Mister Match (The Match Series Book 1)

by Morris, Catherine Avril

  Stop, she insisted in her head. The Rodney memories, the comparisons, were getting ridiculous. And besides, lots of men would stack up quite favorably against the Rod’s many, many flaws. The fact that Adam Masters was coming out ahead in Lisa’s mental tally wasn’t exactly anything special.

  “Well,” she said, picking up the thread of their earlier conversation, “I don’t normally do things like this, either.”

  “No?”

  “Going out on spontaneous lunch dates with strange, handsome men? No. It’s not really my usual thing.”

  Adam’s grin was swift and mischievous, and brought out a dimple on one cheek. “So you think I’m handsome?”

  “Um.” It was more than she’d meant to say. She felt her face heat yet again, and fought back yet another surge of giggles.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” He handed her a small cup of warm sake. “Let’s cheers to that,” he said, clinking his own cup against hers.

  The thing held hardly more than a swallow. Lisa drank it all and found that the warm sake went down smoothly. Adam refilled her cup as soon as she set it down again, giving her another of those intimate smiles that made her insides feel all liquidy and electrified at once.

  She needed to steer the conversation toward more neutral waters, stat.

  “Is your stay in Austin going well?” she asked brightly. That should be a mundane enough subject.

  Adam nodded. “Well, I just flew in this morning, but so far, it’s been great, actually. That massage you gave me was just—I don’t even have words to describe it.”

  She felt her cheeks flush with pleasure. Which was completely annoying.

  “It was intense,” he went on. “It was like poetry.”

  The praise, effusive as it was, made her feel self-conscious. Suddenly she wasn’t sure how to arrange her hands. She reached for her sake cup and took another sip, and was glad for the slight burn as it went down. “I’m very glad you enjoyed it.”

  He was watching her intently again. “All right, now it’s my turn to ask you a question.”

  She glanced quickly into his eyes, and then away. What was it about this man that made her so jumpy? Not that it was an unpleasant feeling. It was...stimulating. “All right. Ask.”

  “Why aren’t you in private practice? Why don’t you have your own massage business? You’re definitely good enough.”

  That wasn’t what she’d expected. Apparently they were done with the small-talk portion of the date, and moving right on into the thick of things. She looked down at her lap, trying to hide her expression in case it gave away more than she wanted it to. “I used to have my own business with a...a partner.” No need to mention that the partner had been Rodney.

  “What happened?” Adam asked.

  “Are you always this nosy?” she shot back, trying to sound playful.

  His smile was apologetic. “Only when it matters to me. Should I back off?”

  It was kind of nice, to hear she mattered to him. It was definitely nice to know he would back off if she wanted him to.

  Of course, she had to remember not to trust him—not yet, not after such a short time. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy his focused attention. “No, it’s all right. The business didn’t work out, and I went to work at Indulgence.”

  There was a pause. “End of story?” he prompted. “That’s it?”

  “Pretty much. The money’s steady at the spa, and I don’t have to buy my own insurance or equipment.” She shrugged. “It’s just better all around.”

  His eyes narrowed as he surveyed her. “Excuse me for saying so, but I don’t believe you.”

  The blunt statement took her by surprise. “Pardon me?”

  “I know what it’s like to work for other people, and I know what it’s like to work for myself. And I get the feeling you and I are alike in some important ways. I think you’d like working for yourself better than for anyone else, no matter how great your boss at Indulgence might be. I think you’re like me in that way.”

  Raising an eyebrow, she replied pleasantly, “Except you don’t know me at all. And you’re wrong. My boss at the spa is wonderful. And Indulgence has been wonderful for my career, my sanity. And it’s not bad for my bank account, either.”

  “Money can definitely be an issue when you work for yourself.” He leaned in. “But it’s exciting, isn’t it? Knowing you have to work hard in order to succeed, and that whatever success you create, or failure, it’s on your shoulders. You did it. No one else.”

