Miss Match

by Fiona Riley

  “You and your mother were the first real family I ever had,” Lucinda said.

  “I think about her when I see you dance.” Connie leaned back and looked up at Lucinda with sad eyes.

  “You know, your mother would chastise us for moping around out here and not enjoying the moment.”

  Connie looked up with wet eyes. “Will you come back in and dance with me? Just like old times? Before you go?”

  “You bet, peanut. Let’s wow the crowd.”

  “You already did that earlier.” Connie nudged her sister playfully. “I saw what you did to the Frost kid.”

  “Ha! You saw that?” Lucinda smirked and looped her arm with Connie’s. “He was getting a little too touchy-feely. I needed to prove a point.”

  “I don’t know how well the message was received”—Connie winked—“but his mother didn’t look too pleased when I passed her on the way out here.”

  They weaved their way through the crowd to the dance floor and started to slowly move with the music, laughing and joking just like when they were younger. After a while Connie smiled and looked over Lucinda’s shoulder, watching the guests as they began to wind down their evening.

  “You know,” Connie said, “I think she likes you.”

  “Hmm, what’s that? Who likes me? Franny?” Lucinda twirled them so they had switched positions.

  “No, Franny hates you because you always make fun of her,” Connie countered. “I meant Samantha.”

  Lucinda cruised the crowd until she found Samantha standing by their table and talking to a few guests as they walked by. “Well, what’s not to like?”

  “She’s single, you know—I think so, anyway.”

  “Mm-hmm, single and probably straight, but thanks.” Lucinda spun Connie in place before pulling her into a tight hug at the end of the song.

  Connie hugged her back and kissed her cheek. “I’m just saying, you should have seen her face when you were dancing. She was captivated.”

  “Good to know.” Lucinda glanced back at Samantha, the other woman’s eyes finding her own in that minute. Lucinda smiled and waved.

  “Thanks for coming tonight,” Connie said.

  Lucinda’s heart melted a little. “Anything for you. I’m going to find Nathan and head out. Call me when you get back from the honeymoon, okay?”

  “Of course. I love you.”

  “I love you too. Have fun.” Lucinda pecked her on the cheek. “And tell Franny, I hate her too.”

  *

  Samantha let out a tired sigh as the night wound down and the dinner guests began to leave. Quite a few of the social elite were present tonight, many of whom had utilized Andrew and Samantha’s services at one time or another. She greeted many happy customers, now couples, and ruffled some little kid’s hair. It was a good showing for her professionally and a positive personal uplift as well.

  As Samantha and Andrew stood to leave their table, Giovanni wandered over with a happy grin. “Samantha, Andrew, darlings…Thank you for the referral.”

  “How’d it go?” Andrew asked.

  “The mother was a total nightmare control freak,” Giovanni said. “That woman is out of her fucking mind.”

  “See, Giovanni, this is why you’re the best,” Samantha said. “You handle everyone with such charm and poise.”

  “Yeah, well, thanks. Business is good, no?”

  “Business is booming, yes.” Andrew nodded in agreement. “Speaking of which, Miss Monteiro, you ready to retire this old gay of yours? I’m exhausted.”

  “Mm-hmm. Let’s hit the road, I’ve had enough work for one day.” Samantha bid Giovanni good-bye before retrieving her purse from the table. “Let me just run to the ladies’ room first. I’ll meet you by the valet.”

  The wait was pleasantly short considering the healthy line filtering out of the reception hall. Samantha washed her hands and checked her makeup one last time, then rummaged through her purse for her phone.

  “Leaving without saying good-bye, Ms. Monteiro?”

  Every hair stood up on the back of Samantha’s neck. It took all her self control not to let the involuntary shudder ripple through her. Just as she was turning to face Claudette, she was interrupted by the perfectly timed Lucinda Moss.

  “Mrs. Frost—it was a pleasure meeting you tonight. Please send my thanks to your son for the dance.” She smiled and turned, effectively blocking Claudette’s response by moving her body and ushering Samantha forward with a hand placed gently at her lower back. “Samantha, I was wondering if I could ask your opinion on something before you leave.”

  Once they were around the corner and safely out of earshot, Lucinda let out the laugh she was stifling. Samantha shook her head in amazement and reached forward to touch Lucinda’s forearm. “How do you do that? I mean, where were you, waiting in the wings?”

  “You seem to always be getting yourself in trouble. I just have good timing.”

  “Yeah, I’ll say. Ugh. Thanks. Again.”

  “Look, if you happen to find yourself in need of any more saving”—Lucinda reached into her purse and pulled out her business card—“feel free to give me a call. I’ll see what I can do.” She winked, leaning forward to press her lips to Samantha’s cheek and squeeze the hand that was on her forearm. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Samantha.”

  And with that, Lucinda Moss walked out of Samantha’s life just as quickly and seamlessly as she had come in.

  A few moments later, Andrew stalked up behind her, draping his jacket over her shoulders. “Well, well. A blush on you is a rare thing. To whom do we owe this honor?”

  “Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing,” Samantha replied a little too quickly.

  He glanced down at the card in her hand and grunted, “Hmph.”

