“I don’t know what to say, Claire,” I said, defeated. “He’s just—”
She held up her hand. “If you say he’s different, so help me.”
“He is different though,” I insisted. “He’s obviously gorgeous—”
“I will give you that.”
“Thank you. But he’s also smart. In that Sheldon Cooper kind of too-smart-for-his-own-good way. And somehow, he’s funny. Except, I don’t think he’s trying to be funny. He’s quirky. He’s a total nerd wrapped up inside this big, tough guy. I can see that he’s nervous and shy on the inside but does a really good job playing it off like he’s cool and collected. And that smile. He’s vulnerable. He’s been hurt. But he’s hopeful. Even if he doesn’t know it yet.”
Claire lowered her head and looked at me with only her eyes. “Uh, hello. Tell me how you really feel. You’re like a lovesick teenager right now.”
I sighed. “I really am.”
“Amy. I don’t think you’ve gotten all of this from your regular matchmaker-client interactions. Spill it.”
I sank down into my chair. “We might have a bit of a texting problem after hours.”
“What? Oh, you’re killing me. Have you guys kissed?”
At this, I shot upright. “Are you out of your mind? Of course not.”
She put a hand on her heart and tossed a glance through the glass wall of my office suite to make sure no one was watching us. “Oh, I’m out of my mind? You’re the one falling for your client. A secret texting relationship? Really?”
“I can handle this. I won’t actually fall for him. I’ll find a match for him soon and send him on his way, just like I’ve done for every other hot client I’ve ever had. No harm, no foul.”
Claire scooted forward in her chair. “Speaking of foul, don’t look. Belinda is walking this way.”
I swallowed and looked down at the paperwork on my desk, pretending to find something interesting that I had to show Claire. I picked the file up and held it toward her, pointing at something for her to look at and glancing inconspicuously toward the glass. Sure enough, Bulldozer Belinda was making a beeline right for us. We kept up the charade of looking at the file until she stuck her head in.
“Am I interrupting?” she asked, her syrupy tone immediately setting me on edge.
I smiled tightly. “Not at all, come on in.”
Belinda gave me an equally disingenuous smile and entered the room, closing the door behind her. She took a seat in the chair next to Claire and eyed her as if she expected her to leave. Since Belinda had been a matchmaker at the firm since it first started, she had a high-and-mighty attitude that drove the rest of us up the wall. She tended to look at every member of the support staff like they were beneath her, rather than actually making it possible for her to do her job.
I, on the other hand, instantly clicked with Claire when she was hired as my assistant right after I’d been promoted to senior matchmaker. We became best friends immediately. It was like Julia matched us up knowing how well we’d hit it off. Well, actually, I was sure she’d intentionally matched us up. Julia probably couldn’t help letting her matchmaker skills bleed into every area of her life. And I was grateful for it. So if Belinda thought I would dismiss her from this meeting, she was wrong.
“How’s it going Belinda?” I asked.
“Fine, thank you,” she replied, again casting her eyes over to Claire as if her presence annoyed her. “Do you have a moment?”
“I do. What’s up?”
The corners of her mouth squeezed into her round cheeks as she looked at Claire again and then back to me. “Bobby just advised me that Lindie Miller is unavailable for the client I had in mind for her because she’s going out with one of your clients instead.”
“I see.” Being that my job required me to deal with many different kinds of people, I was a master at controlling my facial expression when annoyed. And having Belinda in my office whining about the status of a client as if she were a piece of property was definitely annoying.
We had two tiers of services for hopeful singles to choose from. The largest percentage of our dating pool made up the first tier, where Lindie Miller resided. It was a more passive—and affordable—way to use our matchmaking services. These were people who paid a monthly fee to be members of the Singles Club. They could attend company-sponsored mixers, group dates, and even singles vacations for an additional fee. While they weren’t assigned a matchmaker to their individual accounts, Tier One clients were in a pool of clients who we would contact when we had a VIP that we thought would be a good match for them.
