Chapter 1 #2
I look over and suck in air. Gorgeous. Sexy.
Outstanding. He’s built like an athlete—tall, wide shoulders, slim hips.
I’m guessing early thirties. He’s in a white button-down shirt with gray trousers.
His dark brown hair has a slight wave that I’m betting feels like silk. Dark eyes, trimmed beard. Yes, please!
His gaze collides with mine. My heart races, and heat rushes from my cheeks down my entire body. I look away from the gorgeous stranger, suddenly realizing he’s talking to my matchmaking mom. Not today, Mom. A blind date planned by my mother on Valentine’s Day is not the way I saw tonight going.
I’m a grown-ass woman who can find my own man.
I am not that desperate!
Mason pokes his head in the door, his smile huge. “She said yes!” His new fiancée, May, and her six-year-old daughter, Sophie, walk in, beaming.
“Yeah!” I shout. Everyone cheers with lots of whistles and hooting too. I really like May. She lives across the street from me, owner of the new Serenity Inn.
“You guys!” May exclaims, putting a hand over her heart. Her diamond ring catches the light. “I can’t believe you planned all this without me knowing!”
Mason kisses her. They gaze at each other in total adoration as Sophie hugs their legs. For a moment I’m filled with such longing I can barely breathe. What a beautiful moment for this happy little family.
Then I remind myself I like my life just as it is. Light and carefree.
The jazz band starts their music. On my right is a buffet and a drink table catered by Dad’s restaurant and bar, Happy Endings.
He named it after Mom’s romance book club, the Happy Endings Book Club, which is where she got her start as a matchmaker.
She takes full credit for every single member finding their happy-ever-after.
I’m sure it was just luck and timing. You can’t make love happen.
When someone’s ready to get married, they find someone else ready, and then they click because they want the same thing.
That’s why I look for guys who only want casual fun.
Harper and I go over to congratulate the happy couple. My eye catches on Mom approaching with Mystery Dude. I swear if this is a setup, I’m going to be so pissed.
I force a neutral expression as Mom arrives, smiling her dazzling smile. No sense getting off on a bad foot if she’s not matchmaking. Who am I kidding? Of course she is.
Mom’s in her fifties now, still strikingly beautiful—long, strawberry-blonde hair, pale blue eyes, flawless skin, and a perfect hourglass figure.
Why did I have to take after Dad’s side of the family?
Ugh. Flat-chested, not much of a curve anywhere.
Plain brown hair. At least I’m athletic like Dad.
Mom’s terrible at most sports. She’s afraid of the ball.
Mom gestures toward Mystery Dude. “This is Cal Davis, the new lawyer in town. He used to be a minor league ball player for the triple A Iowa Cubs. Did I get that right?”
“Yes, ma’am.” His voice is deeply resonant and warm, like melting chocolate. I’m so hungry.
Maybe I don’t need to stay away from all lawyers.
Mom titters. “Please call me Hailey.” She points out each of us by name. When she gets to me, I’m surprised by the depth in his dark brown eyes. Intelligent and searching, like he’s trying to see into my soul.
I force myself to lower my gaze, landing on his chest and then lower, oops! Too low. Back to his chest. I’m a furnace in this thin dress. Suddenly the winter air sounds refreshing.
Harper whispers in my ear, “Like what Mom brought you?”
I badly want to elbow her in the kidneys.
“What position did you play?” Mason asks Cal.
“Catcher. Too hard on my knees. They got screwed up.”
Mom fills in the rest of his bio. “Then he went to law school, got some experience in the city, and now he’s about to take over Gabe Reynolds’s practice in town.” The city means New York City to locals.
“The city to small-town Clover Park?” I ask. “That’s got to be a culture shock.”
His gaze locks on mine, and my breath hitches, every nerve ending rising to attention. “I like small towns. I’m from a small town in Minnesota.”
Mom wags her finger at Harper and me. “Don’t get any ideas about the new single guy in town. He’s not the marrying type.”
Which is exactly my type!
Cal looks embarrassed and shifts his attention to the room. Probably looking for an out. Clearly, this is not a setup.
Mom pulls me aside to share in a whisper, “His live-in girlfriend broke up with him this morning for not wanting to commit to marriage. It’s better to know sooner than later when expectations are mismatched.”
I glance back at Cal, who’s studying the far wall. I wonder if he heard that.
Mom smiles brightly at him. “Come on, Cal. I’ll introduce you to more people.”
