Her Best Match (The Best Girls 1)

“We’ll see.” He grinned at her, but she crossed her arms as if the matter were settled.

“Excuse me, but are you Steven Gherring?” asked Mark.

Gherring stepped forward and shook the boys’ hands. “Yes, I’m Steven Gherring. Spencer, you look familiar. Do you work at Papa’s Place, perhaps?”

“Yes sir. But that’s not a permanent job. I’m getting my MBA.”

“What’s your undergrad degree?”

“Economics.”

“You should put in for one of our internships, and put my name down as a reference.”

“Thank you, sir! Wow, that’d be a dream to intern at Gherring Inc.!” Spencer was all smiles.

Charlie was already stepping into her harness when Gherring and Anne went to change clothes. Charlie was starting up the wall when Gherring and Anne came back out and found Emily perched on a bench, a book open on her lap.

“Go Charlie!” yelled Emily. She watched her sister work her way efficiently up the vertical climb with far-spaced holds.

Gherring sat down next to Emily, while Anne leaned against the wall. Though she pretended to ignore them, she was close enough to hear their conversation.

“A real book, huh?” Gherring said. “Not an e-book?”

“I read on my phone, but I still like real books. I like to hold them in my hands and turn the pages. I like to physically see the progress I’m making.”

“What are you reading?”

“Robert Jordan.”

“The Wheel of Time series? I got tired of waiting between books, but it was so good. I swore I’d never start a series that wasn’t finished again.”

“I know, me too. I’m actually re-reading the series.”

“So you don’t plan to climb?”

“Nope, and you can’t talk me into it.” Emily lifted her chin, in her customary defiance.

“I won’t try. I doubt you can be talked into anything.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just that I think we may be a lot alike.”

Emily shook her head with a scoffing expression. “Right.”

“Let’s see how close I am. You aren’t really afraid of adventure as much as you don’t see the value in it. I think you’d climb without any fear whatsoever if there was a good reason to do it.”

“Like what?”

“If someone held a gun to your head and told you to climb or else, you’d probably cross your arms and tell them to shoot.”

Emily laughed, but she nodded agreement.

“But if someone held a gun to your sister’s head, I bet you’d be up that wall before you could blink.”

“Okay, you’re right. But no one’s holding a gun to my sister’s head, so… What other good reason can you come up with?”

He drummed his fingers on his leg. “Hmmm. You don’t care what anybody thinks, and you’re not competitive in that way, so it has to be an internal motivation.”