The VIP Experience was the second tier. This was the tier that Dex was in, thanks to his mother’s investment. VIP clients could attend all of the same events that the Singles Club members could attend, without the additional fees, and had a dedicated matchmaker who was actively searching the client pool for their perfect match. They got a much more personalized experience and a guaranteed match in twelve dates or their money back. Julia had spent years getting to the point of being able to offer that promise to her clients.
The fact that Tier One clients didn’t have a matchmaker assigned to them meant that they were up for grabs if any of us had a VIP match in mind for them. And since Dex’s date with Lindie Miller had somehow gotten flubbed the first time, I wasn’t about to let it happen again.
I waited for Bossy Belinda to say more, but when she didn’t, I clasped my hands on my desk between us. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Anything else? No, dear. I’d like you to help me with this issue. Lindie Miller would be absolutely perfect for my client. Surely there’s someone else you can book for your client tomorrow night.”
Ordinarily, when we weren’t in the middle of a fierce competition to become the next CEO of the company, the matchmakers at First Comes Love prided themselves on their ability to collaborate. We were like one big family and our number one priority was happiness for all of our clients, not just the ones personally assigned to us. We didn’t become Southern California’s premier matchmaking service by being stingy with the client pool. If another matchmaker had a client who would be perfect for another client, awesome for everyone. We’d work together to make it happen. Ordinarily.
I cleared my throat. “Sorry, B. Normally I would absolutely work with you on this, but Lindie is just perfect for Dex, and they’ve already had one date messed up by some dumb computer glitch.”
Belinda sat up straighter in her chair. “Oh?”
Claire looked at me out of the corner of her eye, and my jaw clenched. “Yep. Several of my dates were messed up by some kind of network malfunction. I’m surprised you haven’t heard.”
“I may have, but I’ve been so busy,” she replied, patting her hair, then standing to leave. “Well, I suppose if you really insist on Lindie for your client there’s nothing I can do.”
“Sorry,” I said, standing and crossing to the door, opening it for her. “I’ll let you know if they don’t match up, though. Maybe your client will still be looking for a match, too, and it’ll work out.”
Belinda shrugged as she sauntered into the hallway. “I doubt he’ll still be available considering how quickly I usually find matches. Have a good one.”
I curled my lip as she turned her back on me and closed the door behind her. “Ugh, she’s the worst. I seriously don’t understand how she and Julia are so close. They’re nothing alike.”
“Agreed,” Claire said, leaning back in the pink velvet chair. “I hate the way she always pretends I’m invisible. It’s obnoxious. You don’t think she had anything to do with your dates getting messed up, do you?”
I plopped back into my desk chair and sighed. “I considered it, but I thought maybe I was just being paranoid. That would probably take a lot of skill, hacking into the network like that. She doesn’t really strike me as the computer savvy type.”
Claire snorted. “Good point.”
“Do you know how many dates she’s up to for her three clients
?” I shouldn’t even ask, but I couldn’t help myself.
She wrinkled her nose. “I may have talked to Bobby about it in the break room this morning.”
“Uh-oh. I don’t like the look on your face.”
“Yeah, he was very braggy. Two of them are already matched, so she only has one to go. Nine dates total between the three.”
I mentally counted my own standings. I’d matched my first of the three competition clients, Bill, on his second date. So that was two dates right there, and a nice low score to help my overall total.
The second client, Debbie, was impacted by the computer glitch that ruined Dex’s first two dates. Except that it wasn’t the people but the places that had been messed up with Debbie’s dates. Thanks to that, she and Dex were both about to have their fourth dates. So even if both Debbie and Dex matched with their dates this week, that would still put me at a grand total of ten dates.
I put my head in my hands. “Holy crap. Belinda might beat me.”
“Don’t think like that,” Claire scolded. “You had a rough start with the network thing, which I still think could be Belinda’s doing, but I have faith in you.”
“Thanks, friend.”
