Dating by Design Series Box Set

by Jennifer Peel

  Pilates the next morning was a nice change of pace and distraction. I was so sore when I made it home, it dulled my other senses. I thought I was in good shape, but Pilates showed me how wrong I was. Props to Cara, though, she was an amazing and fun instructor. I really needed to get to know her better, along with Eva and Meg.

  Sunday I got a call from Jason while I was in the shower. He left a message.

  Kenadie, I know it’s early, I hope I didn’t wake you. I wanted you to know I took Chantal out and it’s not going to work. Can I meet you at your office first thing tomorrow morning? Or better yet, if you’re not busy, I have all of the Mission Impossible movies queued up and ready to go. I know how you love Tom Cruise.

  What the heck? How could he know after one date? This had to be a mistake. I was marching myself right over to his house to talk some sense into him. He was going to fall for Chantal and be done with our services whether he liked it or not.

  I texted him right back. I’ll be there in an hour.

  Perfect, he responded.

  It wasn’t perfect. It killed me to be around him. I was still dreaming frequently about him and I needed to get him out of my psyche, but the only way to do that was to make sure he found the perfect woman for him. I should really start seeing Kate, our on staff psychologist. If I really stopped to think about it, I was messed up. Oh well, I was in too deep now. Jason was going to find his perfect match whether he liked it or not.

  I stomped up his porch steps and pounded on his door, but not before I noticed the hanging porch swing he installed. Nice, I thought. Then an image of the two of us swinging on it popped into my mind. Not nice, I thought. Or would that be really nice?

  Jason opened the door, all smiles.

  I pushed my way in. “What do you mean it isn’t going to work with Chantal? She’s practically flawless and you hardly gave her a chance.”

  “Well, good morning to you, too.”

  I paused and looked up into his still smiling face. “Good morning.” I ran my fingers through my hair.

  “Do you want some coffee?” he offered.

  “Sure.”

  We were silent until we both settled at his island with coffee in hand.

  “So tell me what happened.”

  He set down his mug. “We talked Friday night by phone and then I took her to one of those shows you recommended in downtown Atlanta. By the way, the show was excellent.”

  “I’m glad you liked it. Did Chantal like it?”

  “She seemed to, but she spent more time looking at her phone than not. She was waiting to hear back on whether or not she was awarded the contract she had bid on.”

  “That’s kind of understandable.”

  He tipped his chin down. “Would you do that on a date?”

  “Well … no.”

  He smirked at me.

  “So, she had an off moment.”

  “That’s not all.”

  I leaned forward with interest.

  “When she talks, it’s almost as if she’s purring.”

  “What?” I laughed.

  “I’m serious. You don’t know how much that grated on my nerves.”

  “I think most men would find that sexy. I know Zander would.”

  “I find it annoying. I want a real woman and real women don’t purr.”

  “You know, I didn’t peg you to be such a picky guy.”

  “I’m not picky. I’m selective.”

  “Tomato, Tamato.”

  He laughed at me.

  “But seriously, don’t you think you should give her another chance? Maybe she was nervous.”

  Jason placed his hand on top of mine. “Kenadie, believe me, she isn’t the woman for me.”

  So it was back to the drawing board for me. And back again. Woman number three was Angela. I had a bad feeling about her when Jason showed up on my doorstep and announced he needed help tying his bowtie. She had invited him to what he deemed a boring-as-hell fundraiser. I tied his bowtie for him, wished him luck, and begged him to keep an open mind about it. That led us to woman number four, Jocelyn. I made sure beforehand that she didn’t purr, wasn’t attached to her cell phone or dog, and she didn’t attend fundraisers for first dates. She was Cover Girl beautiful and a nurse, with apparently a wicked sense of humor.

  I didn’t hear anything from Jason that weekend, so I took it as a good sign. I even went to church with Momma. She had begged me to on Friday night at Shasta’s. She was still torn up about Renee and Rick. They weren’t completely broken up, but Rick wasn’t moving fast enough for our momma’s taste, and don’t even get me started on how upset she was that Jason was dating a string of women. I think the Nanettes referred to him as a gigolo and were quite annoyed with him. So I felt bad for her and threw her a bone by attending church with her.

  I was only upset that he wasn’t falling for someone quickly enough. I needed to hang up my relationship manager hat as soon as possible. I needed to focus on the tech expo Zander and I were attending the following week before we left for Florida. I needed a vacation desperately. Jason was wreaking major havoc on my life. So much so, I told Zander we should leave Thursday instead of Friday like we normally did Memorial Day weekend. I thought Zander would be happy about it, but he acted like I was ruining his life over it or something. He agreed to it, but gosh if I didn’t feel guilty about it. I told him I would drive down myself on Thursday. I mean, it was only a five-and-a-half-hour drive from where we lived. That was when he gave in and said he would rearrange his schedule to accommodate me.

  “Don’t bother,” I told the butthead.

  He pulled me to him and hugged me tight. “You know you always get your way with me. We’ll leave Thursday.”

  I didn’t know what the big deal was. I guess his “project” wasn’t going so well. He was uptight and every time I had to set Jason up with someone new he was argumentative.

