His Love Match

by Shirley Hailstock

  All eyes went to him. “Who’s Dorothy?” Mike asked.

  “She was my partner going down the aisle. From what I hear, she’s works for an airline. That ought to be right up your alley, Scott.”

  “Yeah,” Dan agreed. “You two could meet in different cities and—”

  “Stop,” Scott said. “If you guys will leave me alone, I’ll find my own woman. And what if I don’t? I won’t be the only man in America who’s unmarried and liking it.”

  Scott spoke with finality. He wanted this conversation to end. He and Diana had no relationship, despite the dance and the two kisses that his friends didn’t know about. As he’d told her, she intrigued him. A computer had put them together, matched them on more than fifty points of interest. Never mind that they had hated each other in college or that she was the last person on the planet he’d think of as compatible. But she was the one and only name that came up after he put in his requirements.

  Scott would let his friends think he and Diana came together as a result of Bill and Jennifer’s wedding. Not that he’d looked for the perfect match and got Diana 4.0.

  Scott sat down, telling himself she wasn’t the one. She couldn’t be, yet since their meeting in the coffee shop, she was constantly on his mind. And she brought back memories he thought he’d buried ten years ago. He’d kissed her on campus. It was a prank, at least it started that way, but somewhere in the infinitesimal space between their lips meeting, she’d gotten under his skin. He’d tried to fight it off, but in the darkness, where both demons and conscious thought is true, his mind knew the truth. He was attracted to Brainiac.

  For ten years he’d wondered about that day. He wanted to find out if it was just a fluke or if her kiss was as sensational as he remembered.

  And then he kissed her again.

  And it was.

  * * *

  The last American bachelor. Scott smiled at the moniker, but there was no humor in it. His buddies had given him the singles treatment. He knew some of them could be jealous and were using him to cover their true feelings, but for the most part they were happy men. And happier after they found their true loves.

  Scott wondered if he would ever find his. That had been the foundation that led him to Diana. How could it possibly lead him full circle to the one woman in the universe that he’d never considered as a girlfriend, let alone a life mate? He and Brainiac had nothing in common.

  So why was he aroused by her? In college he’d taunted her, trying to get a rise out of the long-haired, studious coed. He’d gone along with the guys in teasing her because she was different. She always had her head in a book, and some of his friends called her Diana 4.0 because she had a perfect record. She graduated with a 4.0 average.

  Scott shared only one class with her. She sat in the back and never uttered a word unless specifically called upon, yet she aced every test. She hid behind her mane of straight hair and avoided looking at anyone. Her hair remained just as long as it had in the past, but she no longer hid behind it. She wore it in curls that framed her face and showed off high cheekbones, dramatic eyes and a mouth that beckoned him like a heat-seeking missile. Who knew beneath that brain was a captivating beauty?

  And Scott never expected her identity to pop up when he completed the online form. He filled in a general description of the woman he was looking for, then checked practically every criterion box: speaks several languages; plays one or more musical instruments; owns business; financially secure; drives a car; understands wine, high fashion and jewels. Knows architecture; has a sense of humor and excellent interpersonal skills. It was more like a job interview than a relationship form.

  The MatchforLove.com service notice said he would get at least three compatible matches based on his answers. Scott clicked the submit button and waited while the computer churned through the electricity to access the database housed somewhere in the world. Of course, no address was listed. The small icon on the screen circled and circled until he believed the system had frozen. He’d chosen everything, so how could any one person fulfill all those requirements?

  After watching it for several minutes he went to get a beer from the refrigerator. He snapped the top off and threw it in the trash, then took a long swig before returning to the computer. He heard the ping just as he sat down. “You have a match,” the impersonal voice stated.

  Then the screen began to scroll information. There was no picture, but almost everything he’d checked or required came back to him in astonishing color. At the end of the file was an email address and a flashing message that said, Send an email. Scott took an hour to decide to make contact.

  And that led him to Diana Greer.

  * * *

  “Thanks, Edward.” Diana smiled at the barista and took the two cups. As she turned to leave, Scott stood in front of her.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked. She’d been coming to this shop since she moved to Princeton. Except for the day they were to meet for the first time, she’d never seen Scott in this place. Diana didn’t want to give up her favorite coffee shop, but she also didn’t want to take the chance of running into him on a daily basis.

  “I came for coffee. He looked at the two cups she was carrying. “Unless one of those is for me.”

  Diana pulled back on the cups in case he reached to take one away. “One is for my partner, Teddy, and the other is mine.” She glanced over her shoulder, then back at him. “The line is short. I’m sure Edward will get you whatever you want.” She walked past him and out the door. Luck wasn’t with her today, as it hadn’t been since Scott returned to her life.

  The office was too far away for her to walk. She had to get to her car. Diana had parked in one of the few spots close to the shop directly across from one of the large churches on the main street.

  “Do you want something?” she asked, sitting the two cups on the roof and opening the car door. “Besides coffee?”

  “You drive a Porsche?” Scott’s eyes roved over the car as if it were a sex object.

