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Right. I had no clue what they were talking about because I was too busy fantasizing about what's under her clothes. Men don't notice those things anyway. I'm about to point that out when I catch my sisters exchanging glances. Suspicious glances.
When Pippa says, "I have no clue how that woman is still single," I finally catch up with the program and groan.
"Please tell me you didn't recommend me to work with her just to set me up."
"Not just to set you up," Pippa clarifies. "She's really good at what she does."
"I thought you'd give up your matchmaking ways after getting married," I tell Pippa honestly. My sister was married once before, and that ended with a nasty divorce. After that, she had a hand in my oldest brothers getting married, but we all thought matchmaking was a therapy of sorts for her, that she'd give up after she found her own happy ending. Apparently not.
"What gave you that idea?" Pippa says, genuinely shocked. "I had to take a break what with the pregnancy and the birth, but now I'm back in my full capacity as a matchmaker. Alice is my helper."
"Since when did you go over to the dark side?" I ask my other sister.
Alice shrugs. "It's fun."
I wolf down some more roast duck, mystified about not seeing through this before. My mother's ability to read other people has unfortunately only been inherited by my sisters.
"Girls, please stay out of this."
Alice tilts her head in Pippa's direction. "I liked him more when he was clueless. He was a much easier prey."
"But you've been single for so long," Pippa remarks.
"It's not a disease, you know," I deadpan.
"You're not still hung up on Felicity, are you?" Alice asks bluntly. "You two were together for a long time, and then you broke up out of the blue."
Yeah, that's not exactly the whole story. Felicity and I started dating in our senior year of college. A few years later, I thought it was time I proposed. Sure, we were still young, but I could see us building our future together. On our anniversary, I planned a long, romantic evening, which ended with us on the Golden Gate Bridge, me on one knee, popping the big question, and Felicity saying no.
I was dumbstruck. She said something about marriage being like shackles and that she felt it would hold her back from pursuing her dreams. When I asked what those dreams were, she said she didn't know yet, but wanted to discover herself.
Every word felt like a slap. She'd never, not once, shared those thoughts with me. She was a teacher and seemed more than happy with her job. I thought we were building something together. Obviously, I was delusional. She thanked me for
the proposal because it made it clearer that she needed to be alone for a while. Among our irreconcilable differences, she mentioned that I had it all figured out, but she needed to figure herself out, alone. She emphasized the word “alone” a few times more, as if she thought my skull was too thick and she needed to drill the rejection into my brain.
Afterward, I tried to make sense of everything, to gauge if she gave me signs and I had missed them. I came up blank, concluding that women's minds are up there with the world's greatest mysteries.
I never told my family or anyone else that I proposed, because really, my ego can't take any pitying looks.
The opportunity to move to Hong Kong and expand Bennett Enterprises there came up a few months later, and I jumped on it. A change of scenery was just what I needed. Working hours in Hong Kong were long and brutal because we were just starting out there, but I welcomed the workload. It didn't leave me time for much personal life, only casual dating, which was a much-needed change. I intend to keep that change now that I'm back in San Francisco. Casual means superficial, and superficial can't lead to any ego bruising or heartbreak.
"No, I'm not hung up on Felicity," I tell my sisters. "I haven't spoken to her in years."
"Excellent." Alice claps her hands. "You can start fresh, then."
"What are my chances of convincing you to give this a rest?"
"Zero." Pippa smiles sweetly at me. I have come to fear that smile. It usually means she has plans. "But we've done our part, so aside from the occasional nagging, this is up to you."
Yeah, that sounds very reassuring. I do like Victoria; she's fun and gives good banter even when she's trying not to. Not to mention those perfect curves of hers are burned on my retinas. I've had more fun on the phone with her than I’ve had talking to a woman in years. But I have no time or desire for anything more than casual right now, and even though I've only met Victoria once and spoken to her twice, I suspect she's not the type who does that. I wouldn’t try to do casual with a woman who’s raising two kids and a teenager. I’m not an asshole.
Placing my empty take-out box on the table, I say before either of my sisters gets any more dangerous ideas, "I'll be going, then."
"Can you drive me to my place?" Alice asks, jumping down from the counter. "My car is in for routine maintenance and—"
"You like being driven around by your brothers?" I ask.
Alice grins. "What good is it having a gazillion brothers if they don't even drive you around?"
