by Laura Burton
“Why would you do that? I had this whole date planned for you guys. On a freaking dinner cruise! I fought off another matchmaker who wanted to steal Lindie away for her own client. I tried to fix you guys up already once before and, because I was so sure you’d be a good fit, I made sure to do it again. I know you’re resistant to this whole thing, Dex, but you really need to relax and let me do my job.”
“Or what?”
She frowned. “Excuse me?”
“What happens if I say I’m out? That I don’t want you to find me a match?”
“I … um. That’s never happened to me before. I really, really need you to not do that. Please.”
“Why not?”
She worried her hands in front of her, not meeting my eyes. “Dex, I know you’re probably still upset about the mix up in the beginning—”
“Amy,” I stepped forward, taking a risk and picking her small hand up and holding it in both of mine, “I don’t want you to find me a match. And it’s not because I don’t think you can.”
She didn’t reply, just stared down at our joined hands.
I took one of my fingers and tucked it under her chin, lifting her face to meet my eyes. “I don’t want you to find me someone else. I want you to go on this date with me.”
Her eyes bore into mine. They were a mixture of sadness and anger, and something else I couldn’t place. “Dex, I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Both.”
My confidence was slipping away. How many times had this happened to her during her career as a matchmaker? Was I just a dime a dozen to her? I rubbed my thumb against the back of her hand, causing little sparks of electricity to course up my arm.
“Do you feel it, too? Or am I imagining this connection between us?”
She sniffed, pausing for a moment. Then she whispered, “I could get fired.”
“Really?” This was new information to me. And as someone who knew better than most how to follow the rules and do as I was told, she had my attention.
“Yeah, it’s not just inappropriate. Julia has a strict no-dating-the-clients policy.”
I bit back a sigh of frustration. I knew how important this job was to her, and also knew—maybe not from my own personal experience as much as what she’d shared with me over the last month—that she was great at it. Could I ask her to risk her job for me when we hadn’t even explored this connection yet? What if we crashed and burned and she lost her job for nothing? My insecurities seeped in, blackening this moment, making me feel stupid for making such a bold move.
She squeezed my hand. “Dex?”
“Yeah?”
“Is this boat moving?”
We looked over the side, confirming what we both already knew. The dinner cruise was underway, and whether she liked it or not, we were going along for the ride.
Amy
Of all the clients who’d hinted at having feelings for me over the years, none of them had ever sabotaged a date just to be with me. They’d had crushes, sure, and it was usually because crushing on me was easier than dealing with potential rejection from singles in the client pool. And though I may have found some of them attractive, I’d never—ever—considered risking it all just to be with them. Until now.
I stared up at Dex, such a handsome and ridiculous man, at a total loss for words. He’d sent Lindie away for a shot with me. And she was a catch. He had to have seen that. Belinda knew it, which is why she wanted Lindie for her client. And Dex had sent her away … for me.
Ugh, what was I doing?
“I didn’t trap you on purpose,” Dex said, his palms out. “I swear. I didn’t know how long we had before it was going to take off.”
I chuckled, grabbing hold of my hair as it whipped around my face. “I know, Dex.”
“But I’m not mad about it. That is, as long as you’re not too mad at me.”
I didn’t want to smile. I didn’t want to think he was adorable. And I definitely didn’t want to be grateful for this turn of events.
But none of that mattered, because here I was, totally swooning.
He looked around the boat. “Do you have any other clients on board?”
“How did you know?”
“You’re nothing if not efficient.”
That was true. I always stacked my dates in twos or threes so I could maintain some semblance of normalcy throughout the rest of the week. However, it was kind of hard to stack multiple three-hour dinner cruises. Instead, I’d opted for three couples on the same boat, planning to keep an eye on all of them throughout the evening.
“Are they here on the deck right now?” he asked, not turning to search the crowd, but keeping his eyes on the water.
Trying my best to stay inconspicuous, I scanned the faces on the deck. “I don’t see anyone familiar. But still, it really wouldn’t be good for me if someone saw us together. I can’t be seen on a date with a client, Dex.”
“Do any of them know I’m your client?”
I threw my hands up. “I don’t know, what if they saw you at the office that time you went? Or what if they tell someone I was on a date in general when I’m supposed to be working? There are way too many what-ifs right now, and my brain is about to explode.”
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
“Of course.” It was an easy answer. I hadn’t even needed to think about it before the words popped out of my mouth. I knew a lot of things about Dex after spending the last month trying to understand him so that I could find the perfect match for him. And the fact that I could trust him was just a side effect of what I’d learned.
Without another word, he turned and scoped out the deck, then grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the back of the boat. The majority of the passengers were on the main deck under the glow of the Edison bulbs that were strung across the deck overhead, ready to view the sunset over the Pacific Ocean. The twinkle lights provided the best lighting and ambience, so it wasn’t surprising to find the back of the boat nearly deserted.