  Diana stared at him from the driver’s side of the red sports car. She supposed he expected her to have a small compact. After all, Brainiac should drive something sensible, shouldn’t she?

  “I’m impressed,” Scott said, laughter tinging his voice.

  “Didn’t think I’d do it, right? You expected me to drive a compact, something small, nondescript, something that could fade as easily into the walls as everyone expected me to do. Maybe I should have a dull green mom-mobile, or at the very least an SUV?”

  “I expected a company van, logo on the side, custom-wrapped in pink with ribbons. Who would believe Diana 4.0 drove a Porsche?”

  “Maybe the world will end,” she told him.

  * * *

  Scott walked from the back to the front of the car. Several times he raised his eyebrows and nodded, giving it his approval.

  “I do drive an SUV, by the way,” Diana told him. He finally took his eyes off the car to look at her. “It’s not pink, nor is it wrapped in ribbons. When I have a wedding or need to cart around large items, I pull it down off its cinder blocks and put the tires back on it.”

  “I saw it in your profile. That’s why I expected...something different.”

  “That’s the second time you’ve brought my profile into question.”

  “I just wondered if everything in it was true.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “It sounds extraordinary,” Scott said. “You speak how many languages?”

  “Four,” she threw at him from the opposite side of the car. “Would you like me to reply in one of them? Or all of them?”

  “And you play at least one instrument.”

  Diana closed her eyes and took a long intake of air. When she opened them, she set the coffee in the car and slammed the door.

  Coming around
the car, she stepped onto the sidewalk. The action brought her close to him and her shoes made her nearly as tall. “Follow me,” she ordered. “You want to know about my profile?”

  “You’re so busy,” Scott said. “How could you possibly do everything stated there and run a business, too?”

  “I have a partner,” Diana said.

  “Even with a partner.”

  Diana went up the steps of the church in front of her car. “Open the door,” she said.

  Scott did as commanded. Inside Diana headed to the sanctuary, going down an aisle she was familiar with. The church piano set in the front. Sliding onto the bench, she took no time to prepare, but lit right into a Chopin nocturne. As if it were a medley, she transitioned into Bach, Mozart and Paganini. Leaving the masters behind, she flawlessly moved on to Gershwin, Bernstein, Rogers and Hammerstein, and Cole Porter, and ended with Stephen Sondheim. Standing up, she stared him in the face.

  She spoke in German. “Would you like me to translate?

  “‘I am exactly as represented. Everything in my profile is the absolute truth. I told no lies. How many did you tell?’” he translated for her.

  “I see you speak German. How about Italian, Russian and Chinese?” Diana didn’t wait for an answer. She turned on her heel and marched up the sanctuary aisle.

  Scott caught her at the door and turned her to face him. “There is only one lie in my profile,” he said.

  “Which one?” she asks.

  “This one.” He pulled her into his arms and delivered a kiss that curled her toes. Diana thought that phrase was the stuff of books or movies. It wasn’t a real condition. People’s toes didn’t curl. But hers did. Her arms went around him. This wasn’t like the kiss at the wedding rehearsal. There they had an audience. Here there was no one. They were together and alone. His mouth took hers in the sight of stained-glass windows, vaulted ceilings and the polished wood of the entry hall. Diana didn’t think of where they were. She didn’t think at all. She felt. She let his mouth tease hers and sweep her deeply into a recess of pleasure that had her groaning with delight.

  His arms tightened around her waist, pulling her so close to him that not even air couldn’t escape between them. When Scott finally dragged his mouth from hers, she was weak and limp in his arms. Her mind was muddled, making it impossible for her to think straight.

  Diana was totally undone by his action and her complicity. This was a different experience. She’d been kissed by him before, but this kiss was the no-holds-barred kind. Yet it held a promise. This was not the time or place to continue, but in the kiss, Scott told her there would be a continuum. She might want to end their relationship because of their differences, but their time line had changed in the last few seconds.

  Backing away from him, she tried to control her breathing. It took several moments before she trusted herself to speak. “That wasn’t in your profile,” she said.

  Scott gave her a look filled with fire and desire. Then he spoke in a voice that was low and sexy and contained the same promise of more to come. “It is now.”

  Chapter 5

  “What the hell is going on out there?” Diana said, coming into the office. She would have slammed the door if it didn’t have that compressed soft-close feature.

  Outside several trucks were in the parking lot. A full crew of men with jackhammers were polluting the air with the sounds of their machinery as they tore up the asphalt. This was all Diana needed. On top of dealing with Scott first thing in the morning, her coffee was now cold. And he was using a new tactic to get her to move.

  “Let’s see,” Teddy said from the doorway of the small kitchenette where they had a microwave, a coffeemaker, a refrigerator and a small table. She leaned against the entrance, one foot crossed over the other and her arms folded. “I take it the wedding yesterday didn’t go well.”

  “The wedding went fine,” she said with a little less vehemence in her voice than the initial declaration.

  “Then what did our golden boy do to upset you?”

  “He’s not our golden boy.”

