Dating by Design Series Box Set

by Jennifer Peel

  “How’s that coming?”

  “I’ve never felt so inspired. I think it’s the best I’ve ever written.”

  “I bet you say that about all your projects.”

  He chuckled. “If only you knew.”

  “Good night, Nick.”

  “Kate, thank you for opening up to me today. I hope we continue to get to know each other. Good night.”

  Me too. I threw a blanket over my head.

  ~*~

  Monday felt different after the weekend I’d had. Maybe it was because my mom called me on the way to work and informed me that she’d read my horoscope and been to her psychic over the weekend and they both said I needed to look to the stars.

  “Nick is a star,” Mom yelled in the phone.

  That concluded our conversation. Or perhaps it was the email Kenadie sent telling me what a great job I had done matching Nick. She attached a picture of Chanel kissing Nick’s cheek at the Braves game. Nick didn’t look all that thrilled in it. To be honest, I found myself not appreciating it. The picture had been posted by a local newspaper which touted Binary Search. Kenadie sent me the link to the article as well.

  My stomach churned. How was Kenadie going to feel when I told her that Nick wanted to date someone new already? Should I tell her he helped my parents and I went to that creepy Xavier house with him? Maybe she already knew because of Nan. Nick mentioned Jack went to church with Nan yesterday and had lunch at her place. They were getting cozy quickly. Nick seemed to be all right with it. Ugh. How had my life gotten so complicated?

  I blamed one person.

  The only thing I could do was to find him the perfect match, even if he wasn’t looking for anything serious and my twenty-year-old self begged me to break the rules and try him out for myself. I took a breath. We were only going to be friends. And as his friend, I was going to find him someone terrific—a woman he couldn’t refuse. A woman who would be a good mother to Skye and any future babies.

  I popped a natural peppermint candy in my mouth to help with the upset stomach I was giving myself thinking about it all. I had a feeling I better stock up on those.

  Zander’s knock on my door was a good distraction. When he walked in, I noticed he looked queasier than I felt.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  He took a seat in front of my desk. “It was a rough weekend. Meg was in the emergency room yesterday morning.”

  My heart began to pound. The worst scenario running through my mind, remembering my own emergency room visit when I was pregnant, but then it dawned on me before I said a word that Zander wouldn’t be here if the worst had happened. He would be with Meg like the good man he proved to be.

  I calmed myself. “Are she and the baby all right?”

  He ran his hands through his hair. “She was dehydrated from vomiting, but she’s better now after some fluids. Nan is with her this morning.” He looked wiped out.

  “How are you?”

  He acted as if he was going to say fine, but he blew out a large breath. “Hell, I don’t even know anymore. I’m constantly worried about Meg, and now I have to take care of her damn cat I don’t like because it’s bad for the baby if she changes its litter box.” He took a breath. “Then there’s diapers, my nightmare of living in the suburbs and growing old and turning out like my parents. Said parents visiting more often now that I’m going to have offspring. And how much should I save for college?”

  I tried to suppress my smile, but I was awful at it. “The good news is morning sickness usually goes away in the second trimester, and you are a long way off from paying for college.”

  He didn’t look as if that helped.

  “Why don’t you pay Lana to take care of the cat? She loves animals.”

  He perked up a bit. “That’s a thought. Now how do I get rid of my parents?”

  I laughed. “You’re on your own there. I have my own intrusive parent issues.”

  He stood up and rubbed his neck. “Thanks for the talk, doc.”

  “Anytime. Tell Meg I’m thinking about her and let me know if I can do anything.”

  “Will do. By the way, any issues we should talk about with the batch of new clients before I assign them a relationship manager?”

  “Besides that they are mostly Nick sycophants? No.”

  Zander’s lips curled. “I’ll be happy when he’s either found someone or moved back to La La Land where he belongs.”

  “He already wants to date someone new.” I grimaced.

  A smug smile filled Zander’s face. “I told Kenadie last night that he wasn’t into that chick. That picture of them said it all.”

  I was glad I wasn’t the only one who thought so. I was afraid I’d let my personal feelings cloud my judgment of it. I was afraid of a lot of my personal feelings, come to think of it.

  “I guess it’s back to the drawing board,” I lamented.

  “According to Nan and her new ‘boyfriend,’ you should choose yourself.”

  I almost choked on the peppermint candy in my mouth. I coughed and spluttered.

  “Exactly. Kenadie and I both told her you’re way too smart to get mixed up with a guy like him.”

  I held my chest and took a deep breath after my little episode. I gave Zander a weak smile. “Yeah. Way too smart.”

  “He won’t stay forever, and then you can be done ‘fixing’ him.”

  Right. Who was fixing who again?

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Nick was as mesmerizing on stage as he was on the small screen. No one could deliver a line like him and make it so believable. I was in time to witness him perform a small scene from Field of Dreams, showing his students how it was done. All I’m going to say was, if he built it, I would come.

  What made him even more captivating was the way he helped his students. All I could do was stand at the back of the theater and be entranced by him.