I appreciated her confidence because I couldn’t help but be concerned about my future at First Comes Love. I had a sick feeling in my stomach as I thought about finding matches for my remaining two clients, and it wasn’t just relating to the competition. If I found the perfect match for Dex, would I really be okay with never seeing him again? And if I was the perfect match for him, would I really be okay with getting fired?
17
Dex
“You must be Dex,” the woman said, her blonde hair billowing around her in the ocean breeze. “I’m Lindie.”
“Hey, Lindie. Nice to meet you,” I replied, bringing my right arm toward her for a handshake. I’d felt at ease for all of two seconds while greeting her until she went in for a hug at the exact same time my arm came up, causing me to stab my fingertips right into her sternum. “Shoot, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She jumped back and rubbed her hand along the spot where I’d jabbed her. “I’m excited for our date. This is going to be so fun.”
I followed her gaze from where we stood on the dock to the large, white yacht looming over us. The idea of a weeknight dinner cruise was pretty foreign to me, but I had to admit, it sounded (objectively) romantic. I never would have thought about bringing a date on such an elaborate adventure if it weren’t for Amy and her bright ideas.
Speaking of, I tried to look casual as I scanned the crowded dock looking for Amy’s chestnut-brown hair and whatever jewel-toned outfit she was likely wearing. Was she here yet?
“Ready?” Lindie asked, nodding her head toward the ramp.
“Yes, sorry,” I replied, hating myself for having apologized to her twice in the span of two minutes. She must think I’m a total dork.
I hesitated, then held out my arm for her to take. Now would be the perfect time to get the electricity test out of the way. If she took my arm and sent a shock through me like Amy had, I would give this whole thing a chance and try not to let my mind wander to my matchmaker all evening. But if I felt nothing …
Sure enough, Lindie placed her hand in the crook of my elbow, her skin touching mine, and I barely even registered a temperature difference. It could have been my mom or my crazy cousin Karen on my arm for all my body reacted to it. I smiled slightly and led her toward the yacht. Did that mean this date was over before it began? Surely, I should give it more of a chance than that.
“So, Amy tells me you’re a computer guy,” Lindie offered.
“Yep, for work and for a hobby. It’s kind of my thing.” We each took a chilled champagne that the attendant offered upon boarding and stepped into the bar area of the yacht. “Are you into computers?”
“I am,” she replied. “I actually teach computer programming at the community college up the road. And on weekends, I volunteer at the assisted living community teaching computer literacy to seniors.”
My brows flew up. “Oh, wow, that’s a cool gig.”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Lindie beamed at me, and I found myself working way harder than I should to smile back. Nicely done, Amy. You found yet another gorgeous woman who also happened to have a career in computers. So why was there a distinct pang of disappointment in my gut? Did I want to be incompatible with Lindie? Was I looking for a reason not to like her?
I took a sip of my champagne. That would be dumb. Lindie was a catch. She had long, blonde hair, crystal-blue eyes, and a tan that suggested she—like Erin—was a nerd who also liked to spend time outdoors. I could take notes from both of these women about owning my computer-loving side while also getting some fresh air once in a while.
Also like Erin, Lindie was exactly the kind of woman I would have wanted from First Comes Love. The only problem was Julia had assigned me to the one matchmaker who had the power to outshine all of her clients.
And at the end of the day, I was doing everyone a disservice if I kept up with this charade. I’d gotten to know Amy enough over the last month to know that I felt more for her than I had for anyone she’d set me up with, and until we gave this thing a shot between us, I wasn’t going to be able to get her out of my head.
It wasn’t fair to Erin—she still thought we might go on a second date.
It wasn’t fair to Lindie—she stood looking at me with a megawatt smile that I didn’t deserve.
And it wasn’t fair to my mom—she paid a boatload of money for me to fall for my off-limits matchmaker.
Unless she wasn’t off-limits. Maybe all this time spent texting after hours or hanging out with me before and after dates had made her feel the same way about me that I did for her. I wouldn’t know unless I gave it a shot.