  “But he has upset you?” Teddy dropped her arms and came farther into the kitchen. The microwave bell rang and Diana popped the door open, removing the two cups.

  “He showed up at Edward’s while I was getting coffee.”

  “Is that all?” Teddy knew there was more to Diana’s anger than she had said so far. Her partner was very perceptive. Their business had taught them that there was more a bride wanted than what her words said. And while Diana wasn’t a bride, she hadn’t relayed the entire story.

  Taking a sip of the reheated coffee, they moved to Diana’s office, where she told Teddy the entire morning’s activities, including the kiss just inside the church door. “And then I find this in the parking lot.” She raised her arm toward the inner wall on the side of the building where the cars were parked.

  “We’ve weathered this before,” Teddy cautioned her. “This extreme reaction from you over a man is unusual.”

  “It’s like he baits me,” Diana said. “One minute he’s Sir Galahad and the next he’s the Grinch who stole Christmas.”

  “Why do you think that is?”

  “I don’t know. He acted like this when we were in school together. I was always the butt of his pranks. Any chance he had to embarrass me, he’d take it.”

  “How long have you been carrying this torch?”

  Diana’s head snapped up. She stared directly at her partner as if the other woman had suddenly begun speaking a foreign language.

  “I am not attracted to him.”

  “This is me...Teddy.” She placed a hand on her chest. “You can’t lie to me.”

  That was all she needed to say. Diana dropped her shoulders and set her coffee cup on the desk.

  “Damn,” she said softly. Then she answered honestly, “Since my first day at college. I came out of a building and literally walked into him.” She paused. “Since that day, he’s only looked at me in order to belittle and ridicule.”

  “Don’t worry,” Teddy soothed her. “They say admission is the first step.”

  “Toward what?” Diana snickered. “A cure?”

  “There is no cure for love.” Teddy spoke the words as if they were a prayer.

  “I’m not in love with him,” Diana denied.

  The two women stared at each other for a long moment. A smile raised the corners of Teddy’s mouth, then grew wider. She began to laugh. Diana tried to hold it in, but Teddy’s face broke into a smile that had Diana joining her. The smile grew until she was laughing. Diana tried to stop it, but only managed a hiccup and then a burst of sound. Suddenly both women were laughing as if they’d discovered the funniest thing on earth. Diana’s eyes misted and she put her hand up to cover her mouth. The laughter grew until both women were dabbing at the corners of their eyes and the pent-up stress was released.

  * * *

  Diana could resort to only one method of getting through the days—work. She threw herself into the sale and management aspects of the business like a woman possessed.

  By midmorning, she had read several reports that had piled up on her desk while she’d worked on the Embry wedding. She’d gone through her email and answered several phone calls. She updated the PowerPoint presentation she used when making an initial call.

  As noon approached, her computer made a specific sound she hadn’t heard in weeks, alerting her to a message from someone at MatchforLove.com. Diana’s stomach clenched. She reached for her cell phone. The email address was familiar. The phone slipped from her fingers. She fought and caught it. There was a time when seeing that address caused excitement to race through her. Today it caused pain. She was not going to that site to collect a message. Her previous adventure with Scott ended in disaster. She wouldn’t start it again.

  Ta
king her leather pad emblazoned with the Weddings by Diana logo on it, she went to Teddy’s office. They usually had a meeting on Monday morning. And it was still morning. At least for the next half hour.

  Sitting down, she asked, “How are we set for the next month? Do we need any help?”

  As usual, Teddy opened the schedule on her laptop and swung the screen around so they both could see it. There were five weddings in July.

  “Can you handle them all?”

  Teddy nodded. “There are several apprentices nearly ready to fly solo.”

  Diana didn’t miss her partner’s careful choice of words. Teddy was grooming the apprentices to lead, stepping in if needed, or if the bride was someone like Jennifer Embry, old money and difficult.

  “Looks fine,” Diana said.

  “Everything’s under control. What about the franchises?” Teddy asked.

  Diana smiled. “I’ve had several calls this morning. Packets are going out. And the one in Montana is coming along. I think they’ll be up and running by the end of the month.”

  “Any more trips out there?”

  “Not at the moment, but I’ll need to be there when the doors initially open.”

  At that moment the phone rang in the outer office. “Oops, that’s me,” Diana said, recognizing the ringtone.

  “I’ll get it.” Teddy lifted the receiver and punched the button to reroute the call. “Weddings by Diana,” she said. “This is Ms. Granville.”

  She listened to the caller. Diana read Teddy’s face. It changed from surprise to a wide smile that relaxed her features. Diana wondered who it was. She thought it was someone inquiring about a franchise or a wedding. Then it sounded personal. She got up to leave, but Teddy waived her back.

  Removing the receiver from her ear, Teddy offered it to Diana. “It’s for you.”

  “Who is it?” Diana asked, taking the phone. From Teddy’s expression and familiarity, it was obviously someone they knew outside of the business world.

  “Scott.”

  Diana nearly dropped the tan-colored instrument. She put her hand over the mouthpiece. “What does he want?” she whispered.