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Leah snorted. “I’m sure some guyswouldpay that much for sex.”
“Yeah, but there are other services specifically for that. They don’t need a matchmaker if they want to get laid. So it gives me a bit more confidence about the whole thing and, frankly, I’m sick of getting my hopes up every time I meet a guy only to find out that they’re either A, a jerk who thinks my only purpose in life is to pop out kids or B, just looking for a fuck buddy.”
She let out a long breath, trying to shake off the frustration coiling in her body. The whole “life partner” thing had become a bit of a bee in her bonnet of late. Maybe it was because her dog grooming business was going so well—August had achieved all the major goals she’d set for herself in her first five years of business—that she was hungry for something else to tick off her perfect life checklist.
August was the kind of person who found it impossible to sit still. For her, the worst thing in the world was a vacation where you were expected to relax all the time, like those terrible ones at the beach where there was nothing to do. It made her skin crawl even thinking about it. Being a perpetual busy bee, she always had to be working toward something.
Did this have something to do with the fact that her parents had always made her feel like she wasn’t good enough, and she was determined to prove them wrong? Maybe. Probably.
Definitely.
But she used it as fuel to work hard and improve her situation every chance she got. When life gave you lemons, you squeezed those suckers and made a Long Island Iced Tea and then you got on with achieving your goals.
“I’m curious to hear all about it,” Leah said. “Do you have to meet with them?”
“Yeah. I’ve got an appointment next week.” Her palms were already sweaty and she’d mentally changed her outfit ten times. “Am I being ridiculous? Is it old-fashioned to want to find a partner so badly?”
“No.” Leah shot her a look and shook her head. “Why do you think dating services even exist? Wanting to share your life with someone isn’t old-fashioned.”
“And even though I complained about the guys who just want sex and nothing else...itwouldbe nice to have someone rattle my headboard.” She sighed. “It’s been so long.”
Leah giggled. “Smutty monster books not cutting it anymore?”
“There’s only so far the imagination can take a person.” August grinned. “Speaking of which, did you read that one I sent you the link to?”
“The one with the blue aliens with the horns? I read the damn thing in one sitting.” Leah covered her face with both hands, to hide her blushing. “Good lord, it was so wrong it was right! I couldn’t put it down.”
August cackled. Leah usually stuck to sweeter books where the characters didn’t jump into bed right away, if at all. It baffled August. Who the hell wanted to wait a hundred and fifty pages for things to heat up? Her impatient ass wanted to get to the good bits as soon as possible!
“I’ll convert you into a steamy romance reader yet.”
“So long as you don’t give me any books where the guy calls her ‘kitten.’ Ugh, what’s with these awful pet names? I can’t stand it.” Leah wrinkled her nose.
“Ha!Petname, get it.” August made aboom tishmotion with her hands and Leah shook her head.
“If Will called me kitten, I would lock him out of the house,” Leah said, referring to her new boyfriend. “A woman should not be named after an animal.”
“Frankly, a guy can call me whatever pet name he wants so long as he knows how to take me to Pleasuretown and won’t bail as soon as it’s over,” August said, standing and reaching for the empty mugs sitting on the coffee table. “He can call me Puss in Boots for all I care.”
“Make sure you tell the matchmaker that,” Leah quipped. “Must be tall, dark and handsome...and knows the way to Pleasuretown.”
August chuckled to herself as she carried the empty cups into the kitchen. Despite feeling rattled by the whole “going viral” thing, coming here to hang out with her best friend had certainly helped take her emotions down a notch. It would be easy to whine and feel sorry for herself, but August preferred to take matters into her own hands.
Next week, she would meet with the matchmaker, lay all her desires on the table and give up swiping right for good.
“Puss in Boots, huh? I have to admit, I’ve never used that one before.”
The masculine voice made August jump and she almost lost the mugs in her hands. Whirling around in the kitchen, she saw Leah’s older brother, Keaton, leaning against the wall.
He was wearing black suit pants and a crisp white shirt that fitted to his shoulders and chest like a dream. A gleaming black-and-yellow tie hung around his neck, and a heavy silver watch adorned one wrist where his sleeve was rolled back. The understated yet undeniably tailored outfit screamed money. And not just money like her parents tried so hard to exude with their secondhand BMW and consignment designer goods and snooty attitudes, but fancy office on Wall Street money. First-class-tickets-to-anywhere-in-the-world money.
Do-whatever-it-takes-to-win money.
“Why are you eavesdropping on girl talk, anyway?” she asked, pulling the dishwasher open and placing the mugs inside. “Hoping to find some tips?”
The truth of the matter was that Keaton Sax did not need tips aboutanything, especially not on how to attract a woman. With broad shoulders, hair the color of a perfect cup of espresso and vivid green eyes, the man was a certified lady magnet. This only served to make his perpetually single—andnotlooking to mingle—status all the more perplexing. Well, it was perplexing to some people, but August had known Keaton for years.
And she knew the real reason he was permanently off the market.
