Betwixt Two Hearts (Crossroads Collection)

by Amanda Tru

  “Pull up a chair,” Camden instructed, ready to show her his work and prove her assumptions about him wrong. “I’ll explain what I’ve done and where we are at with the website.”

  Bailey obediently scooted a chair up beside him and looked expectantly at the computer screen. However, Camden would have felt far more comfortable if she’d scooted not quite so close. While his dad’s office was a good size, its dimensions made Bailey’s proximity difficult. As much as she aggravated him, Camden couldn’t deny that she was beautiful. The petite brunette possessed a firecracker personality, and her obvious distaste for him strangely made her even more alluring.

  Same MO as always, Camden chided himself. I find the impossible tasks to be the most appealing.

  When his arm brushed hers, he knew he needed more space and adjusted his own chair a few inches to the left.

  “This is the landing page,” he explained, getting quickly down to business. “This is what visitors see when first coming to the site. I need to finish attaching some of the appropriate links here at the bottom. Maybe you can review what I have for the ‘About’ page before I finalize everything.”

  “This looks really nice,” Bailey admitted. “I like the logo and all of the graphics. Did we hire a graphic designer?”

  Camden heard the hesitation in her voice and recognized it as worry about adding a graphic designer to their meager start-up budget.

  “No, I did them myself,” Camden replied simply.

  He felt the sudden calculating look sent his direction, but he ignored it, enjoying that he’d obviously caught her off-guard. He knew that she’d assumed he was a computer geek with no room for artistic ability in his numbers-filled head.

  “This is the button where clients can register,” he continued, choosing to save his gloating for later. “As you know, our plan to launch the business is to do a promotion where anyone who signs up in the first seventy-two hours gets their first match free. When they click the button, it takes them to this form. We gather a few simple facts to register and then go immediately into the questionnaire. When they are done, they will be sent the top name on their list of matches. If they want more matches, they’ll be charged our standard fee.”

  Camden leaned back in his chair and looked at Bailey, expecting her to be thoroughly impressed. The website looked good. He’d done a good job, and he knew it.

  Does she scowl when impressed? Camden wondered, feeling a hint of trepidation at the decidedly sour expression on his business partner’s face.

  Camden waited, feeling the tension building so much that he almost expected his coffee cup on the desk beside him to start tremoring with anxiety.

  “You’ve done it all!” Bailey burst out finally, throwing her hands up in emphasis. “You’ve made every single decision on your own, and everything is already a done deal. You want me to look over the ‘About’ page? That’s it? We are business partners. My input matters just as much as yours. I think I deserve to be a little more than your copy editor.”

  “Are you serious?” Camden asked, taking a quick glance out the window to make sure the morning sun still rose in the east and he hadn’t woken up in some weird alternate reality. “Just last night, you were upset because you didn’t think I’d done enough work. Now, you’re mad that I’ve done too much?”

  “I didn’t know that you’d done everything but find an office!” Seeming too upset to sit still, Bailey hopped off her chair, planted her hands on her narrow hips, and stared at him accusingly as if she played the part of a lawyer and he the criminal on trial.

  “Exactly where do you want your input located?” Camden asked patiently. He didn’t know if he could handle Bailey’s dramatics, but maybe she would simmer down if he worked to appease her overreaction. “We haven’t released, and nothing is set in stone. What do you want to change?”

  “Everything.” She folded her arms across her front, glaring at him stubbornly.

  “Everything? Come on! You just said you liked the logo and graphics for the site.” So much for remaining patient and trying to appease her.

  “You’re right. Let’s change everything but the graphics.” Her arms still crossed in front. Her eyes still glared.

  Camden laughed a humorless chuckle and shook his head. “I’m sorry to be such a nag, but I’m going to need something a little more specific than that.”

  Bailey sighed. Her arms dropped, and she pointed accusingly at the computer screen. “It’s a dating website just like the hundreds of others online. Why would anyone choose our site? We’re not doing anything unique.”

  “Of course, we are!” Camden exclaimed, relieved to know the source of her concern. If she just listened to him, she would quickly realize it wasn’t a concern at all. “You never gave me a chance to finish explaining everything about the site. I have already set up unprecedented security measures. Our site is the safest one out there by far.”

  With a few clicks, Camden landed on a different screen and began talking through the bulleted points describing the site security. “When someone signs up, we do automatic background checks. Though we don’t give a detailed list that includes everything we do, clients grant permission for extensive background checks that include public records, information available on the internet, and records through law enforcement or government agencies, such as the police or FBI. Our checks are very thorough, more so than anyone will realize. We have the right to terminate an account for any reason, such as if something concerning comes back in any of the background checks. I also have security measures in place to weed out fake accounts. It takes a couple days to check the validity of an account to make sure there is an actual person attached to it. However, my programs run the check automatically, and if they can’t verify its validity, the account is terminated at the same time I get a notice that it is a fraudulent account.”