  “What?” she asked, adjusting his coat on her shoulders and nudging him in the ribs.

  “By the way”—he smiled and waved to the valet as he spoke—“you have lipstick on your cheek.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  In the three weeks since the Lundstein wedding, Sheldyn White had been in Samantha’s office four times. Each time she appeared more and more depressed over her inability to find a match. Samantha flipped through a new folder of applicants and tried to find a suitable match for her. She was such a sweet girl, but her anxiety and stress in social situations scared off all the girls she was interested in. And that list was already shorter than she would have liked, because Shelly had eliminated some applicants after reviewing the background checks Logan, Samantha’s private investigator, had run.

  Shelly had shown some small progress with their individual meetings and seemed to respond well to her, but it had taken a lot of work on her part. She had taken her to a few nice restaurants and walked her through the routine: pull out the chair for the girl, make eye contact with conversation, sip your water, don’t chug it. Shelly knew what she had to do—she could recite the rules backward and forward—but she was just so damn anxious! It was infuriating and heartbreaking for Samantha, because she was a real catch and she would find her a great girl, but first she had to get her to relax.

  She leaned her elbows on her desk and rested her forehead on her hands as she tried again to clear her mind and think of an alternative solution that might help. Her phone rang, and she reached blindly for it, knocking her Rolodex off the desk along with two or three folders. She cursed quietly and answered.

  “Hey, I have to run out and do an errand,” Andrew’s voice said, “can we rain check lunch today?”

  “Yeah, Andrew, that’s fine. I think I’m going to get out of the office for lunch and clear my head. I’ll be back later, okay?”

  “Sure, sounds good. Everything all right?”

  “Yeah, it’s fine. I’m just banging my head on the desk over this Sheldyn White thing. I think I need a change of scenery.”

  “I gotcha. Okay, see you in a bit, ciao!”

  Samantha hung up the phone and bent over to pick up the papers from the floor. She put the Rolodex back and shuffl
ed the papers into the necessary folders before something caught her eye. She reached for the phone. If only this idea would work.

  *

  Lucinda smiled at Claire Moseley’s proposal. She was more than pleased with the results of the Richard-Claire pairing on the Levonbaum & Carlyle project. Claire had suggested a new angle for dealing with the client’s demands that was fresh and innovative. She’d taken lead on the second pitch attempt and secured the client’s final approval, further obliterating Richard’s undeveloped original plan. The result of the final contract with Levonbaum & Carlyle had been a huge success and generated a few new referrals from smaller firms that caught the buzz.

  Claire was currently tackling a new client working on promoting an innovative brand of software for smartphones. It was a low-stress job with a manageable timeline, but Claire was already way ahead of schedule and had gone above and beyond the client’s request in her research. She had a great idea for market research at an upcoming tech conference in the area next month, and she was pitching the proposal to the new client on Friday—the specs she gave Lucinda were fantastic. Claire had really done her homework on this one. Lucinda could see this client being successful and retaining their services on the launch of the product. It would be a big win for Claire and her team and an even bigger win for Clear View. Now, if only she could wrangle Richard Thomas and a few other stragglers to get it together, she would have a lot fewer stress headaches and long nights at the office.

  “Lucinda?” Amanda paged through on the office phone. “I was about to go to lunch, but you have a client here in the waiting room.”

  Lucinda reached for her tablet; she didn’t remember having someone scheduled for today. “All right, Amanda, you can head out. Please send the client in.”

  She stood at her desk, smoothing out her vest and adjusting her feet into her heels. She realized she had locked the door behind her earlier after the morning meeting because she’d felt the need to stretch after last night’s vigorous dance class, and the last thing she wanted was to have her receptionist walk in and see her on the floor. She pulled open the frosted glass and oak door to the waiting party.

  Samantha Monteiro’s smiling face greeted her with a raised eyebrow. “Do you always lock your office door?”

  “Samantha, this is a pleasant surprise.” She stepped back and extended her arm in gesture for her to enter. “Please, come in, come in.”

  Samantha looked around the room, taking in the bookcases that matched the large oak desk. “Your office is incredible, the view is amazing.” She wandered over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked out at the skyline, letting her fingers lightly dance on the glass.

  Lucinda closed the door and took a quiet moment to appreciate the way Samantha was dressed in a tight black pencil skirt and light purple blouse under a matching black blazer, her back to Lucinda in this moment. She was speaking more to Samantha’s perfect curves than anything else when she replied, “Yeah, it is a great view, isn’t it?”

  Lucinda’s line of sight settled at a more appropriate level by the time Samantha turned around and they smiled at each other.

  “How do you get any work done? I would just stare out my window all day long.”

  “Some days are harder than others. I had blinds put in to combat the gray and the rain. I find those days to be the hardest—it’s so damn gloomy when two of your walls are weather dependent.” Lucinda leaned against her desk, crossing her ankles in front of her as she waited for Samantha to explain why she was here, not that she minded at all.

  “I feel like I should come clean.” Samantha traced her fingers over the back of the leather chair in front of her, looking shy. “I sort of sweet-talked your receptionist into letting me wait for you. She put up a good fight, but I have my ways.”

