“What is it?” she asked him.
“That martini kiss was too quick.”
Her eyes widened. “Banks,” she said in a jokey voice. “You were doing so well. We even held hands. I mean—”
“The kiss is the most important part of a date. We all know it.”
She took a step back. “I think so too. There has to be chemistry. But I don’t need to evaluate you that way. All I need—”
“Shush,” he said, and tugged on her free hand.
She came down a step. Now she was looking up at him.
“Let me kiss the pretty girl I just had a great time with.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
Time slowed down. Way down. He leaned in, channeled his more innocent high school self, and kissed her lips—just her lips—lingering only long enough to let her know he wanted way more. She was like candy, her mouth soft and sweet, and it killed him to pull back. But he did.
“Good night,” he told her, his hands in his pockets.
“Good night,” she returned softly.
He tossed her a wink and turned away.
“Deacon?”
He was dying to look back, but he wouldn’t. Instead, he gave her a thumbs-up. “It was a ten!” He could feel her staring at his back.
“But we didn’t even…” she called after him.
He turned around. “Get very far?”
She wrapped her arms around her middle. “Um, yeah.”
“I really want to. But I’m saving that for when we’re not kissing under first-date testing conditions.”
“Oh,” she said. “Right. Not that we’ll—”
“Yes, we will,” he said. “Someday.” There was a beat of silence, a yawning gap between them filled with possibilities. “Sleep well, Macy.”
A smile tugged at her lips. “You too.” She opened her piazza door, and he watched it shut behind her.
This woman, he thought. This one.
He was crazy about her.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
After her practice date with Deacon, Macy’s intuition kept telling her: You and Deacon are a match. You and Deacon are a match!
She’d always trusted her gut before. Why not? She was sure Cupid was one of her ancestors. Matchmaking ran in her blood. She had proof she was good at it. And dinner at FIG had been … magical. She had no other word. They’d conversed so easily about things big and little. Everything seemed right. And the whole time, she’d wanted to kiss him badly. How could she not? After their searing kiss of the night before?
It was a shock how natural and fun it felt, that pomegranate martini kiss. And then there was the innocent, perfect kiss at her door. She remembered feeling that everything was out of her hands. It was as if she were simply watching as this powerful thing—whatever it was—bloomed between her and Deacon while the inky night sky sparkled with stars above their heads.
She tossed and turned in bed that night. Why couldn’t she sleep?
Was Deacon her soulmate?
She turned on her bedside lamp. It was two a.m. Staring at the signet ring on her hand, she decided she’d check with the algorithms in the morning. She didn’t have all of Deacon’s data. But she’d been around him long enough to make some good guesses. She’d get Ella and Greer involved. They’d all played with the algorithms before to test out friends, family, and even celebrity couples.
Finally, she slept. But at nine o’clock the next morning, she was huddled with Ella and Greer around the desktop computer in Greer’s office. The screen darkened, then brightened. Colors, numbers, and a block of text popped up.
“No, no, no,” said Macy, her heart pounding.
“You were right,” Greer said, and squeezed Macy’s arm. “You’re a match.”
Macy closed her eyes. “I’m not ready for a match—for so many reasons.”
“Look,” said Ella.
Reluctantly, Macy opened her eyes. Ella pointed at the screen. “Not only are you a match, you two got the gold star.”
A gold star meant that there was a high likelihood that the couple in question would make a commitment to each other within the year.
“No,” said Macy. “He’s my client, first of all. I’m not supposed to date my clients! And he’s from New York. He’s going back soon. Did I mention we have very little in common? Can you imagine a guy who attends every Yankee home game at a Southern debutante ball? And here’s the real kicker—he doesn’t even believe in love! He wants a fling. A Christmas fling.”
She sat in Greer’s chair.
Greer blew out a breath. “All I know is that you need to stop acting like love is for other people and not for you too.”
“Yeah,” said Ella. “And so what if you start with a fling? It could be fun.”
