Read A Better Reason to Fall in Love Online
Authors: Marcia Lynn McClure
Tags: #Romance, #General, #Contemporary, #Fiction
She giggled and shook her head with amused disbelief. “You mean, Ginger on
Gilligan’s Island
?” she asked teasingly. “
That’s
the only sexy redhead you can think of?”
He nodded with emphatic assurance. “Ginger was the bomb,” he continued. “Ginger was…seriously, like, ultimate when it came to sexy women.
And
she was a redhead. Not the only sexy one. Just the sexy redhead any man thinks of first.” He chuckled with an emphatic nod. He winked at her, adding, “Any man who hasn’t met you, that is.”
Tabby blushed, even though she knew he was only flirting. Tina Louise, the actress who played the infamous role of Ginger Grant on the old syndicated sitcom, was absolutely in a class by herself when it came to true beauty. Tabby doubted any redhead in the world could rival her—especially her rather common self.
“You’re not even old enough to remember
Gilligan’s Island
,” she countered.
“Oh, I watched plenty of
Gilligan’s Island
when I was kid,” Jagger said. “The reruns were on every day…at three-thirty p.m. for all three years I was in middle school.” He chuckled to himself and added, “I don’t even remember the transition really…just that one year I was racing home from school to watch cartoons and the next year I was racing home to ogle Ginger on
Gilligan’s Island
.” He paused, his smile broadening once more. “I used to imagine that, sure, maybe the Professor got Mary Ann, but I didn’t care because I always thought of myself as Gilligan…who we all secretly know had a deeply passionate relationship with Ginger.” He nodded. “Yep, the Professor was smart. But Gilligan, now he was the real ladies’ man.”
Tabby laughed and studied Jagger for a moment—his dark, rather tousle-styled hair, his deep green eyes, his deliciously five-o’clock-shadowed, artistically chiseled jaw. She quickly glanced to his perfectly alluring manner of dress—worn blue jeans, cowboy boots, and a tattered black T-shirt. These were the clothes he’d brought along to change into to wash dishes at the restaurant, and he still looked like a rock star.
She giggled, shook her head, and said, “Oh, yeah. You’re a real Gilligan. It’s so obvious I can’t believe I didn’t notice it before.”
She stood up, retrieving their plates from the kitchen table. “In fact,” she began as she carried the plates toward the sink, “I remember the first time I ever saw you. Yep, I thought, that guy totally reminds me of Gilligan on
Gilligan’s Island
.”
Jagger chuckled again. “Yeah…well, all guys are just Gilligans at heart,” he said.
“Oh really?” she giggled.
“Yeah, you know…kind of gangly and dorky at some point, always crushing on the girls they could never possibly hope to win,” he said. “Still, like I said, Gilligan and Ginger…they totally had a thing, I’m sure of it. Gilligan owning Ginger—it gave all us awkward adolescent boys hope.”
“Oh, and what? You don’t think girls crush on boys they can never hope to win?” she countered. “In fact, I’d put money on the fact that girls tend to crush more on unobtainable guys than guys do on unobtainable girls. I’m sure you know that better than anyone.”
Jagger stood, stretched, and sauntered toward the sofa. Tabby followed him, plopping down to sit on the opposite side.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked, frowning and smiling at the same time.
“Oh, don’t try to play all innocent with me, Mr. Brodie. I saw your groupies the other night,” she said, wagging an index finger at him. “Fifty women—of all ages and types—swooning every time you looked at one of them.”
“Swooning?” he asked. “Do women still swoon these days?” Jagger chuckled, shook his head, and said, “Nah, nobody’s swooning over me,” though he looked so embarrassed that Tabby thought he might actually blush. “It’s the guitar. Chicks just dig guys with guitars,” he said. He smiled at her. “One semester of college social life will prove to anybody how true that is. You can take the most unlikely guy and hand him a guitar…and he’s an instant chick magnet. You can’t judge a man by the way people react to him when he’s playing guitar at a blues joint.”
