Miss Match (3 page)

Don’t get your hopes up.
Despite Antonio’s many, many flaws, Brooke seemed committed. Why else would she have accepted the ring?

“I had a momentary lapse in judgment, nothing more,” Luke said.

Brooke put a pancake on each plate, then took the saddle barstool next to his. “You’re spiraling. I know you miss your dad. I do too.”

“Of course I miss him. He’s barely been gone a month.”

“I know. And I won’t pretend to understand what you’re going through. But this . . .” She motioned to the tabloid. “She stole the door off your car when you broke up with her.”

Luke savagely bit off a chunk of bacon. “I was drunk last night.”

“You didn’t used to drink very much or very often.”

Life was easier to handle with alcohol. He didn’t have to remember the death rattle he’d listened to for five hours or his mom’s sobs after his dad breathed his last. He didn’t have to recall how the company’s stock still hadn’t recovered and he was a woefully unprepared and inadequate CEO. He didn’t have to think about how he’d lost Brooke. “So I showed up in the tabloids again. Their next big story is ‘Stars Without Makeup!’ I don’t think I have much to worry about.”

“Oh, I disagree. You know Darius and the rest of the board are going to hate this.”

Luke grimaced. That much was true. Darius was old fashioned, and loudly disapproved of Luke’s every action. As though being chairman of the board of directors gave him the right. “I can handle him. The most I’ll get is another lecture on how I need to man up and act like I’m forty.”

“Mitch is worried. He says stockholders are really nervous.”

Luke snorted. “What does Mitch know? He’s just my personal assistant.”

“He’s more dialed in to the company than you are. The anniversary gala is really important, and he wants to keep the focus on that and not you. Try to stay out of the papers for a week, okay?”

The anniversary gala next weekend. Just thinking about it made Luke want to take another drink, or maybe go lift some weights. His father had been so excited about the celebration—thirty years since he’d started the company out of his basement. He’d planned a lot of the event, and had been determined to be there. The memories stung. “I’m not going.”

“You say that now, but you’ll change your mind by next Friday.”

“It’s too hard, okay? I’ll go to the press release for the lung cancer foundation next month, but not the gala.” The company was nearly ready to announce their nonprofit, and Luke hoped it would help shareholders feel more positively about the dipping stock.

“You’re strong. You can do this. You think the board is going to freak about the tabloid? Try not showing up to the most highly publicized company event of the decade. Besides, it’ll destroy your mom if you don’t attend. And it’s disrespectful to your father’s memory.”

She was right—Brooke was always right. He’d have to go. “Are you coming with me?”

“Of course. Zoey and I will both be there. Antonio won’t be back until the day after the party.”

He knew she was bringing Zoey for Antonio’s sake. Brooke hadn’t been Luke’s “plus one” to an event since she and Antonio started dating. Rule #11 effectively voided Rule #4. It was yet another reason to hate Antonio.

“Eat up,” Brooke said. “You’re braving the Black Friday sales with me. Maybe there’s still some good deals left.”

Luke rolled his eyes, but obediently shoveled another bite into his mouth. A day spent with Brooke was heaven, no matter where they went.

CHAPTER THREE

Brooke poked her head into
Zoey’s bedroom, then rolled her eyes at the disaster she saw. Clothes were thrown haphazardly about, draped over the bed and littering the floor. Makeup spilled across the dresser, and a bottle of nail polish sat open. For just a moment, Brooke was taken back to the arguments the two of them had had as Freshman sharing a tiny dorm room. They’d both been much happier since moving into an apartment with two bedrooms.

“Zo?” Brooke asked. “We’re going to be late.”

Zoey poked her head out of her private bathroom. “Almost ready,” she said. She disappeared again, and emerged less than a minute later. She stepped over the piles of clothes, carefully placing her stilettoed feet. She tossed aside a pair of jeans and a few shirts before locating her purse. She held it up, triumphant. “We can go now.”