  I was supposed to be picking up Skye—she sat in the front row watching her dad—but I couldn’t move. I watched him coach a kid who I would guess was around Skye’s age. Nick walked him through his monologue, helping him visualize his character, suggesting where he should pause, asking him what physical reactions his character might have delivering a particular line or even one small word. He patiently blocked the scene with him and praised him when he suggested something out of the box. Nick patted him on the back and said, “Now you are becoming your character.” The kid’s beaming smile shone brightly.

  I don’t know how Nick knew I was there, or how he even saw me in the large auditorium where I had seen plays like Into the Woods and Wicked, but he was about ready to call up his next student when he looked up to where I stood and we locked eyes.

  “Let’s take a ten-minute break,” he called.

  His class consisted of about fifteen kids, all teenagers. Several of them only grabbed their phones and got lost in them, but a few scattered and left the auditorium. Nick made his way off the stage. He spoke to Skye, alerting her to my presence. She turned and waved at me but didn’t join her dad when he walked up my way.

  I probably should have met him halfway, but I was still buzzing from his performance as an actor and teacher. It wasn’t helping me work him out of my system. I was afraid I was becoming more entrenched by the second. All while I was setting him up with other women. I think I had found three excellent candidates to present tomorrow at our connection meeting. This go-around I went with a more yin and yang approach. After spending more time with him, I felt like I was beginning to know him better. And where he enjoyed being the center of attention, I believe he wanted a woman who didn’t love the limelight, someone to ground him.

  He’d made a comment last night when we were at Topgolf together. Yes, we were hanging out. Friends did that sort of thing. That’s what I kept telling myself while he helped me with my swing in our private bay. He may have mentioned that I smelled nice.

  And maybe I could still feel the way it felt to be in his arms, his warm breath against my skin when h
e whispered, “Keep your left hip over your left foot.” I didn’t know golfing tips could sound or feel so good.

  Anyway, back to his comment. He’d said, “It’s nice to be with someone who isn’t parading me around and who doesn’t want to be seen with me.”

  I kept that in mind when choosing this batch of candidates. It was tricky, though; they all bordered on being statistically improbable according to the numbers, which I knew was going to cause some heated discussions in our connection meeting, but they matched the person I was coming to know. And Nick had said he might want to be with someone who despised him. He found it refreshing.

  He sauntered toward me with that stiff smile of his. “You came to see me in action.”

  “I came to pick up your daughter . . . but I did enjoy what I was able to see.”

  His eyebrow arched. “A compliment, Kate?”

  “I actually have another one for you.”

  He sidled up next to me. “I’m all ears.”

  He too smelled good. That amber and vanilla scent drove me mad. Paired with his tight jeans and T-shirt, it was going to make me insane.

  I had to steady myself before answering. “I stopped by my parents’ place before heading over, and the wainscot looks amazing.” I turned and lifted my head so I could meet his eyes that were already set on me. “Thank you, Nick. I know you’re busy and my parents are crazy,” I smiled, “but you’ve probably single-handedly saved my father’s dignity and my parents’ marriage. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

  “The insider information made it all worth it.” He didn’t sound like he was teasing.

  I shook my head at him. “I can only imagine how embarrassed I should probably be right now.”

  “I got to keep those old notebooks of yours as payment.”

  My eyes widened. “No.”

  “Yes.” Too much delight danced in his gorgeous eyes. “I’m thinking of posting them on my fan club page.”

  I nudged him. “You wouldn’t.”

  “I may be willing to negotiate.”

  “Negotiate?”

  “You agree to come to Mobile with Skye and me on Saturday for some more research, and I’ll think about not posting the page where you wrote our wedding vows. I particularly loved the line—”

  I placed my hand over his mouth. “Don’t even say it.”

  He easily removed my hand. “Come on, Kate, you promised you would always be my number one fan and you would let me steal the covers from you every night without getting mad.”

  My face must have been turning every shade of red, judging by how much it burned. “I’m leaving now. With your daughter.”

  He chuckled and grabbed my hand and pulled me back. “Don’t go. I didn’t even get to the good part about all the passionate kisses you promised.”

  “Please stop.” I was dying of embarrassment inside.

  He tilted his head and tugged on my hand, pulling me closer. “Kate,” his tone rang sincere, “I’m flattered.”

  “I was silly and young.”

  “You were sweet and innocent. Qualities I should have valued more.”

  “I’m not that sweet or innocent anymore.”

  “I beg to differ.”

  “So will you give the notebooks back to me?” I pulled my hand away.

  He shook his head. “But . . . I will keep them private.”

  “I’ll pay you to burn them.”

  “Like I said, I’m willing to negotiate if you come with us this weekend.”

  “That’s a long drive. What’s in Mobile?”

  “A decommissioned battleship.”

  “What are you writing?”

  “Someday I will tell you, but for now, come share the experience with me, with us.”

  A day with Nick and Skye doing research for a movie was enticing. He was enticing. He was my client. He was my friend. And . . . I did need more fun in my life.

  “What time should I be ready?”

