Edge of Attraction (3 page)

Christopher’s voice was shocked. “What the hell happened? I thought the two of you were really hitting it off.”

The elevator stopped at the second floor. I didn’t want to talk much about the failed date, but Christopher was just trying to be a good guy. I softened up a bit and waited for the door to open. As we stepped off, I recounted the events from Friday night.

“I picked her up in my Porsche, which I haven’t driven in probably two months. She likes sushi, so I took her to Aniko’s down on Walnut. But all she did was criticize the restaurant and the waiters the whole time we were there. She couldn’t even enjoy her food because she had something negative to say every time she opened her mouth, to me and the waiters.”

Christopher shook his head. “PMS or something?”

“No. I think I met the real Tricia that night.”

I couldn’t figure out why her behavior had gotten to me that way. Usually, I wouldn’t pay much attention to how a waiter was being treated. But something in me felt different this time. Maybe it was because not once during our entire meal did she even mention my birthday. Maybe it was kind of corny of me, but I wished she had at least gotten me a card, or maybe bought me dessert or something. I told all of this to Christopher, and he was silent.

“Sounds like she’s just inconsiderate. Move on.” Christopher shrugged like it was no big deal. In and of itself, it really wasn’t a big deal. But what the night represented to me was.

“Rude is putting it lightly. So I paid for our dinner, drove her home, and then parked the car. She looks at me, like she’s waiting for me to say something, right? And then when I don’t say anything, she looks at me with the most disgusted expression, gets out of the car, and slams the door.” I ran my hands through my hair, exasperated.

“What the fuck was that all about?”

“I texted her later to ask what was up. Apparently
that
was about her expecting a gift for our two-week anniversary.”

Christopher looked dumbfounded. “A two-week anniversary gift? I thought that shit was over in high school. Who the hell does that?”

“I know. What the fuck?” We wandered into the break room. Maybe someone had made a fresh pot of coffee. No such luck. My day was getting better and better. I grabbed a newspaper from the pile on the table and we headed to my office.

When we got inside, I threw my coffee-soaked and rain splattered jacket viciously against the wall.

In a not-so-rare moment of audacity, Christopher hopped up to sit on my desk. I gave him a pointed look, which he ignored. “Sounds like she was an ice princess, anyway. Let her go. You could pick up another girl in a heartbeat.”

Christopher was right about her being an ice princess. She was rude and greedy. After he left, I sat in silence behind my desk, wondering why I always seemed to go out with shallow women.

* * * *

I stayed late, working on the site long after everyone else had gone home. I had a staff that should be taking care of things, but I needed to make sure everything was working perfectly. When I was finished, I waited for Alfred, my driver, to pick me up at the building. The rain had finally stopped, so at least something was going right. When we got home, I climbed out of the limo and patted the door.

He stuck his head out the window. “You okay, Joshua?”

“Yeah. Just need to think.” On a different night, I might have invited him in for a drink, but tonight I wasn’t in the mood for company.

I unlocked the huge mahogany door that led into my empty house. I was glad to have finally move into it. It had taken over two years to complete and way more time and attention that I would have ever imagined, but everything needed to be perfect, and imported. Now I just needed to fill it—with furniture, and someone special. I chucked my shoes off and stepped down into the spacious living room. I had a good look at the luxuries that represented all that I’d worked for. There was a massive stone fireplace with an elaborate granite mantle. My designer had chosen several pieces of ornate furniture and the entire place was decked out in rustic décor. On one side of the living room was a wall of windows that revealed the giant Olympic-sized pool lit up beyond the back patio.

I was tired but also kind of restless. Taking out my phone, I scrolled through my contacts, glancing at the pictures of women I’d dated over the past few years. It was a sobering experience. Everyone on the list was gorgeous. Most of them were blondes, or at least fell into that category. There was Meghan, Claire, Ava, and Ingrid. There was Aubrey, Felicity, and Jennifer. And of course, there was Tricia.

