“Yeah, but I guess they don’t want to come off as the bad guys, kicking women and children out if I can’t pay. And the truth of the matter is, I don’t know if I can.”
Geo’s heart broke for his sister’s defeated tone. He wanted the world for her, and she was just trying to make a difference for women who needed help. “What if I co-sign?” he asked.
“What?” Maggie said around another huge bite of pizza. “You can’t do that.” She chewed, swallowed, and continued. “I know you make a decent income, G, but this is a huge commitment. And I can’t have you moving into the spare room of the building because you can’t afford your own place.”
Geo took a sip of his drink. He wanted to keep his news a surprise until it was a done deal, but he didn’t want Maggie to give up on this opportunity. The empty building next to the rundown rental she was using for her charity now wouldn’t last in the prime downtown location. It was hers to lose—and he didn’t want that for her.
“Let me do this, Mags,” he said. “It won’t break me, I promise.”
“Is there something you’re not telling me? Did you meet a woman or something? Do you have a sugar mama?”
“Geez, Mags, calm down. Nothing like that. It’s all on the up and up, I promise.” He filled her in on the career opportunity and watched her chewing slow.
“But you would have to move to New York?”
Geo was touched that she was thinking about their distance and not what the move would mean for her charity. “Yeah, but with the offer they’re talking about, I could come back whenever I wanted…weekends, for Eliot’s games, whatever. Flying has never been a big deal to me, and Maggie, think about what it would mean to the women.”
Maggie wiped her mouth on a napkin and leaned across the table, placing her hand over his. Tears shone in her eyes.
“You can’t do this,” she said.
“I can. I want to.”
She pulled her hand back and dabbed the napkin around her eyes, wiping the tears away. “I wouldn’t disappoint you.”
“I know you wouldn’t. You never could.” Geo smiled as he took in the sight of his sister across from him. She’d turned into an amazing woman, and with his funding, she could do the same for women who came from similar situations that she did, or worse. It would be a redemption story for not just her, but Geo as well.
…
“Occupation?”
“Freelance writer.” Geo shifted in his seat across from the very large desk, behind which was seated a very small woman. He studied the business card she had thrust into his hand as soon as he’d entered the room. Ivana Date, it read. Professional Matchmaker. Could that really be her name?
Ivana pushed the pink winged glasses up her nose and peered at him. “So you make mediocre money?” she asked.
“I do well for myself.” Geo wasn’t used to being interrogated by little old ladies. Should he call her Ivana? Ms. Date? He wasn’t sure she could even see him over the giant desk.
“And you filled out the questionnaire in the waiting room?”
Geo nodded and handed over the clipboard filled with his likes and dislikes. The questions had been thorough, he’d give her that much. Would you rather vacation on a beach or in the mountains? Do you prefer blondes, brunettes, or other? Is it important for a woman to be successful, or do you prefer someone who puts your achievements first? And so on. The only thing it didn’t ask was what he would name his first-born child. Thank goodness.
“This pretty much gives me what I need to know, but I like to get to know my clients on a personal level as well.” Ivana took her glasses off and hung them around her neck on a beaded chain and removed a pencil from the bun on the back of her head. The bun somehow stayed in place. “Describe your ideal woman.” She leaned forward, perhaps so she could see him better over the desk.
“Well, um, I guess I haven’t met her yet. That’s why I’m here.”
“Of course, dear, but if you were to meet her, what would she be like?” The woman sighed.
Geo wondered if he was wasting her time. Or at least if that’s what she felt like he was doing. She knew he was on assignment, not someone who came to her on his own. “Um, I like a woman to be shorter than me.”
“That won’t be hard,” the matchmaker mumbled with a smile.
“And she’s got to be sharp, too. I mean, I want someone who I can have a good conversation with. Not someone who just listens, but who gives it back to me, too, you know?”
“You want a little sass.”
“I suppose, if that’s what you want to call it.” Geo wiped his hands down his jeans. What had he gotten himself into here? “I don’t know that I have a particular type. I appreciate beauty in many forms. I like an athletic woman with a unique look.”
“She’s got to have style.” Ivana tapped the desk with her pencil.
“And a sense of humor is always nice. I like to laugh.” Geo chuckled nervously. What was it about this meeting that made him so uneasy?
The woman peered over the desk like she was sizing him up, trying to memorize his features and take them all in at once to spit out to a potential date later.
“Ah yes, who doesn’t?” Ivana replied.
“Does this really work?” Geo asked. He only had so much time with the matchmaker. Perhaps it was his turn to ask questions.
She looked at him over the edge of the large desk. “What do you mean?”
“This whole matchmaking thing. Do people really, you know, find love?”
The woman raised one painted eyebrow and gave him “the look,” if he ever had seen one before. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so quick to show his skepticism. Of course she thought it worked or she wouldn’t be in the business, right?
“Geo, I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t think I’ll have trouble finding you dates. But finding you a match, that’s a different story.”
It was Geo’s turn to lean forward over the desk. “May I ask why?”
