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After a few hours of crying, I do what I always do at times like these.
I go to the place where the world makes sense. Only it doesn’t, not anymore.
Work is supposed to be the one place I’m in control. Instead, I don’t have a clue what any of it means.
For hours, I go through the code. I look at recent matches. I read testimonials. People love the app. Sure, there are users who don’t manage to find someone, but they’re few and far between. They’re people like me.
Too picky, too difficult, too cold.
They just aren’t cut out for love.
We’re the problem, not the app.
I stare all afternoon. Into the evening. Until my cell buzzes with an alarm. Fifteen minutes until dinner.
Right.
I dress and do my makeup as quickly as possible. My teal sheath is a little too formal for the resort, a little too wrinkled to look professional, and without my usual hair dryer, my bob isn’t in straight-line shape. But I have wine-colored lipstick and dark eyeliner, and are there any problems that can’t be solved by thick eyeliner and lace-up boots?
Well, anything besides the one-hundred-degree afternoon temperatures.
Despite the heat, I don the boots. I even grab a leather jacket. I’m staying in the air-conditioned hotel anyway.
Around the corner, down the elevator, to the lobby bar where Willa and Mr. Perfect, Willa’s boyfriend, are waiting.
Willa greets me with an extremely professional handshake. She introduces her boyfriend with the same business-like demeanor. This is Xavier, he’s a great deal. Let’s start the bidding at a hundred thousand dollars.
He is handsome. I’ll give her that much. He’s the kind of guy I normally date. He’s tall, with dark hair and dark eyes, and smart-hot glasses that fit Willa’s nerdy energy. Unlike the guys I normally date, he’s wearing his suit. A subtle navy with a beautiful, vibrant magenta tie.
To match our app.
Because, according to Willa, he’s a match.
A perfect match.
For me. Myonlyperfect match.
Xavier isn’t her boyfriend. We were wrong about that.
He’s her brother. And this isn’t just a business meeting.
It’s a setup.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Deanna
After a few minutes of small talk, Jake and Lexi join. They say goodbye quickly and go off to some other restaurant in Palm Springs. Willa leaves for her room. It’s been a long day. She’s done with business. Whatever.
The Wilder siblings whisper about something, then Xavier reintroduces himself, and he leads me to the restaurant.
It’s a perfect spot for a date. A wide-open room with round, linen-covered, candlelit tables. A romantic atmosphere, scored by classical music and quiet conversation.
He’s a perfect gentleman every step of the way. He pulls out my chair, he lays his napkin on his lap, he suggests a dish but doesn’t press when I order something else.
He smiles with the perfect amount of warmth. Enough to invite me. Not so much as to overwhelm me.
