by K. Bromberg
Robert doesn’t look my way. A habit I’ve noticed he has when he’s trying to figure out how to phrase something.
“So tell me about your experience.”
Christ. He went there. It’s not enough that I’m jumping through every hoop imaginable that he’s thrown up, but now he’s going to hold me to this crap? A one off promise I made to try and wrangle his investment that I had hoped he’d forget about.
“It was a good one.” I nod and empty my drink in one swallow.
I can bullshit with the best of them. I can wine and dine and persuade, but fuck if I’m good at lying to a man who’s going to help me win this damn contest.
“Good?” His chuckle resonates around us and several people look our way. “So you’ve found someone then?”
“Someone . . . yes.” I’m going to hell.
“And you think you have a chance at a future together?”
I nod and don’t trust myself to speak. “Mm-hmm.”
He slaps my back and smiles. “That’s fantastic! Love is incredible, isn’t it?”
“It is indeed.” Definitely going to hell.
“What a great way to help sell the platform to the masses. The CEO found love on it, and you can too.” He holds up his hands as he says the words, like he’s reading a billboard.
Fucking great. So much for playing the old ‘it didn’t work out’ card in a few days.
I give him a tight smile and wave to an acquaintance across the way. “I was just as surprised.”
“I can’t wait to meet her. What’s her name?”
“Robert! Zane! So good to see you!”
Thank god for you, Jacko.
I look over to where one of my closest friends is striding across the space, a mob of women nearly breaking their necks to see who he is.
“Jack!” Robert pulls Jack in for a quick man-pat and then steps back. Lucky for me the two of you have some kind of family history. Friend of an uncle’s or some shit like that. It made getting an introduction to Robert that much easier for me. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I always like to help support Zane in whatever pies he has his fingers in because I know it will be successful.”
Seems someone else brought their charm game tonight.
“Good to hear, good to hear,” Robert says.
“Looks like everything came together. Women, whiskey, and whales,” he says with a crooked smile, the whales being the lot of high risk investors standing around mingling with us. The ones Jack is subtly implying might buy the available shares of SoulM8 if Robert doesn’t.
“It’s a packed house indeed,” Robert says and smiles. “Zane was just telling me about his new—”
“Robert Waze? Is that you?” A voice to our left calls out.
“Excuse me, gentlemen,” Robert says, his face lighting up in a smile as he holds his finger up to his friend before turning back to me. “Zane, I’ll get with you later on meeting the candidates.”
“Of course, mate.”
Both Jack and I watch him walk away, and then I blow out an exaggerated sigh. “The fucking guy asked.”
Jack throws his head back and laughs, knowing Robert’s whole ‘you need to be a product of your own platform’ obsession. “And?”
“I told him I don’t need a fucking dating site to meet women.” I let the lie play for a second and watch the shock register over Jack’s face.
“You’re fucking with me, right?” he finally asks.
“Of course, I am. I told him I’d found someone. How could I say anything different? I want him to think SoulM8 works.”
“You’re so screwed.”
“I wish that was the case.” I laugh. “My night would be a whole lot better.”
“Oh, poor baby. Going through a little dry spell are we?”
“Now that I can take care of with a simple phone call. Robert thinking I have a girlfriend is a whole different issue.”
“It’s an easy fix to find someone to fill in temporarily.”
“Who? Tell me who would pass his approval test?” I ask as the very pretty bartender walks over and hands me a fresh drink. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” she says, her voice throaty, her eyes suggestive.
“And my point is proven without even having to try,” Jack says through a laugh when she walks away, hips swinging and heels clicking.
“She’s definitely hot but in more of a just-for-the-night way. Not win-Robert’s-approval-material.”
“Agreed.” He waves his hand to all of the people around us. “I’m sure there are more than a few willing candidates here tonight who would pretend to be your true love for a few nights to appease the old man.”
“True.” I take a drink and look around. Long legs, classy dresses, and plenty of opportunity to go around.
“Getting his investment is the end game. I’m sure you’ll take one for the team.”
“They don’t call me a player for nothing.”
“You’re such a dick.”
“So I’ve been told,” I say as I catch sight of the last woman to call me that as she walks onto the patio. Hello, Harlow Nicks.
She showed. And not only showed, but she did so in a dress that reveals nothing but still makes you want to peel it off to see what’s hidden beneath. It’s black and simple with a hint of cleavage and a flash of leg, but damn how it hugs her curves.
And the heels.
She wore them and hell if they don’t look sexy as sin on her. Their pale pink color match the accents on the dress and her hair is in soft curls around her shoulders.
My fingers itch to touch. And do other things.
“See something you like?” Jack says with a bump to my shoulder. “Well, damn. That’s a definite like.”
“No, it’s not. It’s a smart mouth and a hot temper.” But my eyes don’t leave her.
“Oh, but that makes it much more fun. Feisty is a good thing. Especially when it’s beneath the sheets and it looks like her.”
“I need another drink,” I say despite the half-full glass in my hand, but Jack needs to stop looking at Harlow. She’s not for him.