“You’re not like my usual clients. I get a sense that you have a one and only out there somewhere, and no one else will do. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I believe in true love and yadda yadda, but many of the people who come to me are just happy to find someone.”
Was she saying most of her clients were willing to settle? Geo let her continue without interruption.
“If you wanted to be with someone right now, you would be. But my services are a bit different. I match people on many criteria, and it’s often hard for them to see past those matching areas. They fall for each other, and that’s that. Bingo bango, I’ve done it again.”
Geo squinted at her in confusion. She almost sounded like she was talking against her own services. She matched people, but not for real. She only gave them matches that were good enough. Was he hearing this right?
“There are a rare few who see past all that, and despite the criteria, they don’t feel the match is right. Do you know what I mean, Geo?”
Geo didn’t, but he nodded anyway. This method was so old school, there was no way it could work in today’s modern society anyway.
“I know why you’re here, and I know what you want—a story. But I want you to set that goal aside, even just for one date, and let the magic really work on you, okay? Don’t try to look behind the curtain and figure out how the trick works. Just go with it.”
“Go with it.” George frowned.
“You never know, bingo bango, you could be the next to fall in love.” Ivana Date stood, her head above the desk, but just barely, and walked around the room to look Geo in the eye.
“You’re a fine specimen, Mr. Monais, with a kind soul. You don’t deserve to be alone. No one does. I’ll find you someone. Trust me, okay?”
Bingo, bango.
…
Penny walked through the very same door she knew Geo had walked through sometime that day.
She was super excited to see what the matchmaker could do. But she had a lot of other things on her mind, and Geo definitely had a piece.
Penny gave her name at the counter and received a bulky clipboard filled with page after page of questions. She sat in a squeaky chair and started to fill it out. All she had to do was pick one of the options and fill in the little bubble beside it.
Do you want children? Penny marked yes, but she didn’t know when or how many.
How do you like to spend your holidays? There were only two options: at home with relatives or traveling. Couldn’t she do both on occasion? Or take her relatives with her on a traveling adventure?
As Penny continued on with the questions, she found them limiting. At times, she was tempted to add a third bubble of her own and fill it in instead. Other questions had her wanting to fill in both bubbles at once, but she wasn’t sure that was allowed. She’d play along and be the best client she could be. The situation she was forced into was odd and out of character for her, but she had more faith in the matchmaking process than something so random—like Tinder or Speed Dating.
When a door squeaked open, Penny watched Geo Monais appear from the other side of the office. She caught a glimpse of an older woman shutting the door behind him. The crease between Geo’s furrowed brows made her wonder what he had just been through. When he spotted her in the waiting area, she thought she saw relief on his face.
“Hey,” she said, pausing her work on the questions.
Geo collapsed into the chair next to her. “That was…exhausting.”
“Did she go hard on you?”
“I’m not really sure how to describe it.” Geo gave her a sheepish grin as he laid his head on the wall behind the chair.
“I’m almost done with my questionnaire.”
“Ah yes, the window to your soul, apparently.”
“My soul?”
“Ivana said everything she needs to know is in those papers.”
“Ivana, huh?”
“Ivana Date,” Geo replied.
“You want a what?”
“No, that’s her name. Ivana. Ivana Date.”
Penny hid her smile behind her hand as the receptionist peered in their direction. “Are you serious?” she whispered. The marketing department had set the details up, and Penny had been so busy researching the matchmaking process, she hadn’t gotten to their form yet.
“As a heart attack.” Geo leaned over conspiratorially, his lips dangerously close to Penny’s ear. “Wait till you see her desk.”
Penny grinned. She’d never admit it to Geo, but as excited as she was about the prospect of matchmaking, now that he was there, she’d much rather sit in that waiting room and talk to him. Could matchmaking work for her? Quite possibly. But the smell of Geo’s leather jacket and the look of his disheveled hair were much more appealing in that moment.
“I wish you the best of luck, Penny.” Geo patted her hand and then rested his palm atop it. “This isn’t meant to be an insult to you…but you’re going to need all the luck you can get.”
Penny tilted her head so she could see their intertwined fingers. Her cheeks warmed. Was she worried about the interview with the matchmaker or anxious over the fact that Geo was holding her hand—and she liked it?
Geo removed his hand from hers and slowly ran it through his hair. Penny watched as the hair returned to its position around his eyes and wondered what it would feel like between her own fingers.
“See ya around.” He stood and ambled toward the exit.
“See ya.” Penny started filling bubbles in more rapidly and turned the clipboard back over to the receptionist.
She sat in the squeaky chair again, examining her nails as she waited. She wondered how Geo’s interview with the matchmaker had gone. Why had he wished her luck regarding her own? Did the company have someone in mind for him already? Was he going to go out on his first date that very night? Too many questions—the answers to which were none of her business.
Penny almost giggled over the matchmaker’s name. Ivana Date. Then the idea crossed her mind that the matchmaker could potentially put the two of them together. They’d both be in her dating bank, after all. If he happened to match enough of her answers or if they had enough in common, according to the matchmaker, they could end up on a blind date together, couldn’t they?