How about the way he looks just lounging on your sofa?
Tabby thought to herself.
“How about the way they react to him at work?” she offered instead.
Jagger’s handsome brow puckered. “Oh, yeah,” he said, sarcasm thick in his voice. “There’re so many women
swooning
at work. They don’t have enough stretchers to carry them out on.”
Tabby smiled at him. “It’s not as obvious at work. You just don’t pay as much attention in the office,” she said.
“Neither do you,” he said.
Tabby blushed again. He was such a flirt!
“I will say this,” she sighed. “If I could make up my mind to believe that you like redheads…you’d sure be good for my self-esteem.”
“Okay, I’ll come clean,” he said.
Tabby felt her heart hit the pit of her stomach with a thud. He had been teasing; he really didn’t like redheads at all.
“Ginger…she was my adolescent fantasy girl, you know?” he began. “But you…you’re real.” He paused a moment, seeming to study her—especially her hair. “It’s like cinnamon and nutmeg mixed up with barbecue potato chips—some of my favorite flavors, I might add.”
Tabby laughed. He was so funny!
“So you just like my hair because you think it might taste good?” she asked, still laughing.
“It’s you I like, not just your hair,” he told her. “That’s just a bonus.”
Tabby’s stomach was suddenly filled with butterflies. She felt breathless—knew she was blushing.
“You know what I mean,” he continued, “like…I’m hoping you find me interesting for more reasons than just my butt—which I guess is good enough to be the topic of conversation here and there.”
Tabby sighed, again thinking how entertaining he was—in so many ways.
“Well, everyone has something they’re known for,” she said. “I have my hair, and you have your butt.”
He laughed, and the sound of his laughter—the sight of his smile—sent waves of warm emotion racing through her entire body.
“What have you got on your iPod?” he asked, pointing to the iPod and dock sitting on the wall unit.
“Oh, a little of everything,” she said.
Tabby stood and went to the dock. Smiling, she pressed play and giggled as Jagger Brodie’s voice graveled a cool blues tune.
“Oh, no!” he groaned. “Are you serious?”
“You’re great,” she told him. “I bought two of your CDs…remember?”
“I remember,” he sighed.
“Who’s your contract with?” she asked him. “I didn’t recognize the label name. Evangeline Records?”
“It’s…uh…it’s a small label,” he stammered.
She turned to look at him. “Evangeline? And your grandma owns a New Orleans style restaurant? Hmmm.”
“Okay, I produce them myself,” he admitted.
“Ooo! An artist and a producer!” she teased.
He shook his head. “I was getting so much pressure from the family to have my stuff available that I caved and just started doing it myself.”
“I’m surprised you’re not all rich and famous, contracted with some big-name label,” she said.
His smile faded. “Well, there’s a reason for that too.”
She sensed he didn’t want to talk about it.
“What else do you have on there?” he asked.
“Well, you like Diana Krall, so…” Tabby said, spinning down to a Diana Krall album.
“She’s so smooth,” Jagger said, smiling.
“Yeah,” Tabby agreed. “She’s good when you just want to relax a little.”
She heard Jagger sigh. He was bored, she was sure of it. How in the world would she entertain them until a reasonable time arrived to go to bed?
“Do you like games?” she asked as she knelt down in front of the wall unit and opened one of the cupboard doors.
“You mean like post office and spin the bottle?” he teased.
Tabby giggled. “Well, I meant more like Monopoly or cards or something,” she said as she studied the board games crammed in the cupboard.
“What’s the green box?” he asked, leaning forward on the couch.
“Oh, that’s nothing you’d be interested in,” she said. “Just a little novelty thing my parents bought me one year for Christmas…as a joke really.”
“What is it?” he asked. “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon? What’s that?”
“I…it’s a verbal game I like to mess with, and my parents saw this one year and got it for me,” she explained. “Really, it’s just a joke…and I only play it verbally anyway.”
“Kevin Bacon?” he asked. “Like the actor?”
