the edge of Hal’s personal space, she met her eyes and held them, silently challenging her to show her cards.
    â€œOvens,” Hal finally said.
    â€œOvens? That’s it?” Had she started bullshitting again, or was that really the word that had almost died on her lips? “You can’t have an oven in a truck?”
    â€œOven’s aren’t small. They give off a ton of heat. The people who use them usually have trailers, not trucks.” Hal pushed off the counter and began to gesture with her hands while she continued. “The trucks that do have them sacrifice a lot of space and energy for a small one. You can only do one thing at a time, and usually you can’t even do that well. They’re glorified toasters.”
    â€œWow, tell me how you really feel.”
    Hal snorted and shook her head. “You asked, you got an answer.”
    She got more than that. She got passion, she got a personal reaction. She got a spark where there’d only been a brick wall before. More importantly she’d gotten her in. “Thank you, Hal.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI said ‘thank you.’ You gave me an honest answer and some knowledge to help me as I look for a professional-grade kitchen.”
    â€œAre you really in the market for one already?”
    â€œAbsolutely. And I had a pretty good idea what was needed to dothe work you do in the truck, but now I also know what I’d need to take it to the next level.”
    â€œGlad I could be of service,” Hal said slowly and in a tone that made it clear she wasn’t at all sure she meant it.
    Quinn smiled and laid her hand on Hal’s shoulder. “And that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
    â€œEasier than pulling teeth, I suppose.”
    â€œYou sure know how to charm a lady.”
    Hal finally grinned. “I get that a lot.”

    â€œDude, what happened in there tonight?” Sully asked as soon as the door closed behind Quinn and Ian.
    â€œI don’t know. I think maybe we cleared the air.”
    â€œYou don’t seem very clear on it right now.”
    Hal flopped onto the couch they’d dragged two blocks from the curb it had been left on a year ago. Intellectually she understood that nothing left on a curb should ever be flopped onto again, but it was more comfortable than crashing on the distressed hardwood floor of their first-story apartment. “Quinn is complicated.”
    â€œHigh maintenance.”
    â€œI don’t know, man. I think it’s something more than that.”
    â€œMore woman than you can handle?” Sully scoffed. “I’m disappointed in you.”
    Sully’s estimation of her skills had always been highly inflated, but Hal didn’t like admitting that, so instead, she stared at the ceiling.
    â€œWhy are you letting her jerk you around?”
    â€œI’m not.”
    â€œYou are. You have all the power here. She needs you. She wants you.”
    â€œShe wants a name, she wants a restaurant, she wants to make money.
    â€œShe’s going to dump me the minute she has what she’s after.”
    â€œSo what? Get what you want before that and let her go, unless of course the only thing you want is for her to stay.”
    The word hit her like a punch to the gut. “Don’t be daft.”
    â€œDaft? Have you been watching the BBC again?”
    â€œMaybe, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re a moron.”
    Sully shrugged. “Probably not. It also doesn’t change the fact that you’re letting this woman jack you around.”
    â€œNo one is jacking, or jerking, me in any direction.”
    Sully laughed. “Maybe that’s your