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Beth wasn&039;t i it The relationship between her and Peter had shifted since the night of her o, and whenever they logged on to the gauard a fraction est difference was that they chatted fardidn&039;t concern the gaht on tied on

Beth kicked off her shoes as she settled into the chair by her desk She set aside the soda she was drinking in order to respond You&039;re ahead of schedule

I was anxious

Beth read his words and leaned away from her desk She wasn&039;t sure how to decipher that co her arrival? Or was he i that he orried she&039;d be late? It was hard to tell

Anxious why? she asked, preferring the direct approach

To talk to you

Now that they&039;d reached level forty in World of Warcraft, the option to purchase a e and one they&039;d been considering Any particular reason? she asked, wondering if that hat he wanted to discuss

Yeah

That didn&039;t tell her anything Would you care to explain?

His reply didn&039;t come for a couple of minutes, as if he needed to think about it first So this obviously wasn&039;t about the possibility of adding a mount to their list of resources

We&039;ve been partners - how long? he asked instead

Six ain Beth didn&039;t knohat to hed As well you should I&039;ve covered your butt often enough, oh hty Timixie

I&039;ve covered yours, too

For which I&039;hed, enjoying the light, teasing quality of their exchange She typed quickly Are you going to chatter all night or are we going to play?

Can&039;t we do both?

Beth felt a rush of warmth It was a pleasant sensation and one she&039;d al with the opposite sex ard for her, except in situations that didn&039;t involve potentially romantic expectations - with faues or friends like Sah they hadn&039;t even spoken on the phone, let alone face-to-face, it was the first time she&039;d had that kind of reaction to a man since John

Despite what her mother said, Beth had dated after her divorce; she just hadn&039;t done it successfully Most social conversations with led with how much to say or not to say

Her record was three dates with the sa and funny His sense of humor had carried her for the three dates

She probably would&039;ve accepted a fourth except that he&039;d ad for him He&039;d been sincere when he said they should call it quits before either of theot hurt

Well, surprise, surprise Luke&039;s rejection had cut deep and served, once again, to convince Beth that she was incapable of ever attracting anotherat all and a couple of weeks later, she&039;d found the World of Warcraft and since then, alht Elf and hunter

Now there was Peter, a ested he "get a life," so it was highly probably that he was single, too Beth wanted to ask hiure out how to do it without being obvious A straightforward question about his e

They&039;d been into the gae This le, married, whatever?

He&039;d asked her

Beth&039;s relief was instantaneous Single

Me, too Age?

Is this an interrogation? she typed back

Sort of Do you mind?

Not really She didn&039;t, because in the process she was learning ht

I&039; toward thirty, he typed Which is one reason my family is after me to meet someone

Me, too Her heart really started to pound then Perhaps that candle herPerhaps, in sole; she was single

He lived in Seattle and she lived in Seattle

He was close to her age and a professional, just as she was

This alood to be true

My family says it&039;s time I met someone, she typed next

They do? He see this a bit too coincidental Eerie, even

Awith you?

Well, he was direct enough, but she&039;d been pretty honest with hi him she&039;d been married and divorced, and then remembered Heidi&039;s advice It wasn&039;t necessary to blurt out everything on the first date - even if this wasn&039;t exactly a date

I spend too ers skipped effortlessly over the keyboard

I&039;ve got the sah it was, Beth felt sure they were both s Their conversation went on for another hour, and she was shocked to realize the gaht when Beth crawled into bed and drew the blanket over her shoulders, she fell into an easy, peaceful sleep She ith a feeling of expectation, as if so her eyes closed, she tried to hang on to that sensation for as long as she could, afraid reality would chase it away

The phone rang while she dressed for work Call display told her it was herthe phone while fastening an earring

"You sound happy"

"I am - well, kind of"

Herto do with the ?"

Beth found it hard to believe she&039;d actually mentioned Peter to herto shut down a barrage of veiled criticisement Normally her mother would be the last person she&039;d tell "We haven&039;t even met, Mom," she finally confessed "At least not in the flesh"