Brooke crossed her arms. Zoey looked glamorous and edgy as usual. Her dark ebony hair fell straight over her shoulders, highlights of bright pink throughout. Dramatic eye makeup made her brown eyes pop. She wore a pencil skirt and lacy blouse, sure to tempt all her clients to give up on Toujour and beg Zoey for a night on the town.

“If you would put your purse the same place every night, then you wouldn’t make us late for work,” Brooke said.

Zoey laughed. “We’ve never been late. You make sure of that.” She shut and locked the apartment door, and they headed to Brooke’s car.

“With an eleven o’clock start time, you’d think we wouldn’t be rushing,” Brooke pointed out. Not that she really minded. After eight years as friends, she’d gotten used to Zoey’s penchant for tardiness.

Zoey stifled a yawn. “I didn’t get home last night until almost three.”

“Clubbing again?”

“On a date. He was kind of a jerk, but totally loaded. I ordered every dessert on the menu.”

Zoey and Brooke chatted as they drove the short fifteen minutes to Toujour. Brooke parked her VW bug and they both got out of the car.

“Think you’ll be able to keep busy all eight hours today?” Zoey asked.

Brooke grunted. “I hope so. I’m quickly running out of matches for a few of my clients.”

Brooke swung open the front door to Toujour and was immediately hit with the spicy-sweet scent of Dragon’s Blood incense. Even after five years, it still overwhelmed her every time she entered the lobby. Christmas music played softly through the hidden speakers, and a small Christmas tree decorated in hearts, cupids, and wedding ring ornaments sat in one corner of the reception area. Lianna, the receptionist, sat behind a tinsel-lined black desk.

“Good morning, Lianna,” Zoey said.

Lianna glanced up from her computer. “Morning,” she said. Her eyes were bleary behind her thick glasses frames, and her blonde hair was tousled as though she’d rushed getting ready. Brooke glanced at Lianna’s computer. A game of Solitaire was pulled up. Lianna absently moved one of the cards.

“Phones are quiet this morning,” Brooke muttered to Zoey. They walked down a short hallway that opened into the heart of the building. Cubicles filled the center of the large space, and small rooms called parlours lined the outside wall. Posters of happy couples were on the front of each door, no doubt meant to remind clients of the success they’d soon experience in love.

Zoey and Brooke’s shared cubicle was near the center of the room. Zoey set her purse on the desk and they both sank into their chairs. Brooke fired up her computer, dread already curling in her stomach. She was down to eleven clients, barely enough to keep her busy each day, and with each failed date the pool of potential matches shrunk even further.

“Have you decided if you’re going to your dad’s yet?” Zoey asked.

Brooke frowned. She clicked on the welcome icon and entered in her password. “I probably should. I haven’t visited since the fourth of July.”

“Wow, it’s been that long?”

Brooke tapped her foot against the floor. “Yeah.” Ever since her dad cheated on her mom, she hadn’t been able to look at him the same. Their relationship had improved since the divorce, but she knew it would never be what it had once been.

Her dad had ditched Shandi, the woman he’d gotten pregnant while still married to Brooke’s mom, not long after Jason was born. Now he was married to Miranda, a woman Brooke genuinely liked, and they had four-year-old twin girls together. She hoped this relationship would last.

“I should go,” Brooke said. “To see my sisters, if nothing else.”

“It won’t be so bad,” Zoey said. “You’ll eat dinner, chat for an hour, and leave. I bet Miranda puts on a fantastic Thanksgiving spread, even if it is December now.”

“That alone is reason enough to go,” Brooke agreed. Miranda was a fantastic chef. Brooke pulled out her phone and quickly texted her dad.
A week from Saturday at one o’clock is great for a late Thanksgiving celebration. Can we bring anything?

She hadn’t expected him to text back right away. As a dentist, he didn’t usually have a lot of down time during work hours. But he must’ve been between patients, because he quickly texted back,
Nope, I’ve got it covered. I’m so glad you and Antonio can come!