  His voice held a current of energy that took Lisa right back to those early days with Rodney—the thrill of renting the space for their yoga and massage business, fixing it up, creating a website and printing up business cards, making their first contacts with clients...

  She shook her head. “Wow. I can see why you’re a celebrity, or whatever. You’ve definitely got some charisma.”

  His deep, rich laugh rang out. “I’m not a celebrity. I founded a website, that’s all.”

  “You’re recognizable on the street,” she countered. “I’d call that a celebrity.”

  Instantly, his face clouded, and his eyes darted over her shoulder again, to the front of the restaurant. “I suppose,” he said distractedly.

  This time, Lisa looked over her shoulder, trying to see whatever he was seeing. “What are you—” she started, but broke off when she spotted the waiter approaching with wooden serving boards in each hand, displaying all sorts of colorful things—lines of orange-and-white salmon nigiri, dark pink squares of fish that Lisa thought must be tuna, next to white squares and silver-edged ones—varieties of sashimi she couldn’t identify. There was pale green wasabi shaped into little leaves, and pink mounds of pickled ginger garnished with yellow lemon rind and orange carrot shavings.

  A second waiter followed behind with bowls of miso soup and other, larger bowls, things Lisa hadn’t ordered.

  She couldn’t help but stare as the waiters began unloading their bounty. It looked as if Adam had ordered one of everything on the menu.

  “I wanted to try it all,” he said, with an adorable shrug. “It’s not often I get to enjoy really good food with a fascinating and beautiful woman.”

  The compliment made her feel hot behind the ears again, so she concentrated on the spread before them. One bowl held large cubes of something resting in broth, with tiny, pale bits of what looked like delicate wood shavings scattered on top.

  “That’s agedashi tofu,” Adam said. “Have you had it before?”

  “Never,” Lisa said. She hadn’t tried half the things the waiters were setting out.

  Once it was all laid out, the waiter pointed to each item and named it for them.

  Lisa had never had a meal like this. There was just so much of everything. The bill was going to be enormous.

  “So this is how the other one-percent lives,” she joked as the waiter moved away from their table, and then instantly wished she hadn’t. The joke wasn’t funny. It was crass, rude. It wasn’t her business what Adam Masters chose to order for lunch, or how much he might pay for it.

  Adam laughed, and she relaxed a degree. At least he didn’t look offended. “This definitely isn’t how I normally eat,” he admitted. “Although I wish it were. But it’s nice to treat yourself sometimes, right?”

  “Cheers to that,” she agreed, holding up her small sake cup.

  For the next few minutes, she found herself nearly moaning as she sampled everything, and then went back for more.

  “I’m so glad you like it all,” Adam said, watching her select another piece of sushi from the serving board. “You have such a big appetite. I love it.”

  Instantly, she stopped chewing as the bite of fish and rice turned into a wad of rubber in her mouth. After a beat, she did her best to swallow it, and grabbed the glass of water the waiter had brought to chase it down.

  “Adam,” she said, once she’d managed to swallow without coughing, or choking. “I know we don’t know each other very well. A
nd I know between the two of us, you’re probably the expert on dating. What am I saying? You’re Mister Match. You’re the expert, by definition.” She held up a finger. “But I’m going to give you a little bit of wisdom about women—a little word to the wise.”

  “All right,” he said, looking amused. “Lay it on me.”

  “Okay,” she said. “You might want to write this down, for the next time you invite some random woman out for a meal. Here it is: Telling a woman she has a big appetite...” She shrugged. “It’s kind of a no-no.”

  Adam stared at her for a moment, and then he laughed, that big, rich sound that inexplicably made Lisa feel all warm and gooey inside, right down to her toes.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, still laughing. “You’re right. That sounded...kind of bad. Potentially offensive. But you have to understand—I love a woman with an appetite. I love seeing you enjoy this food. I used to date a woman who—well.” He stopped talking, picked up his napkin, folded it and set it down again.

  So Lisa wasn’t the only one making comparisons to past relationships, she thought. Which was actually kind of a comfort.