I looked at all of their faces for a moment and then put down my phone. Every single one of those women that I’d dated had been beautiful, and every single one of those relationships had ended poorly. Why? I just couldn’t figure it out. I gave these women everything. They were all accustomed to a particular lifestyle, and I understood it perfectly well. They wanted their manicures and their pedicures, their trips to the spa and their spending sprees. They all wanted to have some pocket cash, and most of them expected a car after a certain number of dates. I had come through with it all.

The common thread with all of these women seemed to be their utter lack of substance. I was beginning to realize that all of them had been empty shells of people, vapid and insipid women who only cared about their looks and their bankroll. Most of them expected me to dote on them, and I had. Because of this, it was frustrating to feel like all of my energy was being wasted. I was a successful businessman, and I could run a billion dollar start-up practically on my own. But I couldn’t seem to find love.

All of these women had been interested in the material offerings that I could provide, but none of them had really been interested in me. It was an eye-opening revelation, and it made me feel kind of sick inside.

It was time to move on. Phone in hand, I went through the list of contacts and their photos. Delete. Delete. Delete.
Are you sure you want to delete this contact?
my phone asked. Hell yes. Delete.

After taking a few deep breaths I reclined on my couch. The leather was soft beneath my hands, and it felt good to have my feet up. I flipped on the television. After five minutes of the evening news, a commercial break came on. A familiar logo popped up on the screen. I’d happened to land on a commercial for my own company:
Tolbert & Tolbert’s “Scintilla.”

I watched the commercial with a certain amount of pride. It reminded me of my days of classical piano, all the lessons that had filled my teenage afternoons, and the particular full feeling I’d get when I nailed a trill or mastered a complicated piece. Scintilla gave me a similar feeling of accomplishment. I felt like I was moving forward in the right direction, that my life had taken on a greater level of meaning. I continued to give the commercial my attention, especially when I heard the sultry voice of a gorgeous woman speak.

She had long blond hair and she seemed to look right at me. “Scintilla is the one-stop dating site that utilizes the perfect matchmaking technology to help you find true love. The service is even guaranteed. Find the spark!” She had wide, guileless eyes, and she convinced me that the site was, indeed, capable of making anyone’s dating dreams become reality.

I laughed out loud. This was almost too good to be true. Here I was, the creator of the best online dating service in the country, and I had never even given it a try for myself.

“What the hell.” I shrugged my shoulders and got up off the couch. This would be interesting.

I had my profile set up in a matter of minutes. Now all I had to do was sit back and see what kind of bites I got.

Chapter 5

Allison

I wasn’t too excited to be back at work after the weekend, especially after Joshua had blown me off last week. I was still feeling embarrassed and slightly annoyed with the whole situation. However, it was work, and I had to show up if I wanted to get paid. I stood at the copier, preparing to print out a
Congratulations
memo for Scintilla’s rapid success over the last few weeks. The site had almost tripled its users over the last month, and sales were coming in quicker than Joshua knew how to process them.

My phone beeped so I pulled it out to see who had texted me. It was Jess, letting me know that she was getting ready to board her flight, and that she’d be home this afternoon. I wanted to jump up and yell with excitement. Finally, I would have my best friend and roommate back, and I’d have someone to talk to again. Sometimes it was hard be single, especially when Jess was gone and I was alone in the apartment. I found myself wanting to share details from my day, but I didn’t have anyone to share them with…except Bub, bless him and his crazy yellow eyes.

I stacked up my memos from the copier, and with a smile on my face headed down the hall to hand them out to my co-workers. I started with the cubicles in the back and made my way up toward mine. As soon as I got to Joshua’s office, my stomach started fluttering. I wanted to peek my head in and say hi, but he looked so absorbed in whatever he was doing at his computer that I just kept walking. I was being pathetic. I went back to my cubicle, slinked down in my chair, and logged on to my computer.

I had only been in my chair for five minutes when Jamie showed up, smiling as usual. His eyes looked particularly green in the suit he was wearing. “Thanks for the memo. It’s cool how successful the site has become.”

What did he want from me? “Yeah. It’s doing great. Your brother had an amazing idea…it’s no surprise it’s taken off like this.”