  “That means clients are required to use their real names?” Bailey asked, nodding in approval and reluctantly leaning closer to better see the screen.

  “Yes,” Camden answered. “It very explicitly states that clients must use their real names and accurate profile pics. If these requirements aren’t fulfilled, their information will eventually come back to me as fraudulent, and their accounts will be terminated.”

  Bailey straightened back up, finished with her examination. Unfortunately, her expression declared Camden’s defense still inadequate. “I like the security, and I like that we can promote it as the safest site out there. However, there is nothing ‘wow’ about that. Normal people aren’t going to understand the technical jargon enough for you to even explain how awesome and safe the site is. At the end of the day, all they are going to see is another dating website.”

  “Wait,” Camden urged, holding up a hand to ward off any further protest. “I haven’t finished explaining what makes the site unique. “You’re awfully determined to find fault in whatever I do, aren’t you?”

  “No,” Bailey said with a lift of her eyebrows. “You just seem to produce an abundance of faults for me to find.”

  Camden scowled, but turned to bring up another screen. “This is the page that explains our app.”

  “We have an app?” Bailey asked, not quite masking her interest.

  “Yes,” Camden said proudly. “It is part of our security measures, but it does much more. The site can be fully accessed from the app. The awesome thing about it is that it works with a device’s location services. If a client wants to meet their date somewhere, he or she can also send a current location through the app. If clients go on a date, they activate the app, and it monitors their location. It also monitors the location of their date, making it easier to connect and also providing a safety net. Then it sends a push notification at different intervals in the date, checking in with options for the client to click whether he or she feels comfortable, uncomfortable, or in danger. Obviously, danger triggers an immediate call to law enforcement, but they can adjust their settings to choose if a certain number of ‘uncomfortable’ r
atings triggers a text to a friend asking for a call to get them out of the date. It’s kind of like having a chaperone who doesn’t say anything. I’m still working on it, but those are the basics.”

  “You mean the app will arrange for a rescue call?” Bailey asked, unable to hide that she was more than a little impressed.

  Camden smiled in satisfaction. “Yes, that’s exactly what it will do if the user sets it up that way.”

  Unfortunately, before Camden could savor her approval, Bailey’s gaze quickly lost the gleam of excitement and returned to what Camden saw as critical superiority.

  “I admit, that’s a pretty cool feature, Camden,” she begrudgingly acknowledged. “It looks like you really know your technical stuff. However, again, it’s not something that will grab attention. It’s all so negative. If I make an ad that simply says, ‘sign up for this app, and it will monitor your location in case we match you with a serial killer,’ that just sounds a little creepy. If I say, ‘the app can get you out of one of our really bad dates,’ that’s not much better.”

  “That wasn’t quite what I was going for,” Camden frowned. Admittedly, when she phrased things like that, it sounded terrible. Why does she have to be so negative? If my app won’t please her, then nothing will!

  Giving up, he scooted away from the desk and stood, lifting his hands behind his neck in a stretch and refusing to look at Bailey. She’d just twisted the knife a little too sharply, and in spite of himself, he felt more hurt than anger at her words. It didn’t seem to matter what he said or did, she was determined to find fault and simply become more insulting the more he tried.

  Bailey sighed, “I know that wasn’t what you were going for, and I really do think it’s a good feature. But I don’t think it’s the feature that defines the site.”

  While he’d always liked and respected his cousin, Elise, right now he couldn’t figure out what had caused her to become mentally unstable enough to include Bailey Whitmore as a business partner.

  “What is it that you want, Bailey?” Camden asked impatiently, turning to directly meet her gaze. Though she seemed to approve of his security measures and the app, she wasn’t nearly as impressed as she should be. She didn’t seem to realize the amount of work and genius behind the apparent simplicity. “I thought a dating website is exactly what we are supposed to be creating here. Do you want the website to sell hot dogs as well? Maybe offer some tax preparation on the side?”

  Bailey glared, “No. Betwixt Two Hearts is not a dating website. It’s a matchmaking website.” She flung a hand out in a disgusted gesture that included the computer screen, the office, and Camden himself. “This is not what I envisioned at all.”

  Camden clenched his jaw, working to control his temper when she just insulted the entire website and all his work for the past month. “Are you just balking at the semantics?” Camden asked.

  Though he chose to hope they were tripping on a verbal misunderstanding, his tone clearly said that he thought she was crazy. “Aren’t dating websites and matchmaking websites the same thing?”

  “No, not at all,” Bailey replied, obviously offended by his tone, lack of knowledge, or both. “A dating website provides clients with lists of possible matches. The lists are usually computer generated and based on numbers. The client can then pick and choose who they want to contact from the list, and the website provides a social platform from which to do that. If they decide not to pursue a relationship, he or she can focus on one, or several of the other options. Dating websites are the buffet of the dating world.”