  ~*~

  I had sensory overload when we arrived in Mobile on Saturday. Behind me, sleeping beauty was curled up in the backseat looking angelic as she slept. We had left at 5:00 a.m., so I couldn’t blame her. She was chipper for about half of the five-hour drive, but had dropped off midsentence somewhere along the way. She looked so innocent clutching her dragon shapeshifter book and phone, leaning against the window, probably dreaming of Liam or maybe the hero in the book, Kieran. A smile played on her natural ruby lips.

  Then there was her father, who surprised the heck out of me this morning when he showed up clean-shaven. I had never known him to be that way, not even on his TV show. I wasn’t sure which version of him was more attractive. Perhaps the reason for it made him more attractive. He was using it as part of his “disguise” today, along with a hat and sunglasses. All because he knew how uncomfortable the attention made me. He’d tried to get a private tour, but the timing was too short. I felt guilty but was touched by the effort he had gone to.

  I had this overwhelming desire the entire car ride to reach over and run my hand across his smooth cheek. I was in over my head. I needed to bring in some reality.

  “I think you are really going to connect well with Thea,” I said before our exit to the battleship memorial park.

  He glanced my way and grimaced. “I doubt it.”

  “Did you talk to her already? She seemed really down-to-earth when I met her yesterday when she came in to sign your NDA.”

  She was surprised too. She didn’t even know Nick was using our service, which totally played in her favor. Even though like I’d predicted, our connection meeting got heated because no one but me thought it was a good match and Chanel was apparently devastated Nick didn’t want another date with her.

  Todd had pressed me for me details, and I wasn’t sure what to say. Zander was even tough to convince of my choice. But no one there knew him like I did. They didn’t see the man who fixed crazy people’s homes—aka my parents—and stopped three times on a five-hour trip because I had to pee a lot in the morning. He may have made fun of my small bladder, but he never complained. And they didn’t know Skye, a beautiful, wonderful girl who deserved good women in her life.

  “Margo is contacting her,” he sounded irritated.

  “What are your plans with her?” Squeamish feelings erupted thinking about them together, but this was reality.

  He flashed me another look with narrowed eyes. “I haven’t given it much thought.”

  “There’s a really good Italian restaurant that opened last month downtown. They have opera singers come in during the evenings to perform.”

  He kept his focus on the road, quiet for a moment. “Is that something you would like?”

  “Yes, it’s pretty romantic.”

  His brow crinkled. “Did you go there with a date?”

  “My mom and I checked it out. They have a great vegan menu.”

  His lip twitched. “Good to know. Maybe I’ll take what’s-her-name to tour the College Football Hall of Fame.”

  “Her name is Thea, and I’m not sure she likes football.” I knew it wasn’t something I would be interested in, and Thea and I had a lot of other similar interests, like DIY home projects, classic novels, and music.

  Nick shrugged. “Let’s not talk about her.”

  “But I’m your relationship manager and it’s my job to make sure—”

  He silenced me by reaching over and rubbing my bare knee. “Your only job today is to enjoy the day with me and my daughter.”

  I’d already been enjoying myself. When Skye was awake, we talked a lot about the book we were both reading, and once she dozed off, Nick and I talked about psychological disorders and my career. He was happy to let me ramble on about personality disorders, manias, addictions, and impulse control issues. He asked a few questions here and there, but was mostly content to listen. He was particularly interested in personality disorders, wanting to know the cause. That was the million-dollar question. There was no way to pinpoint it. So many
factors could play a role, anything from biological to environmental.

  It was nice to have someone take an interest in me. Nicer that I felt comfortable talking to him. Conversations flowed freely between us. I hadn’t experienced that in a long time.

  “I think I can manage enjoying the day.” I smiled at him.

  “You don’t know how happy I am to hear that.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Nick had obviously done his homework about the USS Alabama, which was a good thing since the place didn’t offer tour guides; it was all self-led with a map they gave you when you paid to enter.

  It didn’t escape my notice that Nick paid cash, not wanting anyone to see his name on a credit card, I’m sure. He also paid for me, which he had been doing all week. I always offered to pay my own way, as that’s what friends would do, but he wouldn’t hear of it.

  I did hope the aviators, black ball cap, and clean-shaven face did their job. So far so good. The line to enter had been long, and not one person seemed to recognize Nick. No phones pointed his way or random people asking for autographs or pictures with him. Oddly, it felt normal standing there in line with Skye and Nick like all the other families. Sleepy Skye leaned on me while we weren’t moving. During our wait, we perused the brochures and all the souvenirs that lined the path to the ticket counter.

  Once we were on the main deck feeling the sticky gulf air and sunshine, Nick showed off his knowledge, and his fantastic legs. He should wear shorts more often. That was my observation, not part of the tour.

  “The USS Alabama only took two years to build and was commissioned in 1942.” Nick walked toward some of the large weaponry the deck boasted.

  I looked around, amazed at the magnitude and grandeur of the ship. I couldn’t believe it only took two years to build.

  Skye yawned, uninterested. “How long is this going to take?”

  “This is important history, honey,” Nick admonished Skye.

  She rolled her eyes and took out her phone.

  I, on the other hand, was Nick’s captive audience. I loved history and I was intrigued with what this ship had to do with the screenplay he was writing. And him.