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“Absolutely. Please, I know when I’m in over my head. Just tell me what to do.”
Mick grinned. He liked a woman who could ask for help. Although, he mostly just liked being able to help.
After his parents moved to Florida and most of his friends got married, life was more than a little on the dull side. Now a lot of his friends were also having kids. Even the hunting trips had all but completely stalled. Life was passing him by, but nothing he seemed to do ever brought him any closer to finding someone who meshed with his— tastes? Was that the right word? It wasn’t like there was a dating site for bearded dudes in flannel who were also movie geeks.
He picked up the desk top and stood it on its side. “Here. Just stand behind this and hold it still.”
“Got it.” She stepped behind the large board and took over holding it upright.
Mick knelt to the floor and dug through the pile of pieces until he found the one marked A-2. “So what is Matched? Clothes?”
The amused laughter that spilled from her luscious red lips made his heart skip a beat in his chest. He felt like a teenager crushing on a hot girl. God, was this why Jack acted the way he did all the time?
“No clothes. I’m a matchmaker.”
“Like for dating?” He chewed the inside of his cheek and fitted the next piece into place. The desk was coming along well in spite of the crappy directions.
“Yes. Nothing better than finding the right two people and putting them together. Are you single?”
“I—”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just…I’d be happy to extend my business services to you for free in exchange for the help with my furniture.”
“How would that work exactly?”
“We’d meet and talk about what you were looking for. I’d come up with a group of good candidates and then we’d talk about a test date with one of them.” She continued chattering on about her process of selection and how she’d helped sixty-two couples find that “right” someone last year.
Mick kept trying to decide if throwing himself on the mercy of a matchmaker from out of town was better than just trying to find a girl on his own. What could she possibly do that he couldn’t?
“Well?”
He looked up into her bright blue expectant eyes and gulped. Forget the candidates, he was more interested inher. She wasn’t giving off any hint that she was mutually attracted though. Beards and flannel probably weren’t her thing. Probably not any of the movies he watched either, judging by the flashy heels and tailored clothes that fit her like a second skin.
“I…uh…I have this event I’m going to in a few weeks. I need a date for that, but someone who won’t go spilling the beans to everyone in town. It’s a problem.”
“An event here in Somewhere?” She tipped her head to the side just a hair, her eyes sparkling with interest.
“No. LA.”
“Oh,” she answered. “Sounds like a challenge.”
He fit another piece of her desk into place and secured the last few screws. Very minimalistic. No drawers. Just slick and white. He stood from the floor and took hold of the top where she held. “It has presented a problem.”
She released the desk and stepped back, eyeing him carefully.
He lifted the desk and rotated it so the side walls supported the top. “There you go. At least you have a desk. Not sure I have time to do all this tonight, but I’d be happy to help you some tomorrow.” The lights flickered through another crack of thunder, much closer this time.
“Thank you. Would you like to meet for coffee in the morning to discuss your expectations for your match? There’s a place call the crumb or something just around the corner.” She flinched beneath yet another roll of thunder. Then the steady patter of rain followed.
“The Wild Crumb,” he said, letting the chuckle rumble up from his deep chest. Matchmaking. Was he really going to do this? Let her do this? A stranger?
“I know you have doubts, but I promise, I’m really good at what I do. I ran a multi-million dollar matchmaking company in Dal—” Her face darkened and the smiles she’d been flashing so freely disappeared into the gloom. “Sorry. I’m not supposed to—I can’t—”
“Fine by me. But why would you leave something great to come to Somewhere? We’re not even a fraction of the Dallas scene. In fact, I’m not even sure we have a scene.”
“Ugly divorce. And someone said Somewhere was a good place to get a fresh start. So here I am.”
“Well, welcome to town.”
