The Best Part of Me by Jamie Hollins Page A

she’d pegged him for a student because he looked young, but after he’d introduced himself, she totally saw that he had professor written all over him. He talked with an easy confidence, and his brown eyes danced with humor behind his dark-framed glasses. There was something quietly charming about the way he smiled.
    â€œAre you a graduate student here?” he asked.
    Quinn shook her head. “No. I’m from Pittsburgh. I’m visiting family for the summer.”
    â€œAh, I see. I didn’t think you attended classes here. I definitely would have remembered you if I’d seen you before.” There was that lazy grin again. “So what do you do, Quinn from Pittsburgh?”
    â€œAt the moment, not much of anything. I’d like to work in landscape design at some point though.”
    â€œSo you like to play in the dirt, huh?”
    â€œGuilty,” she said as she shrugged.
    â€œSo what would you say if I told you that if you were a flower, I’d pick you?”
    She blinked. “Um, I’d say that’s an incredibly bad pickup line?”
    â€œNoted,” he replied, smiling. “How about if you were an ear of corn, I’d shuck you all night on the back porch?”
    She laughed and shook her head. “Getting worse.”
    â€œDarn. Okay, here’s one: you would be the perfect fruit of my labor.”
    â€œWhat does that even mean?” she said with a laugh.
    â€œI’ll have to work on those. How about I buy you a drink?”
    â€œHonestly, I’m good on the drinks, but if you would have started with that one, you would have been much better off.”
    He grinned, looking sheepish. He was charming in an innocent, try-too-hard sort of way. His witty and silly personality didn’t exactly match the very masculine persona he exuded. He had a Jake Gyllenhaal thing going on with his looks. If she’d been a student and showed up to her first day of class and saw this guy walk in, she would have had a major crush.
    She just wasn’t feeling the chemistry though. Why in the world would someone as nice and as charming as Gavin not do it for her while someone as ridiculously rude and unfriendly as Ewan make her heart pound?
    â€œSo what do you think of Boston?” he asked.
    â€œIt’s a nice city. I like the history here.”
    His smile brightened. “There’s nothing quite like it, really. I mean, if you’re a lover of American history, that is. Sure, Washington D.C. has all the monuments and museums, but the birth of our nation happened here .”
    She watched his eyes sparkle with excitement as he went on to point out some off-the-beaten-path sites that she should check out in her spare time. It was nice to hear someone speak with such passion. It had been a while since she’d spoken like that about something she was passionate about.
    â€œAnd of course,” he continued, putting his hand on her forearm, “since you’re a gardener, you need to check out the Boston Public Garden. This is the perfect time of year for it too.”
    She was about to tell him that she would definitely do that when Erin, Lisbeth, and Darcy finally made it back to the table.
    â€œHello there,” Lisbeth purred at Gavin.
    He smiled awkwardly and nodded at the three of them before turning back to Quinn.
    â€œIf you’re looking for someone to hit up any of those places, give me a call.” He handed her his business card with the Baxter University logo on top. “Hopefully I’ll hear from you, Quinn from Pittsburgh.” He winked at her before turning and giving her friends a quick nod of farewell. As she watched him disappear into the crowd, she found herself wishing for that little zing of excitement she used to get when someone showed interest in her.
    It just wasn’t there.
    â€œHe’s yummy in a naughty principal sort of way,” Lisbeth said. “Wonder what he’s packing behind