by Audra Cole
Get it together, Candace! I scolded myself. It wasn’t like me to fall apart under the stare of a handsome—okay, Landon was a bit more than handsome—man.
“I’ll take an iced tea,” I told the bartender when Landon differed to me.
The bartender nodded and hustled off to fill the order and get back to the ten new patrons clamoring for his attention at the opposite end of the bar.
Landon chuckled. “Are you always so rigid or do you have a flexible side?”
My mind quickly trotted out a myriad of ways I could show the handsome stranger just how flexible I could be. Judging by the twinkle in his eye, he was picturing it too. The thought made my cheeks warm and I lunged for the iced tea glass as soon as the bartender placed it in front of me and took a deep drink through the thick straw.
“What do you do?” I asked Landon, avoiding his question.
Landon smirked, obviously noting my side-stepping, but he gave me a pass. “I own a marketing company. I’m here in LA pitching some potential new clients.”
I twirled my straw. “Impressive. So are you celebrating tonight? Or licking your wounds?”
Landon chuckled and the sound reverberated through me. “Mixed bag, I suppose. I have two more meetings next week. I’m sure I’ll go home satisfied.”
How does he do that? Manage to make every other sentence sound enticingly dirty? Or was that all in my head? Ugh. When was the last time I got laid?
It’d been months … way longer than I was willing to admit. And apparently too long if I was having tantalizing fantasies about a virtual stranger and twisting his words to fit the steamy visions floating through my mind.
Regardless, I knew that Landon was a no-go. Even if he was an out-of-towner and not someone I was likely to run into again. I had a firm policy against one-nighters after a series of terrible decisions back in college that had left my self-confidence in tatters. Nowadays, a man who wanted me in their bed had to work for it and show me he was worth the risk.
Landon nursed his whiskey as we continued to chat, but I kept the conversation on a narrow path, not willing to stray into topics that would get me into trouble. When my iced tea was gone, I noticed he was still hanging onto the last swill of his own drink. Was he doing that for my benefit? Thinking I wouldn’t leave as long as he was still drinking?
I stirred my empty glass, shuffling the ice and lemon slice around. “Thank you for the drink,” I said as I pushed the glass away. The bartender scooped it up as he passed by and called over his shoulder to ask if I’d like a refill. I shook my head.
Landon smiled at me. “All right, I’ll let you off the hook, but only if you tell me when I can see you again.”
My mouth dropped open half an inch as my eyebrows bunched together.
Landon chuckled at my puzzled expression. “Is that such an odd request?”
“No.” I shook my head once, clearing the look from my face like an Etch-A-Sketch. “But considering that right now there are half a dozen women in this bar all shooting me daggers, I don’t think you’ll be alone for too long tonight.”
Landon didn’t even crane around to confirm my statement was true. Then again, he was probably used to being flocked. “I’m free for dinner on Wednesday night. Eight o’clock too late for you?”
It was my turn to laugh. “You’re serious?”
His eyes went even darker. “Very.”
A quiver of nerves surged through me. “Wednesday?” I licked my lips, debating the proposal.
“Dinner. Anywhere you like.”
I smiled at the idea of dragging him to my favorite taco truck and seeing him in his expensive, custom tailored suit sitting at a wooden picnic table at the park. What would he say then?
I blew out a puff of air. “Unfortunately, this week is kind of insane at work. I’m not sure I’ll have time.”
“Aha.” Landon nodded.
It was half truth and half cop-out.
He swiped my cell phone from the bar. The passcode screen popped up and he frowned before flipping it around to face me. “Password, please.”
“Why?”
“So I can plug my number into your contacts and make sure you can reach me when you change your mind.”
I laughed lightly. “You’re really something, huh?”
“Something special,” he teased with a wide smile. He leaned in closer, his lips coming within an inch of my ear, before he added, “I’ll show you.” He breathed deeply of my perfume and shampoo before he pulled away, slipping back on the impenetrable mask he’d worn when he first entered the bar.
I drew in a steeling breath and reached for the phone, praying my fingers wouldn’t tremble like the rest of me. What exactly did he mean? It was a rhetorical question. I knew exactly what he meant. The only remaining question was whether or not I’d let him.
I tapped my passcode into the phone and the screen unlocked, revealing a picture of my sister and nephew at the zoo. It was a sweet candid shot I’d taken last time I’d been to my hometown for a visit. Landon stared at it for a moment and then flicked to my virtual phone book and entered his information. When it was saved, he locked the device and pressed it back into my hand, letting his fingers linger against mine.
“I’ll see you later, Candace. It was very nice to meet you.”
It took me a moment to remember that I was the one leaving and I jolted. “Right. Yes, you too.” I hopped off the stool and grabbed my little black purse from the counter and stuffed my phone inside it. “Have a good night.”
“Less so now that you’re leaving,” Landon countered, his eyes gleaming as he lounged back against the bar, prepared to watch me walk away.
A flurry of sensations danced over my skin as my brain and body went to war with one another. I wanted to stay and see where the night would lead. Hell, I knew where it would lead, and I wanted to go. I wanted to know what it would be like to be with a man like Landon. To feel his power and strength and confidence. To see every inch of that deliciously tempting body he was hiding under his sharp suit.