“You do. You need a stiff one so you can figure out who’ll be your ready-set-play-girlfriend.” He pats me on the back as we turn toward the bar after I get one last look her way.
“Considering I’m footing the tab for tonight, I think I’m buying.”
“True, mate,” Jack says, trying his best Australian accent.
“You’re still shit at it,” I say in our usual way.
“And you still love me.”
“NO THANK YOU,” I SAY with a tight smile to the man beside me now making his fourth offer to buy me a drink.
“C’mon, I’d love to buy you one.”
“I know, and I appreciate it, but I’m driving.”
“I could always drive you home.” He places a hand on the small of my back, and I step forward and out of his reach.
“I see my friend I was waiting for,” I lie and smile at an invisible person in the opposite direction. “It was a pleasure meeting you.” No it wasn’t.
“Maybe we can catch up later.”
“Maybe,” I say over my shoulder as I head across the dimly lit terrace. Music is playing softly beneath the low hum of chatter. There is a wide array of people here from what I can tell, but Drink Man has occupied most of my time since I’ve been here.
With a sigh of reprieve, I duck into a darkened corridor bordering the outside of the patio. I’ll just stay here for a few minutes until he turns his attention elsewhere and then I’ll go back out—to the opposite end of the space.
Since I’m here, I might as well make the most of the time and try to meet as many people as possible.
“C’mon, there’s no excuse why you can’t leave here tonight with one,” a male voice says followed by a laugh.
“There’s plenty of excuses, mate.” My ears perk up at the sound of the Australian lilt—Zane—and I silently sag in relief feeling like I know
someone here.
Typically, I’m pretty outgoing but walking in here alone and knowing no one has been more intimidating than I anticipated. Maybe it’s because I’ve built up the event to be something bigger than it really is. Or maybe it’s because I was kind of excited to see Zane again regardless of how much he drives me crazy.
And now I’m starting to sound like my mother.
“Fuck your excuses. Aren’t you the one who told me I needed to help you sell this to him? Well, that’s what I’m trying to do. Don’t blame me that you lied and said that you found love on it. We both know that shit doesn’t work.”
“Will you shut the hell up?”
“If you don’t want Robert to know differently, then you better start figuring out how you’re going to fix this.”
“Christ,” Zane mutters.
“He’s not going to help you right now,” the other man jokes, but Zane doesn’t laugh. “But I know who can kiss it and make it all better for you . . .” Jack gestures to the people mingling in the space around them. “I mean look at all the gorgeous women. They’re prime for the picking. Now all you have to do is find the right one.”
Prime for the picking? Seriously? I hope he’s not saying what I think he’s saying.
I look to my right and in one of the lit areas I see Zane—dressed in my kryptonite: a buttoned up vest, slacks, and dress shirt rolled up at the sleeves. Professional yet casual and way more sexy than I want to admit. The man to his right and facing my direction has dark hair, light eyes, and light brown skin. He’s strikingly handsome as well. Together they look like a Ralph Lauren ad.
“Give it up, Jack.”
Ah, that’s Jack. I should’ve assumed.
“What about that one?”
“Which one?”
“Cream dress. Come fuck me heels.”
“Not my type,” Zane says into his glass as he takes a sip. I hate that I want to see what she looks like to try and figure out what type is his.
“She could be mine, though,” Jack says through a laugh. “Simone, then?”
“Can’t. After promo is over, then I’m all over that . . . but before?” Zane says and chuckles, “that would be unprofessional of me.”
“And if things went south . . .”
“Exactly. It would spell disaster all around.”
“How about her?”
“Legs for days?” Zane lifts his chin toward someone.
“Yeah, her.”
They both angle their head to the left and watch someone for a second. “Nah. She’s not bad . . . she’s just not . . .”
“Good,” Jack finishes for him. “You’re a picky fucker. So then what about the Chrissy Teigen lookalike over there?”
“She came with a date.”
“So? When has that ever stopped you?”
Zane says something I can’t hear and they both laugh.
Are they really doing this right now? Is he really that desperate to find . . . a date? I’m sure he has women more than willing to be on his arm.
And then it hits me. Is it a date he’s looking for or simply someone to sleep with?
I take a step back, uncomfortable overhearing what’s obviously a game to them, and then my feet falter when Jack speaks.
“What about the one from earlier? Black dress, incredible body, killer eyes, pink heels?”
My breath catches even though I don’t want to care that they’re talking about me.
Zane chuckles in a way that makes me feel like he knows I’m standing here listening. “Not a chance in hell,” he murmurs in a low rumble.
“Why not? She made you look twice.”
“Two words: friggin’ nightmare.”
Jack throws his head back and laughs. “Aren’t they all?” They clink glasses while I stand there and stare at them like a little kid who was just made fun of in front of the whole school.
It takes me a second to find my footing and then I’m mad at myself for even caring what he thinks when he’s already proven what a jerk he can be.