“I like him, I admit it,” Macy confessed, a hitch in her voice. “A fling—I could probably use one.”
“Couldn’t we all!” Greer exclaimed.
Macy put her hand over her eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”
“It’s okay to be afraid,” Ella said.
“We’re here, always,” said Greer, “to back you up.”
“Thanks,” Macy whispered. “Maybe I’ll ignore whatever it is between us. Swipe left, like on Tinder.”
“You could,” said Ella. “You could be like two ships passing in the night. But I don’t want you to run away. Not if this is something real.”
“You need to work with him,” Greer reminded Macy. “But he’ll be gone in a few weeks.”
“Right.” Macy’s heart felt heavy.
“How can you set him up with other women now?” Ella asked.
“What’s done is done,” she said. “I’m a professional. I can’t very well call these women and say, ‘Sorry. He’s mine.’”
“I don’t see why not. They’re our personal friends,” said Greer. “Maybe you’re in love. The real deal. And if the feeling is mutual, you don’t need to worry about those other women being in the picture.”
“That’s right,” said Ella. “Let’s call them.”
Macy shook her head. “Let’s not. It can’t be love. Not this fast. I feel sure of that. We’ve barely even kissed. All told, under ten minutes of kissing time is not long enough to figure out such heady stuff.”
“Okay, so maybe we’re jumping the gun,” Ella admitted.
“Just never say never,” Greer added.
“Okay.” Macy felt a little better.
A beat of silence passed, and then there was a sharp knock at Greer’s office door. “Yoohoo! Y’all need to get back to work.” Miss Thing was always jealous when she was left out of conversations.
“Is something happening out there?” called Ella.
“No. But Oscar needs petting. And I’d like to show you my new shoes.”
The trio in Greer’s office exchanged amused glances.
“We’ll be out in a minute,” Macy called. “And I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”
“Thank God,” said Miss Thing through the door. “You three are my girls! I must know all!”
Their little huddle broke up. Macy was back to being on her own. But at least she knew she was loved. And if she ever had a problem, she could come to her friends at Two Love Lane.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Christmas was so close. Every radio station DJ and TV news anchor in Charleston was warning the public to “Get your last-minute presents now!” the day Deacon walked inside the fire station on Wentworth Street.
The redhead who stuck her hand out for him to shake had a natural glow, and she had quite the grip. Barney Fulton was a firefighter. “So, Deacon, I’m just thrilled to meet you!” she said.
“Great to meet you too.” He’d never met a female firefighter, and it was exciting to meet her at the station.
She laughed. “Man, if I’d known you were this good-looking, I wouldn’t have agreed to help you go out with Macy.”
“Who paid you to say that?” Deacon grinned.
“And that New York accent to
boot. Say ‘Saturday.’”
“Saturday.”
She giggled. Why, he wasn’t sure. “Now say ‘water.’”
“Water.”
She laughed. “I love it! You sound like someone from The Godfather.”
“And I’m not even Italian.” He winked.
“Macy’s meeting us here, and then she thinks we’re heading to lunch, right?” Barney had a very slow, deliberate way of speaking, like she was eating spoonfuls of molasses. It was cute.
“That’s the plan,” he said. “We’re heading to Tzasiki’s.”
“Good.” Barney was all business now. “So when she shows up, the boys will invent some kind of emergency for me, and she can just take my place.”
“You’re a real sport,” he said.
“I know!” She clapped her hands.
“Macy’s pretty unpredictable,” he said. “I haven’t known her long, but I sense she keeps everyone on their toes.”
“Yes!” Barney rolled her eyes and laughed. “It took me forever to convince her to meet us here. That’s not her protocol. But I told her I was shy and needed her to break the ice between us.”
Barney? Shy? “I’m shocked it worked,” Deacon said.
“It barely did.” Barney chuckled. “I had to tell her some fake story about a childhood birthday party that had scarred me for life and made me shy on the inside.”