Dex led me to a cafe table, pulling a chair out with a scrape of metal against the deck. He held his hand out for me to have a seat, and I hesitated for only a moment before sliding into the chair with a resigned sigh. “This is not a date. We’re just two people, trapped on a dinner cruise, who can’t be seen together.”
“I guess that means we can’t go downstairs and actually eat dinner after the cocktail hour is over?”
I shook my head, watching him with a rueful eye as he sat across from me. “Not unless we go by ourselves and pretend not to know each other.”
“That could be fun.”
“Hush.” I couldn’t help but wonder if the blush I felt on my cheeks was visible in the pink glow from the sunset. I hoped not, but judging by the way he was looking at me, I figured I had my answer.
He leaned forward on the table between us. “With all of these cool dates you plan for other people, what kinds of dates do you go on?”
“Dex,” I said, rolling my eyes. “We don’t talk about me.”
“We’re just two people trapped on a boat for three hours. Humor me.”
“I spend too much time planning dates for other people to do it for myself.”
“I mean, you could let the guys plan it.”
“I don’t really have time for guys.” I shrugged.
His brow furrowed. “Are all of the employees at First Comes Love single?”
“Of course not.”
“So they have time, but you don’t?”
The corner of my mouth pulled up. “I guess.”
“What was that you told me about priorities when we first met? You don’t prioritize dating either, do you?”
Ding, ding, ding. Not that I would admit it out loud. I looked out over the ocean, taking a deep breath of the salty air.
He smirked. “I just feel like I’m at a disadvantage here. You know way more about me than I know about you. Well, as far as the past, that is. I think we’re pretty even on the present.”<
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“Oh, really? And what do you think you know?”
He grinned. “I know you love to read romance novels.”
“That’s easy.” I waved a hand. “It’s bad enough I lurk around my clients on their dates … sitting at restaurants eating alone and all that. If I didn’t bring a book, people would probably think I was a crazy-ex-girlfriend stalker.”
“Fine. I also know you love to wear bright colors and care about fashion, or whatever. But you don’t like wearing lots of jewelry and all of that extra stuff.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m not a great accessorizer. If that’s even a word.”
“I don’t think it is,” he said, laughing. “And I don’t think you need all that.”
If I didn’t know how much he cared about honesty, I would wonder if he were lying about his lack of dating experience. His attention to detail and charm were miles ahead of some of the men I coached as part of my matchmaking services, and he was a self-proclaimed nerd with a video game obsession.
I wondered idly if role-playing games ever had love stories in them. In my experience, nerdy guys immersed themselves in fiction because it was better than real life. And most good fiction had a romance arc. My wheels were turning so hard I thought he might be able to hear them. A desperate urge to figure people out was one of the hazards of the job.
“You also love sweets,” he continued. “From your coffee order to your drink at the bar to the snacks you get whenever you’re doing your date-lurking thing. Always sweet.”
“You’re starting to sound a little stalkerish yourself.”
“I just pay attention.” He winked. “But these are all just little things. You know all of my big things.”
“Oh, now you pay attention? You didn’t pay much attention when we first met. I practically threw myself at you at that café and you still barely paid me any notice.”
“That’s easy to explain,” he said, his eyes locked on mine. “I have a one-track mind. I was focused on that appointment that day, and I didn’t want to be late. And ever since then, I’ve been pretty focused on you.”
My heart picked up speed and I felt the color rush to my cheeks. I had to circle this conversation back around to safer waters before I jumped into his lap and kissed the crap out of him. “I know plenty of little quirky things about you, too.”
Dex leaned back in his chair. “I’m sure there are plenty of those.”
I noticed the distance he’d created between us by leaning back. Body language was a big part of matchmaking. Not only did I spend countless hours observing people interact with each other and analyzing clues as to how the date was going, but I also had an optional add-on service for emotionally stunted singles to learn how to navigate a date. There were tips and tricks about leaning in, making eye contact, licking your lips when you were hoping for a kiss, and so on. But leaning back was a red flag that something was missing in that moment, and I didn’t like that.
Dex was making the effort to get out of his comfort zone to get me to open up. And if I didn’t open up soon, he was going to retreat.
“My last serious boyfriend was a Marine.”
His brows flew up, almost meeting his hairline. “Didn’t see that one coming.”
“I live in Carlsbad.” I lifted a shoulder. Close proximity was one of the number one ways couples meet, and Carlsbad was right down the road from the largest Marine Corps base on the West Coast.
“Right. And how did that go?”
My lips twisted into a sarcastic smile. “Not great.”
Apart from the fact that I didn’t talk about myself with my clients, there was another reason I wasn’t excited to share my history with Dex. I stood from my chair and walked over to the railing, staring directly into the setting sun.
He came up next to me, leaning forward so he could rest his forearms on the rail. “If you don’t want to talk to me about it …”
I turned to him, causing him to angle his body toward me, one elbow on the railing and the other arm snaking out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. I turned my cheek into his palm, relishing in the warmth of it against the chill in the ocean air.
