Mad About You Read Online Free

It wasn’t about him and her at all. She covered her unaccountable disappointment with a shrug. “I’m not seeing anyone right now.”
    Scott perched on the edge of a table covered in computer printouts of calculations. “Just out of curiosity, what is your type?”
    Charismatic intellectual with a body like an athlete and a vulnerable heart he protects with work, work, and more work.
    “Come on, Scott. You’ve known me since we were seven.” Why did he want to know? Was it at all possible that he wondered if she’d ever be romantically interested in him?
    “Back then your type was any boy who could catch tadpoles in a jar.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Update me.”
    “The last guy I went out with was Daryl, a real estate agent.”
    “Hell, Cass, you can do better than that.”
    “He was a nice guy. And real estate is good, honest work. At least he was honest.”
    “So why did you two break up?”
    “I wasn’t ready to settle. I mean, settle down.” She kicked at an exercise ball. It bounced off the rowing machine and came back to hit her in the shin. Typical. Typical of what, she didn’t know. Just…typical.
    “You bought a house with a backyard and a picket fence. All that’s missing is a dog and a cat and two-point-three children. And yet you’re alone.”
    “I’ve got Rupert.” Cassy turned away to hide the sting she was afraid would show on her face. Scott would never deliberately hurt her, but sometimes he didn’t realize how blunt he sounded. His casual observation stabbed deep, and the sharpness of the pain put her on the offensive. “You should count yourself lucky those things are missing from my life. If I had a dog and kids and a husband I wouldn’t be able to drop everything and race up here at your beck and call. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
    “It tells me you’re a good friend. A great friend.” He paused and said simply, “The best friend I’ve ever had.”
    Friends. So much for her vain hope that he might wish she was interested in him. She kicked the ball again. “Why are we talking about this anyway? I don’t want to argue, or explain who I’m seeing or not seeing, or what I’m doing with my life.” She laughed, trying to lighten up. “If I want this kind of interrogation I’ll call my mother in Spokane.”
    “Okay, okay. Sorry. I was just curious. We’ve drifted a little the past few years.”
    It was true. As she gazed at him, so gorgeous and smart and strong—so caring—she suddenly realized why she hadn’t made the effort to see more of him. It was hard to be around him, just being friends but wanting more and knowing it was never going to happen. Shit. She’d been kidding herself if she thought she was over her crush.
    But neither had she gone too far away from him, either, like to Harvard. Jeez, was that what was holding her back? How dumb was that? At the very least, she could have done an MBA right here in Seattle at the University of Washington. Why hadn’t she?
    “Well, we’re together now. Working, sharing an apartment.” She dug deep and found another smile. “It’ll be like the old days.” Except now that her inconvenient attraction had resurfaced, those innocent days were gone for good. Briskly, she gathered up her notepad. “I’ll let you get back to work.”
    Cassy shut the door behind her and strode through the open-plan office, trying not to feel depressed about Scott. It was great that they were such good friends. He’d given her the hugest compliment just now. Really, there was nothing to feel bad about.
    From the corner of her eye, she saw three heads bob above cubicle partitions in her wake. Hello! So far, the geeks were friendly but shy, her nice breasts notwithstanding.
    Tom was thirty-five going on fourteen, and wore sweatshirts with slogans and mismatched socks. He usually worked in the adjoining lab, supervising a team of assistants, but today he was in the office. Park was a South Korean whiz kid with a