“It’s done,” Brooke said, setting her phone on the desk. It would be good to spend time with her family again. She should make more of an effort with her father, so things wouldn’t be awkward at the wedding. And she really did miss her brother and sisters.

“Good.” Zoey unplugged her laptop and stood. “My client should be here soon. Cross your fingers the date went well, because if it didn’t I have no idea who I’m going to match him up with next.”

“Good luck,” Brooke said. Zoey nodded and headed toward one of the parlours. Brooke pulled up her own list of clients, clicking on one of the profiles. She was a little concerned about finding a match for this woman. Kate had been on five first dates, and hadn’t clicked with any of them. With barely one hundred clients left at Toujour, and less than half of those male, Brooke was running out of options fast.

She didn’t understand why people weren’t signing up for Toujour in droves. It was so much more than online dating. Toujour’s professional matchmakers provided relationship advice, tips on dating, and spent hours finding the perfect match for their clients. And that was only the beginning. Brooke
knew
Toujour worked. It was how she’d met Antonio, after all.

Brooke reviewed the notes she’d taken the last time she met with Kate, making sure all the keywords were there for the computer. Then she clicked a button to run a search for matches. Anything above sixty percent compatibility was considered a good potential match, and anything less than fifty percent wasn’t worth looking at.

While the computer ran Kate’s profile against the men in the database, Brooke responded to a few emails. She clicked back over to Kate’s profile. The computer had finished, and a flashing button said “five matches found.”

Five. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Brooke clicked on the button to display the matches. Two of them were below sixty percent, so she discarded those for the time being. Another one Brooke instantly knew wouldn’t work. That particular guy was one of her clients, and she knew that the couple would never mesh. That left two matches. Two. What if neither of them worked out?

Brooke took a deep breath and started going over the profiles. One of them had to be the guy for Kate. She’d never had to turn a client away, and she didn’t want to start now.

By the time Zoey returned, Brooke was looking into date options for Kate and Damon. “How’d it go?” Brooke asked.

Zoey let out a dramatic sigh. “Okay. He agreed to a second date, but I could tell he was reluctant.” Zoey set her laptop on the desk. “If we don’t get more clients soon, people are going to stop renewing their memberships for the sole reason that they’ve already dated everyone here.”

“I know.” Brooke chewed her lip, wondering what Charlotte, Toujour’s owner and founder, would try to do next about the lack of business.

“Hey, are we still going to the anniversary gala on Saturday?” Zoey asked. “Someone asked me out, and I wanted to double check before telling him no.”

“We’re still going,” Brooke said. “Don’t ditch me now.”

Zoey rolled her eyes. “I’m not ditching you. I just wanted to make sure nothing had changed.” She flashed a grin. “I can probably meet way richer guys at the gala anyway. This guy was only a junior partner at a law firm.”

Brooke laughed. “You’re impossible.”

“My grandma always said it’s just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor one. I’m taking her advice to heart.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Brooke twisted her engagement ring
around and around on her finger, anxiously watching the red carpet for signs of Luke’s arrival. She’d spent all morning at his apartment, trying to convince him he needed to attend, and only left to get ready when Mitch arrived to take over babysitting duties.

Zoey’s hand clamped over Brooke’s. Zoey arched an eyebrow, her eyes looking larger than normal with the dark, smoky eye makeup. “Stop that, or the press will think you’re breaking off the engagement. Mitch said they’re on their way.”

Brooke pulled the wrap tighter around her shoulders. “Sorry. I’m just nervous. There are so many ways tonight could go wrong.” The gala needed to be flawless. Despite Luke’s blasé attitude, Brooke was worried about his position with the company. She’d read the articles, and knew investors were antsy. She also knew that if she appeared in the papers, she’d be in hot water with Antonio. And her fiancé had put up with enough the last month. “We don’t need a repeat of the tabloids last weekend.”

“Well, let’s hope Luke shows up on his best behavior. If worse comes to worst, I’ll cause a distraction.”