  “I was wondering how I had an unplanned lunch meeting…tricky, tricky.” Lucinda waved her index finger at Samantha. “So, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

  “I would say I was in the neighborhood, but that’s sort of a lie. I came to ask a favor.”

  “Does this favor include lunch?” Lucinda replied with a sly smile. “Because I’m starving.”

  Samantha beamed. “Yes, actually. I think I owe you at least that much. Can I take you to lunch?”

  Lucinda smiled as she held open the door for Samantha.

  “So, where do you want to go?” Samantha asked as the elevator started its descent. “I’m not sure what’s around here.”

  Lucinda hadn’t had a social lunch in months. She did frequent a few restaurants for working lunches, but they were all very formal and stuffy. “How do you feel about sushi?”

  “Sounds great. I love fish.” Samantha grinned.

  “Good to know.” Lucinda added with her eyebrow raised as she held open the elevator door for Samantha. “How’s Andrew?”

  “He’s good. He went out with one of the waiters from the wedding the other night—Ben, I think, was his name.”

  Lucinda nodded and led Samantha to the door of a small restaurant tucked out of sight around the corner from her office. “This place is cute, it’s small, but I think you’ll like it.”

  “I’m sure it’s perfect.”

  They settled into a booth in the corner and ordered some food, Lucinda requesting some warm green tea to start. The waitress brought their tea and told them the meal would be there shortly. Lucinda smiled and nodded before pouring each of them a small cup.

  “So,” she hedged, “what brings you by?”

  “Yeah, about that, I was coming to ask for a favor,” Samantha replied shyly.

  “A favor, huh?” Lucinda leaned back. “Are we at the point in our relationship where we give each other favors yet?”

  Samantha flushed and cleared her throat. “Listen, I’m totally stumped here and I need some help.” She leaned forward, tracing the outline of her place setting with her free hand. “I was hoping maybe you could be my savior again, once more.”

  Lucinda considered this a moment; coming to Samantha’s aid at the wedding had been mostly about being in the right place at the right time. Mostly. Although if she were being honest with herself, she had made it a point to keep a watchful eye on Samantha after their initial introduction at the table. She was fascinated by this matchmaker—beautiful and poised, effortlessly social, and encouraging without being condescending. It seemed that everyone that crossed Samantha’s path was happy to see her. She had a warmth that resonated with Lucinda. And she was gorgeous. That helped.

  Lucinda watched Samantha’s hand slowly making circles and tapping her fingers gently on the smooth surface. She settled into her chair and crossed her legs, slowly sipping her tea. “All right, I’m intrigued, what did you have in mind?”

  “I have this client. She’s great, sweet and gentle, but she suffers from terrible anxiety. Every time I get her in a room with a pretty girl, she freaks out. Spills her drink, stutters, just shuts down. She’s been in my case file for months, but I haven’t made much headway.” She took a sip of her tea. “I’ve tried getting her into relaxation classes, on prescription meds, hypnosis, everything. I’m just stumped.”

  Lucinda nodded, listening patiently. Samantha had such a soothing tone to her voice, like honey. She waited before speaking, but when Samantha didn’t continue she asked, slightly confused, “What is it you wanted me to help you with?”

  “I was hoping you would spend some time with her.”

  Lucinda laughed, startling her lunch partner. “Samantha Monteiro, did you just indirectly call me ugly?”

  “What? No! No, far from it! I mean, that’s not what I meant to say at all.” Samantha backtracked furiously. “I was hoping you would teach her to dance.”

  “Dance? You want me to teach her to dance?”

  “I feel like she needs confidence and grace—God, she could use some gracefulness. I saw the way you dance. I asked around a bit, and I think you could help her. She just needs someone to take the time with her, you know?”

  Lucind
a couldn’t suppress the wide grin that spread over her face, “You asked around about me?”

  “Yes, Lucinda. I like to do my homework before putting myself out there for potentially embarrassing interactions.”

  Lucinda smiled, smaller this time. “Well then, I’m sure you found out that I don’t do private lessons anymore.”

  Samantha pouted slightly, nodding her head before adding, “Well, that’s why I was hoping to ask for a favor. Do you think you could make an exception just this once?”

  Lucinda focused on Samantha’s perfect pouty lips. She reminded herself of why she got out of the private dance business: creepy couples trying to recruit her for threesomes, inappropriate touching by her clients, dislike of being alone during such intimate activities. So many other reasons circled around her head, but she was drawn back to the pleading face in front of her, drawn to the nervously moistened lips as she watched Samantha sip her tea while she waited. She considered Samantha’s word choice; maybe Samantha owing her a favor in return wouldn’t be all that bad.

  “All right.”

  “All right?” Samantha sounded surprised, like the answer came too easily.

  “Yes, all right, but we have to set up some ground rules.”

  “Anything.” Samantha let out a sigh of relief. “What are your terms?”

  “Well, first off, you must be present for the initial sessions. I’m not going to be alone with this girl only to find out she has some weird dancer fetish you don’t know about.”

  “Okay, that’s fair.”

  “Also, the lessons have to happen at my studio, after I have completed my other classes, when I have time in my schedule.”