  “I take it your ex-girlfriend was the type of woman who was always on a diet,” she said. “Let me guess. You’d bring her chocolate-covered strawberries for Valentine’s Day, and she wouldn’t eat any because she was watching her weight.”

  Adam blinked. “Ex-wife, actually. We were married, for a few years. And...then we weren’t anymore. And how did you know that, about the strawberries?”

  Lisa smiled. “It’s pretty common. It’s hard not to get sucked into that way of thinking. Next time you’re at the grocery store, take a look at the cover of any women’s magazine. Every single headline is about losing weight, eating less, subsisting on air and water alone, blah, blah, blah. It’s ridiculous.”

  “So you don’t buy into that kind of thing?”

  She considered before answering. “I’m not going to pretend I don’t wish I were a little less, shall we say, curvy. And I won’t pretend I don’t have moments when I wish I had a lot more self-control around dark chocolate. But life’s too short. And I like food too much.” She grinned. “Especially when someone else is picking up the tab for an incredible spread of exotic deliciousness.”

  “Cheers to that,” Adam said, grinning at her as he poured the last of the sake into their cups and raised his to clink.

  Their eyes met, and Lisa felt something shift inside her—some little click, like something she hadn’t even realized had been out of alignment snapping into place. She felt a pleasurable little bump of awareness, an instantaneous epiphany of some kind—Oh—

  And just as quickly, the moment was broken. Adam glanced away, over her shoulder, and suddenly that distant, distracted look was on his face again.

  Lisa set her chopsticks down. “Okay, you’re going to have to tell me what you’re looking at. That’s the third time you’ve stared past my right ear. And whatever you’re seeing, you don’t look very happy about it.”

  Adam focused on her again. “I’m sorry. I should have—well. I don’t know, I’m not used to this situation. I mean, on a date. I don’t date. Last time I went out with a woman, there were definitely not any cameras around—”

  “Cameras?” Lisa twisted around in her chair, trying to see whatever he was talking about.

  And then she saw them. How had she missed them before? They hovered just outside the restaurant’s wide front window that looked out onto Congress Avenue. There were three of them. No, four—four people out on the sidewalk, under the restaurant’s awning, holding up cameras, their large, black, bulbous lenses pointed into the restaurant’s interior.

  Lisa frowned. “What are they doing?”

  “Smile, don’t frown,” Adam said, quickly. Lisa glanced at him and saw he’d plastered a false-looking grin to his face.

  Was that why he’d been so cheery this whole time? And here she’d been thinking he was smiling because he enjoyed her company. Disappointment settled in the pit of her stomach.

  “If you frown,” Adam said, “they’ll sell that shot to the tabloids, with some ridiculous headline about a fight or a breakup or a trip to rehab.”

  “What in the world are you talking about?”

  He heaved a sigh. “Welcome to my world, Lisa. Those are paparazzi photographers. They’re shooting photographs of me...and because you’re with me, they’re shooting you, too.” He shook his head. “Yet another reason I haven’t been on a date in longer than I can remember,” he muttered. “I’m sorry. I never wanted to expose you to this. I don’t know why I thought we could—” He broke off and shook his head again.

  Lisa was too mystified to answer. She’d mostly been kidding when she’d called him a celebrity. But apparently the man was the real deal, with paparazzi after him and everything.

  “I guess we should go,” Adam was saying. She managed to tear her gaze away from the photographers long enough to see him hand a credit card to the waiter.

  “Feel free to use our back exit,” the waiter was saying in a low, confidential voice. “It opens onto the alley.”

  Lisa blinked. Had she somehow slipped into an alternate dimension? They’d just eaten more than she made in two hours in sushi, and now Adam was calmly discussing back-alley exits with the waiter, as if they were characters in an action film. This whole scene was unreal.

  “I appreciate that,” Adam said, with a wry smile. “Unfortunately, trying to duck out never seems to work out for me. Those guys are like sharks with GPS built right into their brains. Soon as they spot us heading toward the back, they’ll just run around to meet us.”