And what had Geo said about that? If she showed up as his blind date, “We’d know we were a match.” Penny shuddered. Was he just being flirtatious Geo, or did he wish for her to actually show up as his date?
“Penny Coyne?” The receptionist called her name, and Penny stood, leaving thoughts of Geo and his fingers laced between her own on the squeaky chair behind her.
When she entered the office, the large desk took over the room, and she almost thought the space was empty of anyone else until a voice called to her from the other side of the desk.
“Miss Coyne. That’s quite a name. Nice to meet you. Have a seat. I’m Ivana Date.”
Penny peered over the desk as a business card flew across it in her direction. Was a woman named Ivana Date making fun of her name? She picked up the business card and finally noticed an older woman who was smaller than anyone Penny had observed behind a desk that large sitting in a chair on the other side.
Penny seated herself across from the desk, as instructed, and waited for Ivana to proceed.
“My receptionist gave me your file to look over. I see you like cats?”
Penny nodded. “I don’t have one myself, but I do love animals. I feel like a cat would be the best fit for me as a pet since I’m rather busy and don’t have time to be home to take a dog on walks regularly.”
“I see. And you’d definitely go to the beach over the mountains?”
Penny smiled. “Well, actually, I like both. But since I had to pick one, I guess I was in a beach sort of mood today.”
The woman chewed on the end of a pencil as she examined Penny’s questionnaire. She set the pages down and stuck the pencil in the bun on the back of her head.
“Well, dear, tell me about your ideal man.”
She doesn’t waste any time, does she? Penny took a deep breath and tried to picture the man of her dreams. “Are we talking physically or…”
“We’re talking whatever you want to talk.” Ivana’s sassy tone made Penny sit up straighter in her chair. She liked that Ivana was allowing her to go whatever direction she wanted with the description, unlike on the limiting questionnaire.
“Okay, well, physically, I like a tall man. I’m partial to broad shoulders and a tapered waist so you can tell he takes care of himself, but not overly muscled like he spends all day in the gym.” Penny took a deep breath. “I like hair that’s slightly too long, you know? Not quite business-like, but not over the top man-bun or anything, either. I’m usually drawn to brown eyes, but blue is nice as well.” Penny was certain she could go on, but her discomfort was rising as the woman took her glasses off and inspected Penny as she spoke. She could see why Geo seemed tired when he left Ivana’s office.
“You know, Miss Coyne, I had just that man in here earlier. You’ve described him to a T. He might be just the one for you.” The matchmaker shuffled some papers on her desk, looking for something in particular.
Penny could feel the blood draining from her face, positive she was as pale as a sheet. She had just described Geo Monais, albeit in vague terms. She definitely had. Was it because she had crossed paths with him in the waiting room?
“But appearance isn’t nearly as important to me as personality and the things that lie within,” she continued in a rush. “I want a man who knows what he wants and goes after it, both in business and in life, you know?”
Ivana stopped moving papers around and studied Penny again. Penny sighed in relief. She’d gotten her attention. Now, she had to do her best to describe anyone but Geo. “I want so
meone funny and someone who understands women. I have three sisters, and he’d have to deal with all of us, not just me. Not every guy can handle that. Oh, and I want someone who likes to bowl.”
“Bowl?”
Penny nodded. “My sisters and I bowl together every month, and while none of us have ever brought a man along, there’s a first time for everything. If he’s going to be on my team, he needs to be good at it, you know?”
The matchmaker slid the pencil from her bun and made a mark on Penny’s form. “Bowling. Okay, Miss Coyne, I think I can find what you’re looking for. Keep in mind that there are a lot of single men in this city, but not all of them can meet all of your goals. Sometimes we have to look past the boxes we want ticked and simply go with the person who ticks the most of them, do you understand?”
Penny frowned. Did she mean settle? “I think so,” she said slowly.
“Okay, then. You’ll be hearing from my office today or tomorrow at the latest with the information on your first date. Any questions?”
“Um, how many…dates can I expect this week?”
“That depends on you, dear.” Ivana Date hopped down from her chair and crossed the room to show Penny the door. “If we make a match the first time, bingo bango, perhaps only one. Otherwise, we’ll keep at it until a match happens.”
Penny nodded. “Thank you for your time.” She was certain of one thing. She and Geo would have a lot to talk about regarding their experience with this miniscule woman with the peculiar name, the big personality, and the even bigger desk.
Chapter Twelve
Geo couldn’t believe the woman the matchmaker had set him up with. He had told her he liked confident women, but this one was something else. She hadn’t let him get a word in throughout the appetizers they’d ordered, and when she asked him a question, she went right on to answer it herself. She was decent looking, but if she couldn’t breathe long enough to let a man get a word in, it was no wonder she was on the market. Geo got the matchmaker’s message clear enough—he might have to make adjustments in what he wanted for things to work out for him. But this wasn’t what he was willing to settle for.
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