Which made it all the more important for me to turn and go.
Quickly.
Chapter Three
“I can’t believe you didn’t let him take you home and rock your fucking world!”
To say that Georgia and Veronica were upset over my choice to leave Landon alone would be a ridiculous understatement. They were taking it as a personal offense, as they’d practically gift-wrapped him up for me.
“Come on, guys,” I bemoaned. “We all know men like that. Hell, two-thirds of our clients are that guy and they’re all single for a reason. You both know it just as well as I do. Hot, powerful, wealthy and can get any woman he wants.”
“Apparently not any woman,” Georgia interjected under her breath.
I rolled my eyes and clicked open my email inbox. They’d barricaded themselves in my office half a heartbeat after the Monday morning meeting to get all the details of the suspected steamy night. “I’m sure he didn’t go home and cry about missing out on me. There were no less than ten—ten!—women ready to slit my throat if that’s what it would have taken to get the seat beside him.”
Veronica laughed. “Hey, I was ready to push you off that stool and snag him for myself, but it was pretty damn obvious that he was only interested in eye-fucking you.”
“Candace is a beautiful name,” Georgia recited. “I mean damn, Candy, he was hook, line, sinker.”
Emails popped into my inbox, each one screaming for attention, as my two friends ranted on and on. I listened with one ear and started sorting through my mail. It was going to be the week from hell, leading up to the giant Valentine’s Day Mingle on Friday night. I had too much to do to listen to Georgia and Veronica berate me. I was just about to tell them so when a message flashed to the center of my screen:
Leticia: I need to see you in my office at ten o’clock.
My fingers froze over the keys. “Hey, Vee…”
The two of them stopped talking and looke
d over at me. “What?” Veronica said.
“Why does Leticia want to see me in her office at ten?”
Veronica leaned forward in her seat, a blank look on her face. As Leticia’s personal assistant, she usually had inside information if something big was coming down the pipeline. Judging by the expression on her delicate face, she was just as confused as I was by the summons.
My eyes flew to the clock in the corner of my screen. 9:34.
“Shit! Is something wrong with the party plans? What did I miss?”
I typed out a reply to Leticia letting her know I’d be there at ten and then zoomed through my inbox to see if I could find a hint as to what she could potentially be upset about.
“She’s been out of sorts,” Veronica said, chewing on the side of her fingernail. “She hasn’t been telling me much other than what meetings to set up and phone calls to make. She’s barely even mentioned Valentine’s Day, other than in the conferences, but I figured that was because … well, you know.”
I nodded. The break-up.
“I’m sure everything is fine,” Georgia said. “You’re a kick-ass matchmaker, you’ve been handling the stress of the party like a fuckin’ champ, and we’re all on your side. So don’t sweat it.”
I raked my hands over my carefully tied back hair, smoothing away imaginary fly-aways before standing. I reached for my coffee cup and sucked the rest of it down before locating a breath mint and tossing it into my mouth. “How do I look?”
Veronica smiled. “You do realize she saw you, like, less than ten minutes ago?”
“Right.” I smoothed the back of my skirt and checked that my emerald-colored button up blouse was tucked in. “Okay. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Yeah, right.
The Valentine’s Day Mingle was the biggest event of the year and it was my first year taking the lead. An honor that had been something of an upset around the office as Lauren, a fellow matchmaker, was the one to head the plans for the last five years.
A new, hideous theory popped into my head. “What if Lauren did something? What if she fucked something up to make me look bad?”
Georgia and Veronica exchanged a horrified glance and then sprang into action. “We’ll go see what’s going on.”
“Thanks.” I nodded and they left to go gather as much office gossip as they could, and I sat back down behind my desk to do one more sweep through my email.
Five minutes to ten o’clock rolled around and neither Georgia or Veronica had returned. I sipped some water and then hurried to Leticia’s office which was located one floor above where the conference rooms and large event space were housed. The rest of us worked on the two floors below.
Veronica was just exiting Leticia’s office as I rounded the corner. She smiled at me and gave a subtle thumb’s up as Leticia followed her out of the office.
“Right on time,” Leticia said, waving an arm to usher me inside her office. She was a tall, curvy woman with long, dark hair that she wore down most days, flat-ironed into a sheet of sleek perfection.
Veronica went off toward her desk located a few yards outside the door, as a barrier between the frosted doors and the inner offices.
Some of my anxiety faded after Veronica’s gesture, but the fear of the unknown still lingered in the back of my mind as Leticia brought me inside her office and closed the door behind us.
“Candace, darling, how are you?” Leticia asked, indicating where I was to sit.
I sank into the plushy chair across from her. “I’m good. Busy with all the Valentine’s plans.”
“Excellent! Can you believe this will be Matched’s tenth annual Valentine’s event? As such, I think that it’s very important that this year is better than the past ten years combined.”
Gee, no pressure.
My stomach clenched. I’d been working to organize the party for months. Every detail was seen to and carefully considered. However, the problem was the amount of variables outside my control. I could guarantee the atmosphere would be perfect, the food would be amazing, and the DJ would play all the right songs, but the main key to success was the people and whether or not there would be the right energy and that people would meet, and fall madly in love, at least for the night.
