Someone Like You

by Karen Rock

  Everything but her.

  She wished she could sneak away and hole up in her apartment as she had for most of this past week. Nurse her wounds in bed rather than force a smile at all of the hopeful singles looking for love. But she owed it to them to be here. To see that it all went smoothly. After everything the members of Back in the Game had done to help finance this party and her other costs, they, and the rest of the residents, deserved the night of their lives.

  She added two more items on her to-do list:

  1. Get my life together.

  2. Stop making lists.

  Today was filled with triumph and defeat, and she needed a moment to make sense of it all. And lists weren’t working.

  “Kayleigh Renshaw?” asked a smartly dressed young woman accompanied by a cameraman.

  “Yes?” She stood and smoothed down the soft folds of the pink organza dress Gianna had insisted she wear.

  “We’re here with SBN, Senior Broadcast News, and wondered if we might get a quick interview before you start with the rest.” She gestured to a small line of similarly dressed professionals behind her, some with accompanying crew members.

  “Oh. Of course.” Realization dawned, quickly followed by a spurt of happiness. In the misery of the past week, she’d forgotten that Gianna had contacted an uncle who ran a PR business. He’d sent press releases to various media outlets about this unusual human-interest story of senior singles using modern technology to find love. And by the look of the line, the PR team had succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. If only that had been her only dream.

  When she’d taken this risk and begun the start-up, she’d simply wanted to prove Brett wrong and help provide for Chris’s family. But after falling for Niall, the depth of those feelings only becoming clear after he’d left her forever, she realized that she’d wanted love, too. Had hoped to find it with him. But too much had happened to make that a reality. How could she ever trust him after he’d kept such a terrible secret and hidden the letter from her? It was a chasm too wide for her to leap across, the fall too long if she missed.

  Kayleigh stood and forced a smile.

  The reporter turned to the camera. “We’re here with Kayleigh Renshaw, co-owner of start-up company High Dive Enterprises, who has made an interesting app that targets seniors as well as the younger crowd. Ms. Renshaw, would you explain your product?”

  A light breeze stirred the crisp early-evening air and blew back the interviewer’s blond bob. Jazz music flowed from a live band in a corner by a garden pool lit with underwater lights and a flowing, lavender-tinted fountain. A laden buffet table stretched along a chain-link fence was manned by servers wearing tall white chef’s hats. Beneath softly glowing paper lanterns, senior couples swayed. It was as though life had handed her the perfect night for romance, a consolation prize, she supposed.

  She straightened her spine and began, “Mesh is a way for singles to define the qualities they want in a potential partner. Once they’ve inputted their Must Traits in the app, they can sync their list with others’. The software will provide a compatibility score so that, before committing time and feelings, it’s possible to predict if the relationship will work out in the long-term.”

  Despite her mood, she felt proud of the concept. If only she’d followed it herself instead of opening her heart to a man who’d deceived her. Again. Her eyes pricked and her nose burned, but she kept her expression neutral. She owed it to too many people not to ruin this shot at exposure on a syndicated channel.

  “And why choose seniors as one of your target markets? This dynamic age group is often overlooked in the business world except by medical and pharmaceutical companies.”

  Was it Kayleigh’s imagination, or had a hint of bitterness crept into the reporter’s voice? She understood the woman’s frustration.

  “There’s no age limit on love,” Kayleigh began firmly. “To overlook people because of their age is shortsighted and not the progressive approach High Dive Enterprises takes. Seniors are looking for a second chance at love and are all the more anxious to get it right and not waste time. Mesh will give them that opportunity.”

  The journalist smiled broadly and gestured at the animated assisted-living residents who’d formed small groups and exchanged phones. The cameraman panned around the crowd, capturing their excitement. “They certainly seem to agree. And I heard Mesh is nominated for a Shorty Award. How excited are you about that?”

  After everything that had happened, Kayleigh realized with a shock, winning mattered so little to her now. “I’m honored, but win or lose, I’ve already gained so much.” She thought about her wonderful friends at the assisted-living home, Gianna’s help and...even Niall. “The best part of creating the start-up is the journey I’ve taken to get here, the people I’ve met along the way. People who’ve changed my life in wonderful, unexpected ways.”

  “Can you tell me a bit about how you began the business?”

  Kayleigh opened her mouth, but no easy answer came to mind. In fact, all she could think of was the truth, so she spoke it.

  “I’d recently left my position with another software company. After connecting with an old friend, a programmer, I came up with the concept that he and I developed.”

  And it was true, she marveled. She and Niall had done it together. Sure, it’d been her vision, but he’d helped to make it come true, had encouraged her to become the doer she’d wanted to be.

  “He sounds like a good friend,” prompted the woman when Kayleigh’s pause extended a beat too long.

  “Yes.” The word rushed from Kayleigh, unbidden, before she could corral it. Why had she said that? Niall had been a friend, but not anymore. Yet a part of her protested that thought. Hadn’t he put the business first to the extent of holding on to an awful secret rather than risking telling her and being tossed from the company before he’d finished writing the app? Mustn’t that have been painful for him, as well?