I take pity on the man. The wound is still fresh for the poor sexy guy.
“I can do it, Mom,” I say, attempting to look like I’m not at all interested in him as a gorgeous man who’s also conveniently a commitment-phobe.
It’s been eight long months.
Mom smiles tightly. “I promised to help him get acclimated to his new hometown. We’re good. Right, Cal?”
I keep my voice light. “I’ll get him acquainted with the under-forty crowd since he’s clearly under forty.”
Her eyes narrow. She firmly believes age is just a number, as she’ll tell anyone who mentions getting older. Cal looks from me to Mom, seeming unsure what to do.
The music changes to a slow song, Etta James’s “At Last.”
Mom sighs dramatically. “Okay, Mackenzie, but whatever you do, don’t slow dance with him. The last thing I need is my daughter getting drawn in by another player. No offense, Cal.”
Yup, she said that. Mom has no filter when it comes to protecting her kids.
She believes I’m frequently taken in by “players” because she’ll often hear from the small-town grapevine that I was seen out with a guy, and when she follows up with me, I crush her romantic hopes by telling her we’re not seeing each other anymore.
She never believes it’s me who keeps it casual.
It’s her love goggles that keep her from seeing clearly.
“More of a baseball player,” Cal mumbles. Of course no one wants to be labeled a player, but any guy who just got out of a live-in relationship for commitment issues isn’t going to want more of the same. He’s perfect.
I tilt my head toward the dance floor. He follows me without a word.
A few moments later, I wrap my arms around his neck, leaving just enough space between us for decency. He radiates heat and pheromones. Mmm, he smells so good. A clean, crisp scent. Cologne? Him? I don’t know, and I don’t care. Cal is the perfect man to end this damn dry spell.
On the other hand, he did just go through a major breakup.
Is he even into me?
I’ll know by the end of the party.
Cal
I’ve already met a lot of people in town thanks to Hailey, which is crucial for building a client list, and now I’m dancing with her sexy daughter. I noticed Mackenzie right away. When her eyes met mine, a jolt of lust hit me by surprise, especially after the day I’ve had.
She’s about a foot shorter than me, even in her spiked heels. Her dress clings to her athletic body, ending mid-thigh. I gulp. It’s just a dance. One dance to be polite.
If you had told me I’d go from dodging law books to dancing with a sexy stranger today, I’d have thought you were nuts. That’s right. Law books. Thrown at my head.
In answer to Rayna’s demand for marriage, I said in my most reasonable tone, “What’s the rush?”
Boy, was that the wrong thing to say. She blew up, saying we were both in our thirties and that’s what normal people do.
Then she threw my briefcase and law books at me.
All this happened before noon. She woke up expecting big things, and it went downhill from there.
I’m more relieved than sad, which I guess says a lot about our relationship.
Before she moved into my apartment, Rayna was cool and casual.
Things were easy between us. Then my roommate moved out, Rayna’s lease ran out on her place, and she asked if she could move in with me while she looked for a new place.
Rent in the city isn’t cheap, and rentals go fast. Even so, I looked for another male roommate and asked her to use her extensive network to find her own place.
Nothing panned out, so I offered my place as a temporary solution.
I was very firm—six months max for her to find a new apartment, giving me time to find a new roommate.
She agreed. Honestly, I liked her a lot.
I just wasn’t in deep-emotion territory.
I never am. Not since…anyway, after she moved in, Rayna went into overdrive on the couple thing.
Candlelit dinners, little gifts and love notes left around the apartment, a new social schedule with her married couple friends, even a vacation that was couples only.
It got so I couldn’t relax at home and spent most of my time at the office.
She veered between the silent treatment and yelling.
I knew I was disappointing her, but I could barely breathe in our shared space.
She wasn’t having any luck finding a new place, and I quietly decided to let her take over my lease when it ran out, and move somewhere else.
I was just waiting for the right time to tell her.
I had hoped we could keep seeing each other, even if we didn’t live together.
It was only supposed to be a temporary arrangement, after all.
But then she started spending a lot of time with her ex. She told me it was platonic, he was her best friend again, and I was too closed off to meet her emotional needs.
I wasn’t happy about all the time they spent together, but I also knew he had a girlfriend. When he got engaged, Rayna was upset. That’s why she suddenly wanted us to get married. Not because of me, because of him. I guess Valentine’s Day upped the stakes.