“So,” he said, sticking his hands in his pockets, “do you have any intention of trying it out?”

I had never thought about using a dating site until the other night, and I’d only given in because I was hurting over Joshua. I couldn’t tell Jamie that, though. I shrugged and looked down at the floor.

“You gotta try out your product. Am I right?” Jamie widened his eyes and rocked on his heels.

I didn’t want to reveal that I’d already signed up, but the longer we talked the harder it would be to hold it back. Jamie had a way of digging information out of me even when I preferred to keep it private. Sometimes he felt like the older brother I never had.

“Well, I guess I could see why people would want to try it.” I continued to stare at my computer screen, hoping he’d get the hint—that I wasn’t interested in the conversation. But Jamie was apparently not too busy with his work, because he stood in the same spot, nodding, gesturing that I should continue.

He was never going to give up. I finally turned away from the computer and swung my legs back and forth in my chair. “What about you?” Take that, you busybody.

“I might give it a shot. What the heck.” He laughed a little when he said it, like he was making a joke.

I thought back to the other night when I created my profile and had the urge to tell him about it, but I bit my tongue.

“Hey, nice shoes by the way.” Jamie pointed at my socks. I always kicked off my shoes when I was just sitting at my desk.

“Thanks,” I said. An awkward silence stretched on and on. Did he want me to say something? Just then one of the guys from the advertising department came by and told Jamie they needed to talk, so he headed off toward the lobby with him. I went back to shuffling papers. Every now and then I looked up to read one of the inspirational quotes that hung on the wall next to my desk.

As soon as I turned my head around, I heard a chirp. There was a message in my notification bar. “You got a Spark!”

A message from Scintilla. From reading the website the other night, I knew that “spark” meant match. Who might have shown an interest in me? Was he cute? Was he smart? He could be anyone! Nobody was hovering around my cubicle so I opened up the message. It was from someone named “EdensNomad.”

Interesting name. Maybe it had something to do with Eden, and being cast out of the metaphorical Garden of Eden. Maybe this EdensNomad was trying to find his way back to paradise again. Whatever the case, I was definitely intrigued by his name alone. I hoped that we had something in common.

I opened up his profile. My stomach was overtaken with butterflies as I read through it line by line. He was interested in similar books and movies, loved to travel, and enjoyed cooking. I could feel my smile widen as I stared at his goals and desire to settle down. I looked at the little flame icons on the side of his profile, comparing him to me. Ninety-eight percent compatible. For a second, I could understand why so many people had decided to turn to the online dating world, and why Scintilla had become such a huge success.

I let my fingers rest gently on the keyboard. Did I want to contact him? Was it worth it? What if Joshua finally noticed me, after I moved on? Ugh, now I was just being silly. I sat back in my seat.

Before I could even make up my mind, he messaged me. It was a simple greeting, and I forced myself to take deep breaths. No hyperventilating, it’s just a hello message. I peered over my cubicle. There was no sign of Jamie, no sign of anyone really. Kicking my feet back and forth in excitement, I opened the little dialogue box to message him back.

Phillygirl: I’m new to the site. Just trying it out.

EdensNomad: Nice to hear back from you. I’m new to the site, too.

He sounded friendly and charming. Was the site this easy? Had I already met my perfect match? What if this guy turned out to be really great? I couldn’t wait for Jess to get back home so that I could tell her all the details.

Phillygirl: I’ll talk to you more later. Have to get back to work.

EdensNomad: Looking forward to it.

I continued to make copies and file paperwork as expected, but there was an extra bit of bounce in my walk for the rest of the day. Someone was interested in me. Someone noticed me! When I sat back down at my desk, EdensNomad and I messaged each other a few more times. He made me feel like he was really paying attention to who I was as a person. He commented on my good taste in books and movies, and it turned out that we even had a lot of the same favorite authors and producers. He came across as extremely intelligent, and he also sounded like he was pretty down to earth. I didn’t want to jump too far ahead, but I was really beginning to like this guy.