“I think you’re doing a great job,” she said, shifting the conversation. “Your presentation this morning was polished and concise.”
I relaxed slightly. “Thank you, Leticia.”
“I have some exciting news to share with you.” She sat down behind her desk and leaned forward, her abundant cleavage practically spilling over onto her desk. “It’s something that will affect the whole company, but I wanted to tell you first.”
She paused, shuffling through some papers on her desk. She selected the one she wanted and slid it across her desk to set in front of me. “This”—she tapped the paper—“is the future of Matched.”
It was a copy of what looked like blueprints. “We’re moving?”
“Even better. We’re expanding!” she answered. “We’re opening a second office. In Seattle.”
My eyes flew open wide. “Seattle?”
“Yes! Isn’t it great?” She was practically bouncing in her seat, beaming at me. “Now, Candace, here’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” She clapped her hands together. “I want you to run the office!”
Her excitement was so palpable that I found myself nodding along, mirroring her smile, as I tried to wrap my brain around the news. “Run the office, here?”
She laughed. “No, no silly. The new office, in Seattle. If everything goes according to schedule, it’ll be ready to open this fall.”
“Oh wow! That’s fast!”
“What do you think?” she asked quickly, her eyes narrowing as she waited for my answer.
I honestly didn’t know what to say—which, for me, was rare. “I’m, I’m so—”
“You’re speechless! Aww! I just knew it!” Leticia beamed. “I’m so happy! Well, I do need to tell you that there’s a little snag in my plans.”
My racing mind screeched to a halt. “A snag?”
“Yes. This second office is obviously the future, but to get everything open and operational, I needed to reach out to my investor, Karl, who helped me open this office eons ago. He wants to see that there’s a market in Seattle for this service. He’s not quite convinced. So what we need is a whale of a client to kick things off. If we can show him a big-name client, a real heavy hitter, I know we can get him to come around. That’s why I need your help.”
“I don’t think I know of any potential candidates in the Seattle area.”
“Don’t you worry about that. I already have a plan,” Leticia said, giving me a clever smile like we were cooking up a scheme to catch Batman. She stopped just short of rubbing her hands together. “I have my eye on a very, very high-profile client in the Seattle area. He hasn’t reached out to us, but we recently matched one of his business colleagues. Do you remember Gina Rowe?”
“Of course,” I answered as the spunky brunette’s face popped to the front of my mind. She’d come down from Seattle a couple months ago to meet with us. She went out on several dates and one of them bloomed into a serious relationship. “I just got her thank you card a few weeks ago, actually.”
“Perfect!” Leticia clapped. “Well then, as you know, Gina is a partner in a high-powered marketing firm in Seattle and she has been practically begging me to set up her partner. He’s basically a ka-jillionaire, single for the last five years, and not a total asshat if Gina is to be believed.”
“Sounds perfect,” I agreed. Single, rich, and not a douchebag were my favorite qualities in a Matched client.
“Oh! And he’s hotter than Hades,” Leticia added with a wicked grin. “I’m telling you, Candace, this will be a total cakewalk! You sign this guy on as a client and Karl will write us a big-ass check!”
My excitement built by the second, already imagining myself in a chic office with a skyline view of downtown Seattle, a fancy new car
, and sleek luxury condo, eating dinner at the top of the Space Needle and drowning in barrels of the world’s best coffee.
“Are you in?” she asked, studying my face with a gleeful smile.
“I’m in!”
“Great!” She spun around and snagged a piece of glossy paper from her printer tray. She smiled down at the page and then handed it over to me.
I took the paper from her and glanced down at the image just long enough for my mental train of hopes and dreams to derail and crash into the Pacific Ocean.
Leticia continued, unfettered, “His name is Landon Jeffers.”
Of course, it was…
Chapter Four
“How is this happening? Of all the men on the planet … why this one?”
No one was there to answer my questions. Which, for the moment, was fine. Georgia and Veronica were likely going to heckle me anyways. I supposed it could have been worse. I could have taken him up on his not-so-subtle offer to spend the night with him. I winced at the idea. However, knowing it could have been worse didn’t exactly alleviate the fact that I now needed to call the man, set up a meeting, and somehow sweet talk him into joining a matchmaking service without falling into his arms or—more accurately—his bed.
Just another day at the office.
“Ugh!” I tossed myself into my chair and rolled away from the desk. My email inbox was still crammed full of messages but I couldn’t focus on any of them. I needed to get myself together.
My phone chirped and I grabbed it on autopilot. It was Georgia. She wanted to know what the meeting was about. Her office was right across the hall from mine. As soon as I looked up I saw she was wearing her headset, likely making phone calls to confirm RSVP’s for the Valentine’s Day Mingle. She caught me watching her and held up her phone with a quizzical look on her face.
I texted her back: Too long. Can’t text. Lunch?
Her reply came back seconds later: Yes, you tease.
I smiled, momentarily suspended from the drama of my conundrum. A new message came in before I set the phone aside. This time, from a new contact marked Landon: Morning Candace. Ready to cave and accept my dinner invitation?