  The waiter made a sympathetic noise and moved away to process Adam’s credit card.

  “What should we do?” Lisa asked. She was completely out of her depth. She’d never been in a situation remotely like this before.

  “I think the damage is already done, as far as photos go,” Adam said slowly. He accepted the credit card slip from the waiter and paused long enough to sign. “Those guys have been out there since we got here. They must have followed us from the hotel. But maybe we can still take some kind of control of the situation.”

  Lisa sat up straighter. “What do you mean?”

  He looked at her assessingly. There was warmth in his eyes, and humor, and a sly little spark of mischief. Suddenly, Lisa felt certain he hadn’t been acting, this whole time—that his smiles had been genuine, and just for her.

  She felt the oddest sense of trust in this man. She didn’t know him at all, and she knew better than to trust a man as good-looking as he was. And yet, there it was: She simply felt it, a sense of calm certainty that he was one of the good ones. That he had her best interests at heart. That he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her, or take advantage of her.

  “You go first,” she said, pushing back her chair to stand. “I’ll follow your lead.”

  Adam looked relieved, and delighted. He held out a hand and helped her to her feet, and then placed a palm at the small of her back.

  “Ready to smile for the cameras?” he asked. There was laughter in his eyes, and Lisa found herself grinning up at him.

  “Ready whenever you are.”

  He took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, and then, together, they walked toward the front of the restaurant.

  Chapter 7

  ____________________________________

  “That was kind of insane,” Lisa said, an hour later. She was back at the spa, sitting in the reception area with Clare during a break before her next appointment.

  “You were chased by actual paparazzi photographers?” Clare shook her head, sighing with envy. “I can’t believe that happened to you and not me.”

  Lisa snorted. “First of all, they didn’t chase us. We walked out of the restaurant, gave them a smile and let them snap a few photos, and then Adam asked them not to follow us back to the hotel. And they didn’t.”

  Clare frowned. “They just...let you go?”

  Lisa shrugge
d. “It’s not like we’re the Kardashians,” she pointed out. “As far as celebrity gossip goes, Adam must be pretty small fry.”

  “I don’t know.” Clare riffled through the pile of magazines on the counter above her reception desk, and pulled a copy of Rag from the pile. “Seems like he’s a man about town these days. And I mean ‘man about town’ in the global sense. Or at least national.” She flipped pages in the magazine and then stopped at one.

  “Here he is.” She held it out for Lisa to see.

  Lisa took the open magazine and perused the page. “Is He or Isn’t He?” she read aloud. “Who’s this woman he’s with?”

  “Who knows? It says she’s his ‘secret bride.’” Clare snorted.

  “Bride?” Lisa frowned. “They’re saying he’s married? I don’t think that’s right. He mentioned an ex-wife.”

  “Ex?” Clare shrugged. “He’s pretty famous for keeping quiet about his love life. Then those photos showed up a couple months ago, of him with that woman and the little boy, and...” She shrugged. “Who knows,” she repeated. “If he is married, they probably have some kind of arrangement, or something. An open marriage. That’s what all the celebrities do.”

  Lisa didn’t know or care what famous people did. But for reasons she didn’t understand and wasn’t yet willing to inspect, she apparently did care what Adam Masters did. And if he’d taken her out to lunch while a wife and child waited for him back at home... Well, that wasn’t something she could put up with, or forgive.

  And yet, it didn’t ring true.

  “So when are you going to see him again?” Clare asked.

  “I don’t know.” Lisa set the magazine down on the table beside her. “We didn’t really talk about that.”

  “You didn’t talk about it?” Clare repeated incredulously. “What, you just shook hands and said ‘Goodbye, see you never’?”

  Lisa laughed. “Sort of.” Then she fell quiet. They hadn’t discussed meeting up again. There hadn’t seemed to be any point. Adam was just passing through Austin on his way to the next Dream Date city, wherever that was. It wasn’t as if one lunch date would lead to a long-distance relationship. And long distance was the last thing Lisa would be interested in, anyway.