  And maybe that’s why I decided to go to church. I needed a little Jesus in my life.

  I calmly walked into church and realized that when I looked up at the altar, I felt relieved and almost stupid that I had let Brian dictate my life for so long. I did get Binary Search out of the deal, so I couldn’t complain too much, but my personal life was not where I wanted it to be.

  I sat between Lana and Momma. I silently prayed for strength to move on and most importantly to get over another man. He didn’t answer. I wasn’t deterred. I asked Him if He could help me move on with my life and maybe even find love. I didn’t hear any words, but I felt peace, and I hadn’t felt peace in a long time.

  During the middle of the sermon, Renee walked out, visibly upset. I looked over to Rick as she passed us by. I could tell he was torn. He finally got up and went after her. Momma squeezed my hand. I knew she was hopeful those two would work it out.

  Lana came home with Momma and me. Rick went to Renee’s house. I wasn’t sure what would come of it, but it had Momma grinning from ear to ear.

  “Now, if only we could find you someone, Kennie,” Momma said on the drive home.

  “Yeah,” I said absentmindedly.

  “Praise be to Jesus, she said yes,” Momma shouted, shaking me out of my reverie.

  “Calm down. No reason to invoke deity here.”

  Lana giggled in the backseat. I looked at her in the rearview mirror and winked.

  “Now the question is, who can you date? Are you sure about Jason?”

  I was sure I liked him and I was almost sure we were a perfect match.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I never did hear from Jason, so I figured Jocelyn finally hit his sweet spot. It was a good thing, too, since I wasn’t going to be in the office at all. I was manning our booth at the tech expo Monday through Wednesday and then Thursday I was on my way to paradise. I needed the beach, and maybe a masseuse. My back had some major knots and I felt like I had a perma-headache.

  I was very pleased with the way our booth turned out. The backdrop was a replica of my wall of bliss, paired nicely with o
ur logo. I thought it was classy. We garnered our fair share of attention. I even had a couple offers from some very well-known internet dating services to get together to discuss how we could “work” together, which translated into can we please, please buy you and steal your technology? I didn’t turn them down, but I didn’t jump on their invites, either.

  Being at the expo was a nice change of pace. It reiterated that my president hat fit the best. I was hopeful, since Jason had gone MIA, that I would soon be retiring the relationship manager hat forever.

  Wednesday I was riding high. Binary Search had landed a huge exposé piece in Atlanta’s largest tech magazine. It had the potential to double our business. Zander and I both were going to be interviewed for it the second week of June. The piece would be featured in their third quarter publication. I was pretty pumped about it.

  My happy wave crashed against the shoreline when Jason showed up around lunch time. Seeing him made me realize how much I had missed him, which in turn upset me. I wasn’t supposed to have those types of feelings for him.

  Zander had gone to get us something to eat, so I was manning the booth by myself when Jason showed up.

  “What are you doing here?” I stared at him confused.

  His smile faltered. “I was here checking out some of the architectural software and I thought I would stop by and say hello.”

  “Hello.” I half smiled.

  “How are you, Kenadie?”

  “I’m well. How are you?”

  “Hmmm. That’s a good question.”

  I had never seen him so melancholy. “What’s wrong?”

  He shook his head. “I’m working through a personal issue.”

  “And you need PRM advice.”

  “No.”

  “Oh.”

  “Kenadie, you look good, really good.”

  “Thank you. You look good, too.”

  “Do you want to grab lunch?” His eyes brightened.

  “Thanks, but Zander is bringing me back something to eat and I can’t leave him alone here. Who knows what he’ll say if he’s left to his own devices?”

  Jason chuckled. “That’s a smart move on your part.”

  I smiled coyly. “I thought so.”

  “Kenadie …”

  “Yeah?”

  “Look who it is! One of our happy clients,” Zander interrupted.

  I wasn’t sure what he interrupted, but I had a feeling it was meaningful. I also had some other feelings that stirred beneath the surface, begging to bubble up and land on Jason.

  Jason looked at Zander like maybe he would like to punch him, which led me to believe it was something meaningful. Maybe he wanted me to set him up with someone new. Or maybe he was going to tell me how much he liked Jocelyn. Either way, I couldn’t bear to hear it. I excused myself and hightailed it to the ladies’ room. Both men looked confused at my sudden departure. They could join the club. I was more confused than I had ever been.

  I was so glad I decided to go to Pensacola Beach a day early. I needed to get away from Jason, work, Jason...you get the idea. I even had the crazy notion of having some whirlwind weekend romance, the kind with no strings attached, and no exchange of any personal contact information. It wasn’t my style, not to say I even knew what my style was. Let’s be honest, I hadn’t dated since I was twenty-three. For all I knew, I could do well with a weekend Romeo. Okay, I couldn’t. I knew that wasn’t my thing, but I needed something to help me overcome my feelings for Jason.

  Zander picked me up bright and early Thursday morning. I relented and let him drive. I knew I would regret it, but he said I owed him for changing his plans, and apparently my Prius was lame and didn’t belong on the beach. I said a silent prayer and hoped we made it to the beach alive and in one piece.