I met his gaze. “He asked me to marry him and move with him to his next duty station. But I couldn’t do it. I had just gotten promoted to matchmaker after working my way up for years. He didn’t want to get out of the Marines and stay here, so he left. I haven’t talked to him since.”
Just as I’d predicted, hearing that I’d made the same choice that Harumi had made all those years ago didn’t sit well with him. His hand slipped from my cheek and he turned back to face the ocean again. Though we were still only a foot away from one another, it might as well have been a world apart.
Right when I was about to lose hope, he turned his back on the sea and leaned against the railing, crossing his arms over his chest. “Interesting.”
“What?”
“When Harumi broke our engagement to stay in Japan with her family, I thought it was me. If I had been more this or less that, you know. I blamed myself. But I have to wonder …”
“Yes?”
“Did it even have anything to do with me? Did your choice to stay in Carlsbad have anything to do with him and who he was? Or was it more about how you two were on opposite trajectories and nothing short of merging them could make you stay together?”
I considered this. My ex had been the perfect guy for me, or so I’d thought. There was nothing about him that I couldn’t live with. We all have our quirks, of course, but his were endearing. I’d loved the idea of a future with him, but when it was time to choose between him and my life in Carlsbad, it was an easier choice than it should have been.
“I think you might be onto something there.”
His eyes traveled to mine, and he held my gaze for a long moment. The sun had long disappeared behind the horizon, and in the fading light, I had the sense that my professional relationship with Dex was just as over as the day.
He uncrossed his arms and held out his hand. I placed mine in his without even thinking about it, letting him tug me gently into his arms.
“Where is your path taking you, Amy?”
“My dream is to run this company someday. I’ve worked hard to get this close and I really hope it pays off,” I admitted. “What about you?”
He reached up and traced my cheekbone with his thumb. “I want to stay put, for once. I don’t want to leave another shot at happiness. I’m glad I’m here until I retire. And after that, I like knowing I won’t wind up at a crossroads. I could just set up shop right here, and support your dreams, as well as my own.”
Chills went down my spine at the casual way he was able to conjure up an image of us happily together. “Right here, as in, on a boat?”
He chuckled. “As long as you’re stuck on it with me.”
Even though I knew it was coming, from the way his thumb brushed over my bottom lip to the way his eyes kept flicking down toward my mouth, I still lost my breath when he kissed me. I brought my hands up and around his neck, standing on my tiptoes to bring myself closer to him. I felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest. The smell of his cologne mixed with the salt in the ocean air had me completely intoxicated, my brain fuzzy, failing to remember why we hadn’t done this sooner.
As Dex continued to kiss me, my body hummed in response to all of the promises that poured out of him and into the kiss. It was as if time were standing completely still, even the roar of the ocean and wind seemed to abate so that we only had each other, only had this moment of sweetness in stark contrast to the taste of the salty air. And as for how long it had been since Dex had kissed a woman? Well, I was sure he hadn’t lost a single skill along the way.
“Amy?” a voice said from behind us. “Amy, is that you?”
Dex
The collision of senses I’d felt when my lips met hers had been worth all of the fear from the moments leading up to it. I don’t know how long I’d deliberated before I’d kissed her—maybe it
was a second, maybe a full minute—but when it finally happened, I hadn’t wanted it to end. Because if it did, would she tell me it couldn’t happen again? Or would she throw the rules out the window and choose me?
A voice broke through the adrenaline rush pounding in my ears, and I bit back a curse as Amy jumped out of my arms. My blood had been burning through my veins only seconds before and now, as my skin registered the sudden absence of her soft body against mine, I felt icy cold and desperate for more.
Amy squinted into the darkness where the voice had called from and a small gasp escaped her lips before she covered them with her hand. My gaze darted from Amy’s flushed face to a woman I didn’t recognize. She seemed to be middle-aged and on the heavier side, though she was stylishly dressed and had a confident—almost boastful—posture.
“Belinda,” Amy squeaked, looking at me and then back at the woman. “What are you doing here?”
I watched as Amy’s eyes darted around, almost like she wanted to confirm that she was still, indeed, on a floating vessel in the ocean. What were the chances she’d know someone on this dinner cruise who wasn’t there on one of her organized dates?
The woman—Belinda, apparently—came closer to us. Her round eyes snaked their way up and down my body, making me want to squirm uncomfortably as she assessed me. Instead, I stood straighter, anxious to know who this woman was to Amy. I wasn’t a mind-reader or anything, but the charge in the air was unmistakably tense. This was no friend.
“Are my eyes deceiving me, here,” Belinda began, adopting a sarcastic expression and pointing a plump finger right at me, “or is this Dexter Harrington?”
I swallowed. She must work at the matchmaking firm.
Amy’s eyes were pleading. “Belinda—”
“Yes or no?” she interrupted. “It’s a simple question.”
My lip curled instinctively at the attitude she was throwing at Amy. This woman was antagonistic and just plain rude. I knew she wasn’t Amy’s boss. Amy only answered to Julia. So whoever Belinda was, she had no right to talk to Amy like she owed her any kind of explanation.