  Could that have been why he’d avoided her after he’d taken the letter? He’d said it before, but she believed it now. He’d been putting her needs first all along.

  The woman smiled gently. “Is he here?”

  Kayleigh’s heart leaped until she mentally grabbed it and pulled it back in place. She wouldn’t want Niall here...would she? “I’m afraid he wasn’t able to attend.”

  “Sorry to hear that, and it looks like we might need a quick break, if you don’t mind,” the woman said. She gestured to the cameraman, who fiddled with his tripod.

  “Not a problem.” Kayleigh’s eyes roamed around the party, watching as couples danced before the poolside band, the lantern lights glowing like fireflies in the purpling sky. When her phone buzzed with a text, she read an ad price estimate, then peered at her cell screen. Her gaze lingered on the picture Niall had sent her weeks ago, the two of them posing at the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden.

  Funny that she hadn’t removed it, but they’d looked so happy. So right together. The man who’d taken it had said they were in love, and now she knew he’d been right—about her, at least. Whether or not Niall had returned those feelings, she’d never know. She watched her grandfather dip a laughing Annette Larson and smiled wistfully. Niall should be here to see that.

  He’d worked hard and deserved to savor this moment, too. She recalled her tirade, ordering him to stay away, and regretted it. A lot of her shock and pain over Chris’s death had spilled into her terrible accusations. While Niall had acted badly by withholding the letter, he hadn’t deserved the bitter words she now wished back. After a week apart, she missed him.

  Her chest constricted. Even if he did show up, what would she say? Learning how her brother died had been torture to hear, but after she’d had time to process it all, she’d found the peace she’d wanted. Chris had died a hero, not taken by surprise by a hidden explosive or a malfunctioning weapon. Niall’s revelations
had given her pride in how her brother had passed, replacing the confusion and frustration she’d felt for two years.

  Yet her mind had remained unsettled as she’d contemplated Niall’s role in her brother’s passing. How could she care about a man whose actions had caused her sibling’s death? Had he not gone back for the hard drive, not forgotten it in the first place...

  Then again, perhaps he would have died as he’d run on his own rather than shielded by Chris. Fate had intended to take one of the men she loved that day. And if she could choose only one to save, then whom? Niall’s smiling face came to mind, the way he made her feel when he looked at her, as if she was the only person in the room. But Chris had made her feel special, too; he’d been her rock in her unstable family.

  At last, the cameraman gave a thumbs-up and the interviewer turned to her again.

  “And is there any significance behind the name High Dive Enterprises? It’s unusual.” The woman gestured to the cameraman to come in closer and held the microphone in Kayleigh’s face.

  She thought back to that day when the name had come to her, when she’d imagined leaving the shallow end of the pool to test deeper waters. She’d taken the gamble, as Chris had, and for her, it’d paid off. Would Chris be disappointed or proud that Niall had been part of that process?

  “It’s about taking a leap of faith, a gamble. Without great risk, there can’t be great gain.”

  Or pain, she silently added, thinking of Niall and Chris.

  “But isn’t that the opposite of what your app seeks to do?” the reporter asked shrewdly, “eliminate the second-guessing and make finding a relationship a guarantee?”

  “I—I—” She fumbled for an answer, struck by the question. Sure, compatibility reduced risk, but it wasn’t a guarantee. Love was more complicated than that. Life had a way of testing it, just as it had with her and Niall.

  She held up a finger to stop the interview and turned to take a sip of water, gathering her thoughts. She’d pushed him away as soon as they’d run into problems. She’d vowed to take more risks in her life, yet when things had gone wrong, she’d left instead of working them out. Her insecurities and old fears had taken hold. She’d accused Niall of being a coward when she’d acted like one. While all the wishes in the world couldn’t bring Chris back, there was something she could do to have Niall in her life again.

  A sudden need to see him seized her. But given the media line, she was helpless to leave. She gazed across the pool to the gate and watched as a tall, handsome man stepped inside. Her breath caught. Niall. Unbelievably, despite what’d passed between them, he’d come to support her. He was still her friend and business partner. Would he still be, after what she’d said, her partner in life?

  She gestured to Gianna, who hurried over, a male nurse wearing ear spacers the size of quarters by her side. Kayleigh held in a sigh. They’d been here for barely two hours and already Gianna had met someone. Or something. She eyed the tattoos on his neck. Her friend really had the worst luck with men.

  “I’m afraid I need to leave,” she said to the reporter. “But my business associate, product manager Gianna Ambrose, will be happy to take the rest of your questions.”

  She stood and hugged her friend. “Is that okay? Niall’s here,” she whispered in her ear.

  Gianna pulled back, her eyes dancing. “Yes! Go. Run. I’ll hold down the fort.”

  Kayleigh paused and wrung her hands, nerves making her hesitate.

  Gianna shoved her. “Stop overthinking everything.”

  “What if he’s only here for the party? Doesn’t want to talk to me after all of those awful things I said?”