“Wow,” Deacon said. “I appreciate all the effort you’re going to.”
“Not a problem. Just remember, we’ve got to be prepared if she tries to beg off. Knowing her, she’ll say she’s got to eat lunch at the office.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“No matter what,” Barney said, wagging her finger, “we’re not going to let her escape.”
“Duly noted.” Deacon caught a glimpse of some of the male firefighters in a back room. One had a clipboard, and several others surrounded him. “They know what’s going on?”
“Yep, and don’t be surprised when I act real interested in you in my fake-shy way.”
“Um, okay.”
Barney grinned. “We don’t want her to suspect this is a set-up. And we need her to get a little jealous besides.”
“Gotcha.”
She leaned to the right, her eyes on the street. “Oops! She’s coming. Let’s act real excited about each other now.” She immediately moved closer, pretending to show him a piece of equipment on one of the trucks.
“Hey, y’all!” It was Macy. She was wearing another pair of sexy boots. Deacon thought she looked gorgeous, professional, and very kissable.
Barney turned around. “Oh,” she said quietly. “Hello, Macy.” She put her chin down. Pushed some invisible dirt around with her boot.
“Is everything okay, Barney?” Macy’s eyes registered concern.
Barney looked up. “Oh, um, yeah! Actually, I’m fine. I’m enjoying meeting Deacon here.”
Deacon had to try hard not to laugh. Barney had better just give up the shy act. He wasn’t sure her acting skills were up to par. “Hi, Macy.”
“Hi.” She smiled at them both. “So I’m glad you’ve gotten to chat before I arrived.”
Deacon nodded. “Barney’s great. She’s got a fascinating job.”
Barney looked up at him with a little fake hero worship that was really inappropriate considering she was the firefighter. “I’m so glad we’re going to lunch. Deacon’s got a lot of interesting stories about his job in New York.”
Not really. Not compared to the stories he was sure Barney had to tell.
“Great!” Macy did look happy. “In that case, I’m heading back to work. You two have fun.”
She turned to go.
“Wait!” Barney called after her. “Since you’re here, I wanted you to see our new truck.”
“Oh, of course!” Macy turned right back around without a moment’s hesitation. No one could turn down a tour of a new fire truck.
Deacon caught her gaze and she instantly blushed. That was a great sign. Maybe she was remembering the kiss on her doorstep. Or the super-sexy martini kiss. Or maybe she was thinking back to when they hungrily kissed in her kitchen with open mouths and hands all over each other.
“Hop in, Macy.” Barney opened the passenger side door of the massive truck and then moved around to the driver’s side.
Deacon took Macy’s hand—he loved holding her hand—and helped her up the steps.
She settled herself into the seat. “This is totally awesome,” she told Barney, who was now behind the wheel.
Deacon watched from the floor. Macy looked down at him but then quickly away. He knew he’d have to walk a fine line with her. Was he doing it right? Or was he blowing it?
He had no idea. He could only hope he’d get to take her to lunch today to try to win her over some more.
“We’re proud of this truck,” Barney said, and gave a firm tap of the horn. Macy jumped. Deacon flinched. As if on cue, three male firefighters came out.
Oh. So the honk was Barney’s secret code.
“Barney, we have an emergency,” one of the guys said as if he were a very bad actor in a very bad movie.
“Oh?” Barney called down to him.
Hopefully, Macy wasn’t catching on.
Another firefighter jerked his thumb to the open station door. “Gotta go to the restaurant around the corner. They had a small stove fire. It’s out, but they want someone to check on it for insurance purposes. We’re cleaning out the portable water tanks, so you’ll have to go.”
At least that guy sounded pretty authentic, Deacon thought.
“You’ll need the truck, right?” Macy fumbled with the seat belt to get it out of her way and slid down to the floor.
Deacon caught her around the waist when she landed. For a second, when she looked up at him, he thought he could see in her eyes that she wanted to kiss him again—as badly as he wanted to kiss her.