“Yeah.”
“Show me,” he said. “What do you mean it’s a verbal game you play?”
Tabby was somewhat mortified with embarrassment. He’d think she was a whack job! Still, what could she do but explain?
She turned to him and sat down on the floor in front of him.
“Are you familiar with the theory of six degrees of separation?” she asked.
“The human web,” he answered, nodding. “The theory that any two people can be connected through association with six people or less…yeah.”
Tabby shrugged. “That’s how Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon works…only you do it with actors through movies and stuff.”
Jagger smiled, leaned back on the couch, and said, “Show me.”
Tabby tried not to blush, but it all sounded so ridiculous. He was probably thinking,
This girl needs a life
.
“Really…it’s just a stupid thing I do,” she said.
“Show me how it works,” he prodded.
“Okay, give me the name of a movie star…any movie star,” she told him.
“Like who?” he asked.
“Anybody. It doesn’t matter. Just randomly choose someone. It’s more fun if you choose someone old or not that well-known.”
Jagger shrugged. “Okay…um…the dude from
Gone with the Wind
…Clark Gable,” he said.
Tabby smiled, delighted by his choice.
“Okay…Clark Gable was in
Gone with the Wind
with Vivien Leigh, and Vivien Leigh was in
A Streetcar Named Desire
with Marlon Brando. Marlon Brando was in
Superman the Movie
with Gene Hackman. Gene Hackman was in
Wyatt Earp
with Kevin Costner…and Kevin Costner was in
JFK
with Kevin Bacon.” Tabby blushed, embarrassed. She shrugged and said, “I probably could’ve found a shorter link…but I’m kind of nervous.”
She looked up to see Jagger smiling. He was entirely amused. Still, was he amused as in admiration for her incredible gift of stupid movie trivia? Or was he amused as in thinking she was crazy?
“Awesome!” he chuckled. “I get it…so do it again.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s stupid. And besides, anyone can do it.”
“Come on, do it again,” he begged. “Do, like, I don’t know…John Wayne.”
“No, really. I—”
“Come on,” he insisted. “Do it again. John Wayne. Connect him to Kevin Bacon in six degrees.”
“John Wayne was in
El Dorado
with Edward Asner. Edward Asner was in
JFK
with Kevin Bacon.”
“Seriously?” he laughed. “That’s awesome! Do someone really hard. Can you do anybody? Or does it have to be just through movies?”
“Well, most anybody who has ever been on TV or in the movies,” she told him.
“How about musicians?”
Tabby shrugged. “If they’ve been in a movie.”
“Okay, like Jonny Lang…the blues singer,” Jagger said. “He’s been in at least one movie that I know of. Can you connect him?”
“I love Jonny Lang,” she giggled.
“Me too,” he said. “Can you connect him to Kevin Bacon in six degrees?”
Tabby smiled. She could! Furthermore, she could see that Jagger Brodie was legitimately impressed with her stupid talent.
“Jonny Lang was in
Blues Brothers 2000
with Dan Aykroyd. Dan Aykroyd was in
Christmas with the Kranks
with Jamie Lee Curtis. Jamie Lee Curtis was in
Forever Young
with Elijah Wood. Elijah Wood was with Sean Astin in
The Lord of the Rings
…and Sean Astin was in a movie called
White Water Summer
with—”
“Kevin Bacon,” Jagger laughed. “That’s way weird, man!”
Tabby laughed. “I know, huh.”
“So you’re a Kevin Bacon fan?” he asked.
Tabby shrugged. “Yeah…I guess. I remember seeing
Footloose
on TV when I was really little. It’s still one of my favorite movies.” She looked up at him, shaking her head with humiliation. “What an idiot I am, huh?”
“Not at all,” he said. “I loved that movie too. When I was a kid I always wanted to go beat some bad guy up and then go to, like, the prom or something.”
Tabby laughed. “Well, it’s stupid, I know…but nobody has ever been able to stump me.”