  “Ok, so how is a matchmaking site different?” Camden asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

  “The difference is the human element,” Bailey explained as if she were a scholarly professor and Camden the slow student. “A matchmaking website is personal. A professional matchmaker looks at survey answers, but she gives the final recommendation based on a personal opinion of who would make a good match. She may only recommend one match at a time, encouraging the clients to dedicate the time and necessary value, giving serious consideration to a thoughtful match. Ideally, I think the client should be required to either post a review of the actual date or give a reason for refusing it before the matchmaker sends an additional match. At least, that’s what I envision for Betwixt Two Hearts. I haven’t found another matchmaking site that is remotely similar. Personalized matches simply don’t exist on the web.”

  Camden swallowed with difficulty, running a hand through his hair. How could he tell her that her dream was unachievable? “That sounds like a great ideal,” he said cautiously, deliberately opening with something positive. “I’ve heard of professional matchmakers, but I don’t understand how that scenario can work in an online format. It’s not like a matchmaker could personally know all the internet clients, and the sheer volume of clients we hope to simultaneously handle makes automaticity necessary. There’s no way one, or even several, matchmakers could comb through thousands of profiles and create personal matches for each one.”

  “I can do it.” Bailey persisted. “I’m really good at reading between the lines of a profile to determine personality, and I intuitively know even what is not said. Plus, I won’t be the only matchmaker. Elise will pull her load and probably some of mine. I think the hardest task will be handling the initial numbers with the launch and free promo, but if we get through those, then keeping caught up should be much easier.”

  She is insane. There is no way her fantasy could work in real life.

  Though Camden didn’t yet know Bailey well, he knew that using those exact words to explain his objections would not be received well. Instead, he needed to get her to see reason by approaching this from a different angle.

  “What exactly are your qualifications as a matchmaker?” he asked casually instead. This time, it was his turn to fold his arms across his front and pin her with a direct gaze.

  With a startled blink, Bailey’s gaze faltered, and she suddenly showed a huge interest in the grain of wood on the hardwood floor.

  I found her weak point!

  Though he realized his words had found their target, he carefully maintained his casual, unemotional expression, looking at her expectantly.

  “Obviously, I’ve worked with Elise,” she said confidently, as if that decided the issue.

  “Where exactly did you work with Elise?” Camden persisted.

  “We worked at the same university library,” Bailey stated, her confidence still intact even though she still couldn’t look him in the eye. “After I inadvertently found out who she was and what she did, I helped her with matchmaking.”

  “Oh, so was this a special kind of library that also provided customers with matchmaking services?” Camden asked with an innocence that clearly communicated sarcasm.

  Bailey offered only a withering smile, not bothering to dignify his question with a response.

  Camden persisted, not willing to be put off. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but Elise isn’t actually a professional matchmaker. She likes to set people up and is pretty good at making matches, whether or not the couple even realizes they’ve been set up. However, as far as I know, Elise hasn’t actually ever made matches upon request by looking at a profile.”

  “Elise is gifted,” Bailey said firmly. “She has an incredible intuition about people and can read them like no one I’ve ever met. Ever since I found out what she does, I’ve been trying to convince her to start a professional matchmaking company, and she’s always said no, maintaining that if people paid her to do it, she wouldn’t like it. She likes to look for opportunities to make matches. She doesn’t like the thought of being required to find a match for someone.”

  Camden’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What changed? Isn’t that exactly what we’re doing? People will pay us to find them a match. If Elise isn’t okay with that, why are we even here?”

  “What changed is that Elise got married,” Bailey explained. “She wants to have more flexibility in her schedule to travel wi
th her husband, and she wants to have the freedom to be able to start a family and not need to punch a clock at work. She doesn’t want a brick and mortar matchmaking business, but when she floated the idea that maybe an online matchmaking site would be more agreeable, I jumped at the chance, and the rest is history.”

  “You quit your job for this?” Camden asked, suddenly putting two and two together.

  “Yes, I did,” she replied firmly and without apology. “That’s how much I believe in it. Elise needed to be able to stay in Seattle with her husband and work remotely. She provided our entire start-up money, but she asked if I would contribute by coming out here to work with you and set things up while she acted more as the silent partner. Of course, I agreed. We need to make this website successful. Elise is depending on us to figure it out, and I’m not exactly flying with a safety net on this one.”

  Camden sighed. That certainly explained her attitude, at least to some degree. She was emotionally involved with living out her dream. That meant that no amount of reason would convince her to accept anything less than her fantasy. Unfortunately, Bailey had undoubtedly now added fear to her pre-existing emotional connection to the project. If the website failed, Bailey failed. She no longer had any other source of income, meaning her dream was now tied irreversibly to her security.

  Camden didn’t need a degree in psychology to recognize that as a dangerous combination. He needed to placate her expectations and find a way to incorporate just a bit of her dream and hope it enough to satisfy her.

  Running his hand through his hair yet again, he resigned himself to the task and asked, “So if a dating website is a buffet, what is your idea of a matchmaking website?”