“I’ll walk,” Barney called down to her. “But this means I can’t go to lunch. Sorry, Deacon.” She opened the driver’s side door, jumped out, and came around to stand with them.
“I understand,” he said, and tried to look disappointed but mature—because no one should stand in the way of a firefighter doing her duty.
“Darn.” Macy winced. “We’ll have to reschedule your date.”
“I’ll check my calendar.” Barney grabbed a coat from a hook on the wall and put it on. She grabbed her helmet next. “Technically, I don’t need these, but people love it when I show up this way.” She grinned as she put her helmet on.
“You do what you have to do,” said Macy.
And then—shocker—Barney came up to Deacon and kissed him on the mouth, lingering for a few seconds. “I will definitely reschedule,” she said in a flirty voice, and then strode out the station door.
“She told me she felt shy,” Macy said, shock in her tone. “That wasn’t shy.”
“I think it’s because we got along like … like two houses on fire,” said Deacon with a chuckle. The truth was, there hadn’t been a single spark.
“Fine.” Macy lifted her chin. “I’m heading back.” Her tone was brisk, no-nonsense. “We’ll talk soon.”
“Sure you don’t want to join me for lunch?”
For a split-second, she hesitated. “No, I really can’t,” she said. “I’ve got shopping to do for my Toys for Tots party.”
“I didn’t know about this party.” He definitely wanted to know more. “Tell me about it.”
Her expression lightened. “We do it every year at Two Love Lane. My specialty is finding gifts for the older kids who come. Most people forget about them. They buy stuff for the little ones.”
She was a sweetheart. If she were a real elf, she’d win awards. The more he was around her, the more he realized how much catching up he had to do in the good-cheer department.
Barney reappeared at the station door. “Oh,” she said, “I meant to ask you to take my place at lunch, Macy. I feel terrible backing out on Deac
on like that.”
“He understands,” Macy insisted.
“Of course I do,” Deacon said. “Macy’s buying Christmas presents for teenagers coming to her Toys for Tots party. No way am I going to hold her up from that.”
“She’ll need to eat before she does all that spending. Right, Macy?” Barney wasn’t giving up.
“No, not really.” Macy looked at her watch. “I-I need to get going.”
“Come on now,” Barney insisted. “It’s your civic duty to help me not feel guilty about abandoning Deacon. Do it for the fire department. And then go shopping. I’m counting on you, Macy.” She winked and left.
Macy cut her eyes at Deacon then looked toward the open firehouse door. Barney was definitely not coming back. “Um, I guess I should go with you. For Barney’s sake.”
Deacon waved a hand. “I’m fine. You go play Santa for a good cause.”
Macy seemed to think about it some more. “Christmas shopping takes me forever. I’m always starved by the end of it.”
Was she wavering?
“I’ll bet,” said Deacon. “Well, I’m heading home to eat with George and Aunt Fran. See you later.” He waved to the guys in the back. “See ya, fellas!” They waved back and wished him a good day. He started walking. And hoping.…
“Wait,” Macy said quickly.
Shazam! At the door Deacon had to pretend he wasn’t super excited when he turned back around. “Yes?”
“I can’t let Barney down,” she said. “And I-I’d love to have lunch with you.”
“You would?”
“Sure.” She lifted and dropped her shoulders. “Sorry I’m being … weird.”
“Not weird, exactly.” He grinned. “I’m wondering if maybe you regretted kissing me is all.”
“No.” She turned redder than Santa’s suit. “You know. No big deal. We’re friends. It’s fine.”
“Okay, then.” He stifled a grin. She was struggling. But he was glad—it meant she wasn’t indifferent to him. “Shall we head to Tsaziki’s?”
“Okay.” She finally smiled, and it made his day. Apparently her heart was a little lighter. She waved good-bye to the firefighters, and then they both started out.
“You must be disappointed Barney can’t come,” she said. “She’s quite a woman.”
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