  “Your parents are okay with our coming down a day early, right?”

  We flew down the highway.

  “My mother is thrilled, and as long as it doesn’t interrupt my dad’s schedule of basically doing nothing, he’s fine with it.”

  I did love Charlene and Don. They were complete opposites. Don wanted nothing more than to be left alone and Charlene wanted nothing more than constant attention, or to give you hers. I’m not quite sure how their marriage had survived, but they seemed relatively happy after forty-some years of marriage.

  I knew Charlene would be ready to pamper me, and I was looking forward to it. She could lavish me with all the attention she wanted.

  Zander and I both seemed lost in our thoughts as we drove down. We rarely spoke, which was unusual for us. We normally chatted non-stop on these trips. It seemed like everything was changing.

  My thoughts centered on Jason. I wondered what he was doing for the holiday weekend. Was he spending it with Jocelyn? Was he happy?

  “Hey.” Zander pulled me out of my head.

  I turned from the window to him. “Yeah?”

  “Jason—”

  “Please, let’s not talk about anything work or Jason-related.”

  Zander gave me a scrutinizing glance, one that lasted too long for my comfort.

  “Hey, watch the road,” I warned him.

  “What’s wrong with Jason?”

  “Nothing.” That was the problem.

  We arrived in one piece, but I felt a little car sick due to Zander’s erratic driving. I was thinking about renting a car for my drive home the following Monday.

  Zander’s mom came running out of her turquoise house. Yes, I said turquoise house. It was one of those beach homes that looked like it was built on stilts. She was a cute, plump little lady who was in desperate need of a good bra, but she’d sworn them off. She figured at her age, why bother? I could have given her several good reasons, but they would have fallen on deaf ears. It was a good thing she was in a swimsuit most of the time.

  She came to me first, because I was her favorite. She hugged me tight. “Kennie, you are a sight. You get prettier every time we see you.”

  Yep, I loved her.

  “Thanks, Mama Grainger.”

  “If only you and my Zander would get together.”

  “You know we would kill each other if that ever happened.”

  “There is nothing wrong with some fireworks.”

  I shook my head while Zander came in and hugged his mother.

  “The prodigal son has returned, and I demand you kill the fatted calf,” he announced.

  “Prodigal son, my foot. I sent you cookies last week, you ungrateful brat.”

  “You do know him well,” I mocked.

  That earned me a spin from Zander. He picked me up and spun us around until we both were laughing and I was begging him to stop. When that didn’t work, I threatened to vomit all over him. That did the trick.

  His mother placed her hand across her heart. “It does my heart good to see you two so happy.”

  I didn’t know how happy we were, but I was happy to be in the salty air with my best friend.

  The Graingers didn’t live right off of the beach; they lived right behind the sand dunes that were right off of the beach. Ocean front property was at least an extra two hundred thousand. But they were close enough, and there was a well-worn path from their house to the beach. You could see the beach from the balcony of their house and, better yet, you could hear it. I loved the sound of the ocean. I always slept with my windows open when we were there.

  Zander said he had some phone calls to make, which was weird, but I wasted no time throwing on my swimsuit. I didn’t even bother to unpack. I got the real guest room and Zander got the child’s room that was meant for his niece and nephew. It was complete with bunkbeds. I’ll admit, we had shared those bunk beds on occasion. I missed those days.

  I entered the kitchen to find Charlene humming away as she emptied her dishwasher. “Do you want some help?”

  She turned and smiled. “Hubba, hubba.” She looked me over.

  “Thanks. I’m going to head down to the beach for a while, but I would be happy to help with dinner.”
/>   “You were always such a good girl. I would love your help since we are having extra company.”

  “Oh, okay. I’ll be back in a few hours.” I rushed out the door without letting her words sink in. All I could think about was feeling the sand between my toes, soaking in some serious vitamin D, and maybe a dip in the ocean.

  Zander joined me after an hour. By that time, I was happy as a lark and engrossed in my book.

  “Darlin’, you’re killing me again.”

  I smiled up to him from my lounge chair. “You’re just saying that.”

  “No, Kenz, I’m not.”

  “You know sometimes, for a butthead, you’re lovable.”

  He planted himself next to me. “And sometimes I wish we were more than friends.”

  I lowered my shades and looked into his sincere eyes. “Me, too, but you know that wouldn’t have ended well.”

  He took my hand and held it briefly. “I know.”

  “You know, if we still aren’t married at seventy, I’m all yours.”

  “Then you’d better still look dang hot for a senior citizen.”

  We both laughed, but I knew he meant it.

  Zander dragged me into the water and there we stayed until it was time to go in and help his mom with dinner.

  As we walked toward the house hand in hand, Zander held me back before we passed the sand dunes. “Hey, I want you to know, this weekend is all for you.”

  “Okay, what does that mean?”

  “You’ll see.” His grin was evil.

  “You know I know where you sleep, right?”

  “Don’t tease me like that.” He pulled me along toward the house.

  We deposited my chair in the mudroom before we walked upstairs to where the kitchen was. His mom was still humming away while mixing up some sort of cocktail. It was always five o’clock at the beach, at least that’s what Charlene believed.