But I bought his act coming over to the house. Hook. Line. And sinker. I let my mom and her romanticism get to me so much so that I came here tonight thinking I might just have formed the wrong first impression of him. That the man who showed up at my house was the real him—the sincere one—and not the jerk I met in the office building the other day.
A little bit of arrogance is sexy. This kind, is not.
I should’ve known better.
A friggin’ nightmare? Why? Because I won’t cow-tow to him like he’s a god because of his good looks and bank account?
It takes a lot more than that to impress me.
Flustered and now wanting that glass of wine, I walk the opposite way of Zane and Jack and past the covered corridor to find it.
And right into the back of a man who turns the corner the same time that I do.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” We both say in some form or another as his hands come out to my biceps to steady me.
“Pardon me,” he says as I take a step back and look into kind blue eyes. “Are you okay, Miss?”
I nod, my cheeks heating with embarrassment that I ran into this elderly gentleman because of my carelessness. “Yes. I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going. Are you okay?”
“I am.” He laughs. “It takes a lot more than a pretty woman to knock me off my stride.” His wedding ring glints in the soft light as he takes a sip of his drink.
“Your wife is one lucky lady then.”
His expression softens and his smile dims. “I lost her last year.”
“I’m so sorry.” I feel like an ass, but at the same time every part of me melts at the love he obviously still has for his wife.
“Don’t be. I’m lucky enough to have been able to experience true love.” He smiles and then startles. “Pardon my manners, Robert Waze. Nice to meet you.”
Robert? As in the Robert that I’ve overheard Jack and Zane talking about twice now?
“Harlow Nicks. Likewise.” We shake hands and then without thinking, we both turn to face the party going on in front of us. Oddly, for the first time all night, I feel at ease.
“It’s my pleasure, Ms. Nicks.”
“Harlow, please.”
“Harlow, then,” he says with a definitive nod before grabbing a glass of wine from a passing server and offering it to me.
“Yes, please. Thank you.” I take a sip and even though I don’t know much about wine, I know an expensive one when I taste it. “How long were you married?” I ask, both out of curiosity and the sheer need to make small talk to avoid the awkwardness that comes with standing at a crowded event and not knowing anyone.
“Sixty years.” The lines around his eyes crinkle with his smile, and I doubt he realizes that he automatically twists his wedding ring around his finger when he speaks the words.
“That’s amazing.” Look mom, real life fairytales do exist.
He nods. “I courted her for five years before that.”
I do the math. Even if he was eighteen when they got married, that makes him almost eighty years old now. I never would have guessed that by how fit and youthful he is in appearance.
“Do you mind me asking how you lost her?”
“Cancer.” He nods and then looks away for a moment to gather his emotions before looking back at me. “She fought it like a champion but in the end she was just too tired.”
“She was lucky to have you by her side.”
“I was the lucky one.”
Sigh. Big fat sigh. If nothing comes of tonight, at least I can walk away having met Robert and knowing that true love really does exist.
“That’s why I’m here,” he continues without my prompting. “One of her last wishes was for me to find happiness again. But she was crazy in thinking that. She was my happiness.”
“Maybe a friend then. Someone who can keep you company.”
“Perhaps, but I doubt it. She was my life.” He takes a sip of his drink and shakes his head a
s if he’s remembering. And I let him without interruption because obviously he’s lonely. What does it hurt to listen to him for a few moments so he doesn’t feel so alone for a bit? “We had a good one, you know? We started a company together, we raised three incredible daughters together, and then when they left home, we lived our life like every day was a bucket list.”
“That’s incredible.” We both turn to follow the laughter across the terrace. Zane is the center of attention amid a small group of men and women, all looking like they just stepped off of a runway. He’s animated and owning the audience, by the looks of their facial expressions. Unexpectedly, something Robert said to me clicks in my mind. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but you said you’re here because of your wife’s wish for you . . .”
“Yes.” That kind smile is back on his lips as he nods. “That company we started . . . well, we sold it at one point and were able to tuck that money away, invest it, and make something of it. Her other wish besides me finding happiness again was to take some of that money we’d earned and help others find the kind of love we had.”
“I feel like I keep saying it, but that’s incredible, Robert.”
“That’s why I’m here. To see if I want to back this venture. SoulM8.com has a great premise. Its use of artificial intelligence technology to help in the matchmaking process is unprecedented compared to the other platforms out there. The results after their beta trial were phenomenal. I think it’s going to be a huge success.”
“Then why do you sound so hesitant?” I probe, trying to make the connection.
“I don’t know,” he says and looks into his empty glass before looking back up and meeting my eyes. “If Sylvie was here, she’d tell me to pick the spokesperson, write the check, and see how it pans out.”
“Spokesperson?”
“Yes.” He looks around the people on the patio and then waves his hand at the lot. “Supposedly, I get final say in who will represent the company. I’m sure Zane over there already has his favorite picked out, but frankly I don’t feel like I can relate to any of the women I’ve met here tonight other than you.”
I nod and smile softly as his compliment hits my heart. My own eyes flicker about the ladies here and wonder which ones are in the running. None of them have things that I don’t.