“Do you want to go outside?” Lindie asked, gesturing to the deck with a tilt of her head.
I bit my lip. “Actually, Lindie, I think we should cut this short. I’m so sorry.”
“You what?” she asked, her eyes the size of saucers.
“Um, well, I’m a practical guy,” I said, the beginnings of a cold sweat breaking out on my forehead. What was I doing? Wasn’t there a saying about a bird in hand? How lucky was I to have a girl like this ready to date me, and I was ending it before it could even begin? I cleared my throat. “I’m a practical guy, and you seem like you’d be an amazing match for me. But I think my heart is somewhere else.”
I expected a slap. Or a tongue-lashing. Or some other form of anger turned to action. Instead, she put a hand over her heart and let out the most ridiculous crooning noise, like she was looking at a video of puppies playing in the sunshine. “That is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It is?”
She sighed wistfully. “Ugh, yes. Do you know how many guys would just lead a woman on, even if they had feelings for someone else?”
“A lot?”
“Yeah, probably like ninety-nine percent of them. The fact that you’re ending our date because your heart is with another woman is absolutely adorable.”
“Oh, cool, I guess,” I stammered, scratching my head.
“Listen,” she leaned in, putting her hand on my chest, “I’m sure it’ll work out with this other woman, because well, you’re hot and clearly so sweet, but if it doesn’t, tell Amy to send us on another date, okay?”
I chuckled. “Okay.”
“See ya, Dex. Good luck.” She gave me a small wave, put her glass of champagne on the bar, and headed for the exit.
I stepped out onto the deck, into the sunshine, and put my hands on the rails. That was something else. I hadn’t expected her to think it was some gallant move. I’d just wanted to be realistic. But not getting slapped was a pretty good outcome of my practicality, to be sure.
“Um, what are you doing?” Amy hissed, coming up behind me. “Where’s Lindie?”
“We just weren’t meant to be,” I replied with a shrug, turning to face
her and tucking my hands in my pockets. “We both agreed not to go through with the date. Wouldn’t want to be stranded on a three-hour tour with the wrong woman, you know?”
“Already? It’s been five minutes.” Amy grabbed my arm, sending a zing through my upper body, just like I’d been looking for with Lindie. She weaved around me, heading for the ramp like she was going after my retreating date.
Before I could think too hard about it, I spun and caught her around the waist, turning her back around to face me. Our bodies were pressed tightly together, the motion sending a wave of her sweet perfume blasting into me. When I registered the forwardness of what I’d just done, I dropped my hand from her hip and stepped back as if she’d burned me. “I’m sorry.”
She let out a surprised breath and smoothed her hands down the front of her floral dress. “It’s … fine. Um … so, you and Lindie really didn’t click?”
“Not really.” I brought my hand up to scratch the back of my neck.
I couldn’t help but notice the way her gaze followed my movement and landed on my bicep as the muscles strained against my black T-shirt. After all the time I’ve spent working on my fitness so I wouldn’t be the scrawny kid or the wimp who got bullied by the tough guys, it was interesting to imagine how my physical appearance looked to women. They were never the reason I cared about being built. It was just a self-preservation thing initially, and then it became a personal challenge to constantly maintain and improve myself using science and nutrition. Why would I go back to wimpland when I had the knowledge to look like this?
Harumi had been attracted to me, sure, but before First Comes Love, I hadn’t been close enough to the dating world to consider how women saw me. And yet, even though I’d noticed the other women appraising my appearance, I hadn’t really cared about them doing it as much as I loved watching the way Amy’s eyes sometimes lingered too long. It sent chills over me wherever her gaze landed.
“Huh.” She looked over the rail of the vessel, her eyes following Lindie’s retreating form as she quickly walked down the dock toward the parking lot. “I was so sure about her. She was supposed to be your first match, you know. Before the computer thing.”
A Match for the Marine: A Sweet Romantic Comedy (First Comes Love Book 1) Page 11