30 First Dates Read Online Free PDF

me wanting to get married before I turned thirty."
    His eyebrows shot up again, but he didn't say anything. Erin looked down and traced the grains of the tabletop over and over with her pinky finger as she told him about Saturday night, about deciding she was going to take her list seriously. She told him about writing in her journal and watching the show afterward and wishing relationships could really be that easy.
    "But they're not. And I seem to have a particular talent for attracting jerks. I only date men who are wrapped up in themselves or who are still in love with their exes or who lie or cheat or say absolutely anything to get me into bed…or men who sleep with my best friend. That's me." She looked up and pointed to herself with both thumbs. "Erin Crawford, douche magnet."
    She paused to let that sink in as Ben nodded and then said, "Classy."
    Erin rolled her eyes. "So then I was thinking more about The Bachelorette . About how it's all such a crock and how, with maybe a few exceptions, there isn't really a happily ever after. It's just for show, right? For entertainment value, good TV and all that. And then when the girls brought me that casting call today, it was, like, weird, you know? Like why did this keep coming up? It got me thinking."
    Ben hooted. "Thinking, huh? Uh-oh. Everybody watch out. Erin Crawford's got a plan."
    She threw her napkin at him, sending a spray of greasy crumbs from their fried jalapeño appetizer across the table.
    "I wrote in my journal last night. I have to do it every day now—it's number 11. Anyway, last night I was trying to come up with ideas for my blog."
    "You have a blog?"
    "Duh. No. That's why I was writing down ideas."
    He threw the napkin back at her.
    "The blog is number 30. Anyway, so today, after Fiona gave me that paper about The Bachelorette , I had this brainstorm. I would never, ever"—Ben eyed her skeptically—" ever apply to be on the show, but why can't I stage my own version of The Bachelorette ?"
    He looked confused.
    "On my blog," she clarified. "I could be the online bachelorette."
    The cloud left his eyes, and he smirked.
    "I think those already exist. I see the pop-up ads every time I get online."
    Erin glared at him. "Yeah, well, you should stop looking at so much porn." She was annoyed, but not at him. For some reason, it was really important to her that Ben approve of her plan. He was always so level-headed—if he thought it was a dumb idea, it probably was.
    "I think the title 'The Bachelorette' is probably licensed," he said, and she let her breath out in a gush. At least he was taking her seriously.
    "Well, I don't have to call the blog The Bachelorette ," she said. "I could still call it 30 by 30 or something like that. But instead of thirty goals, it'll be about thirty dates—my quest to find a non-jerk in thirty dates or less. Personally I don't think it's possible."
    He gazed at her without saying anything for several long seconds, and she squirmed in her chair. I shouldn't have told him. She wished she could read his mind, because whatever thoughts were distilling in that analytical brain of his probably wouldn't match what was about to come out of his mouth.
    "So how exactly are you going to screen these thirty dates?" he said.
    She opened her mouth and then closed it again, her brow furrowing. "Screen them? Scrounge them up is more like it. I hardly think men are gonna beat down my door to get on my blog." She paused. "So you don't think it's a dumb idea?"
    His eyes narrowed a little as he studied her. "No, I've read dumber blogs than this."
    "Well, that's a backhanded compliment."
    "No, Erin, I don't think it's dumb. I just think you should be careful with it, that's all. That's a lot of strange men you're talking about."
    "The strange ones will probably be more interesting to write about." She shot him a crooked smile. "Although I do hope to find at least one who's not a total spaz. My bachelor, you know?"
    He grimaced. "Yeah, well, find