Nerds Are From Mars Read Online Free PDF Page A

today.”
    “Aren’t you going to any more lectures?”
    “I might, depending on how long this takes.”
    He frowned. “I hate for you to miss out on some of the sessions. You said you were interested.”
    “I am. If something really calls to me I’ll give myself a break and go. But once I get into a chart, I become very absorbed.”
    He admired that kind of dedication. He was the same way when he really got into his work. “But you paid to be here. You could do the chart after the conference, couldn’t you?” Putting it off would be fine with him. More than fine.
    “That seems silly. I’m here. You’re here. I can do your chart today and then we can talk about it. If I wait and finish it after I drive home, I couldn’t give you an in-person reading, and that’s half the fun.”
    “A reading?”
    She gazed at him in silence for a few seconds. “You sound horrified. You know what? We should forget this.” She picked up her purse and her empty cup as if preparing to leave the coffee shop. And him.
    He reached out to stop her and ended up grabbing her arm. He hadn’t meant to grab anything, but she was starting to leave and he didn’t want that. “Wait.”
    Although she sat down again, her expression didn’t change. She’d given up on him. “Nolan, this friendship thing isn’t going to work. I don’t know why I thought it would.”
    “Please don’t go yet.” Now that he was holding her arm, he couldn’t seem to take his hand away. Although she was wearing a purple long-sleeved blouse, he could feel the warmth of her skin through the material and he wanted to maintain that human connection. She also smelled terrific and leaning forward like this, he could breathe in her flowery scent much better than when he lounged back in the chair.
    He looked into her eyes. “Darcie, I’m a science nerd who’s spent his life with other science nerds and I must seem like a hopeless case to you. But you said you relished the challenge.”
    “I didn’t realize that the thought of me doing a birth chart reading would horrify you.”
    “I’d say terrify is a better description.” He rubbed his thumb over her sleeve. “Horror and terror sound a lot alike.”
    Her blue eyes registered his subtle caress with a slight brightening of her gaze. “All right, then you’re terrified. I knew you’d be skeptical, but I didn’t think you’d recoil from me as if I had horns growing out of my head.”
    “What you proposed to do is totally out of my comfort zone.” He kept stroking her with his thumb because the brightness remained in her eyes and he didn’t want it to disappear.
    “But you obviously don’t want to make it part of your experience.” She looked down at his hand on her arm as if considering whether to ask him to let her go. “We should stop talking about it before we ruin what little common ground we have left.”
    He gripped her arm a little more firmly. “I want to make it part of my experience. I’m asking you to go back to your original plan and create my birth chart. Please.”
    She glanced up. “Why should I?”
    At this point he had nothing to lose, so he laid all his cards on the table. “You were my dream girl, Darcie. I never expected to see you again, but here you are, coming to meet me on purpose. I’m not entirely sure why you’ve done that, but if I’m dumb enough to drive you away, I’ll regret that for the rest of my life.”
    She held his gaze for several long seconds. “Okay. I’ll do your birth chart.” The corners of her mouth twitched. “I noticed there’s a message board in the main hallway. Would you like me to tack it up there when I’m finished?”
    He swallowed and released his hold on her arm. She might be teasing and she might not. This was like a mental game of chicken. He was determined not to be the first to blink. “If that’s convenient for you, then fine.”
    “It’s one option.” Then her laughter bubbled forth. “Oh, Nolan, you should see your