  “There’s no way to know without taking a chance.” Gianna arched an eyebrow, and the gesture made Kayleigh square her shoulders. Right. It was a risk, and without it the greatest payoffs weren’t possible. She wanted Niall. Should never have hurt him the way she had, and if he’d give her a chance, she’d tell him so. Hopefully, he wouldn’t avoid her. If he did, she’d persist until she told him how she felt. Whatever he said after that—she gulped—she’d deal with.

  She waved to a dancing Gramps and Mrs. Larson and dashed to the man she loved. “Niall,” she gasped. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see you,” he said quietly, his hands in his pockets.

  “Oh.” Not sure if he was real, her eyes ran over him, his handsome appearance in a tailored suit registering. The rising moon cast pale light along the gorgeous angles of his face, shadows pooling beneath his deep-set eyes. “I’m glad,” she said, her voice thick with the emotions swirling in her stomach.

  He stepped closer and slid his hands into hers, pulling her back through the gate and around the side of the building where the air was perfumed with the soft scent of the rose garden.

  “You said to stay away. That I thought only of myself. But you’re wrong. I didn’t care about anything before you came along, but you woke me up and brought me back to life. And for that, I owe you everything. If I could give you back Chris, I would, but—”

  She placed a finger against his mouth. “Shh—I can’t choose between the two of you. Fate did that. There’s a reason you’re still alive, that you exist, and I want to be part of that. I should never have said all of those hurtful things. If I could take them back...”

  “I deserved to hear them.”

  She smoothed a trembling hand along the side of his face, marveling at the passionate eyes boring into hers. “You were a hero that day. Just like Chris. I didn’t see it then, but I’ve had time to think. Going back for that hard drive was brave. As for Chris, he always made up his own mind. If he hadn’t carried you off the field, he would have grabbed someone else, and I am—” Her throat clogged as she struggled to hold back her tears.

  His hand tightened around hers, and then he pulled her close. “It’s okay, you don’t have to say it.”

  “Yes, I do,” she whispered in his ear, feeling the warmth of him against her. She forced herself to go on. “I am so grateful that the man he saved that day was you, because you are everything to me.”

  “Kayleigh.” He sighed, then cupped her face and lowered his mouth for a searing kiss that left her breathless. “You mean everything to me, too. I love you.”

  Her eyes widened in shock, her body suffused with happiness and pleasure as his lips traveled along her cheek, then lowered to her arched neck. The light pressure made her moan as waves of sensation rippled through her. She slid her hands along his lean waist, then upward to his back, the muscles shifting and tightening against her touch. He was solid. Real. And hers.

  His kiss intensified, his hands running through her hair, tugging out her clip so that her curls tumbled down her back.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered, a thrill running through her when he pulled back and studied her for an intense moment.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said, his voice reverent.

  “My nose has a bump.”

  He kissed the tip. “I love your nose.”

  “My chin is too pointy.”

  His lips found their way to her chin. “I love it, too.”

  She opened her mouth again, but he kissed her swift and hard, leaving her breathless.

  “In fact, I love every part of you. Including that big heart of yours. You saved me, Kayleigh.”

  She flung her arms around his neck and nuzzled his cheek.

  “You rescued me, too. You might have been holed up in your apartment, but I was hiding out in the open, playing it safe at my desk job, never pushing the issue of being overlooked until Brett’s wake-up call. We brought each other into the light. Made one another better, stronger people, and isn’t that what this is all about?”

  “Not lists?” he asked, his voice husky in her ear, his breath sending tingles through her as it rushed by her sensitive lobe.

&nbs
p; “I’m done with lists,” she exclaimed, and leaned back to look at him.

  His lips turned down in a mocking pout, though his eyes danced. “That’s too bad.”

  Her nose crinkled. “Why do you care all of a sudden? It’s not as if you ever even made one.”

  “Of course I did.” He grinned. “At camp.”

  She waved her hand. “Oh. I thought you meant now.”

  He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. It would have been the same—that’s why I didn’t make a new one.”

  Her mouth dropped open. So that was the reason. “I didn’t know.”

  “Would you like to see it?”

  Her heart thudded as he pulled a worn piece of paper out of his pocket. “Is that—”

  He nodded, his eyes glowing in a way that struck a match to her insides. “The original from camp. I’ve always carried it with me, even when I was in Kunar.”

  “That’s what you kept in your backpack that day,” she breathed, suddenly feeling anxious. Whatever he’d written must be important for him to have saved it all these years. Did he have Must Traits that she didn’t match? What if they weren’t compatible? But then she looked into his eyes and doubt fell away. It didn’t matter. The heart wanted what it wanted, and she wanted him.

  “Actually, I don’t need to see it.”

  “Yes. You do,” he said, his voice deep and insistent.

  He handed her the paper and held her tight as she unfolded it.

  There, in the center of the page, was a single word.

  Kayleigh.

  She threw her arms around him, joy flooding her. “You knew. Even then. You knew.”

  He nodded before he lowered his face to hers once more.

  “I’ve always known and always will. I’m yours, Kayleigh. I’m all in.”

  * * * * *

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Heartwarming title.

  You’ve got to have heart…. Harlequin Heartwarming celebrates wholesome, heartfelt relationships imbued with the traditional values so important to you: home, family, community and love.