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“No.” I shake my head. “But that could just be the stick up your butt. It’s really time you get that thing surgically removed.”
Ben’s scowl deepens.
Uh oh.
“Get it done, Juliette, or you may find that your time in this room is coming to an end.”
“Alright,” I say and take the laptop from him. “You have no sense of humor anymore.”
Ben’s back pocket starts to ring. He pushes past me as he leaves and answers the call on the way out the door.
“Yes, Margot,” he says by way of greeting. “I’ve seen it.”
I wait until he’s gone before I turn back to the window. The guy from earlier finishes hanging the sign and steps back to admire his work. Ben may have been the first to announce the speed dating event, but in all honesty, I think the mixer idea is a much better idea. It’s more relaxed and easier for people to come and go rather than having to sign up to participate.
The guy turns around and looks up towards my window. We lock eyes for a moment, and something flickers in my chest that I don’t recognize. And before I can put too much thought into trying to figure out what that feeling meant, I remember I’m just wearing a tank top and pajama shorts. Quickly I take a few steps backward until the backs of my knees run into the side of the bed and sit down.
I’ve been in my own little funk since I moved in that I’ve never taken notice of any of the workers at the bar across the street. Guilt hits me double time for not paying more attention to the people causing my brother so much stress and for thinking for half a moment that this guy was cute.
His haircut looks more like he should be working on Wall Street wearing some fancy suit that costs more than my car. Instead, he’s wearing jeans and a flannel shirt.
A loose red heart-shaped balloon floats up past my window, reminding me that Ben gave me a job to do. The last thing I need is to get distracted by the cute guy across the street.
I open the laptop to look up a nearby party store for decorations. But there is already a window open on the screen. Memories from last night come back to me in hazy flashes— the dark fruity scent of wine as I pour the last of the burgundy liquid into my glass, the melodic sounds of Taylor Swift singing in the background, and me deciding that since I can’t get my professional life together, my only other option is to find love on mySmittendating profile.
The screen announces in cheerful font that I already have a new match ready to fall in love with me.
2
Roman
They all called me crazy for giving up my six-figure job on Wall Street to move back here and open my own bar. I used to take calculated risks with money every day, but it was never my money before this venture. The only one who believed in me was my cousin, Maddie. She didn’t tell me I was risking everything I’ve worked for my whole life to throw it away on a pipe dream. She just nodded and said that she was here for me with anything I might need.
Maddie had also been the black sheep of the family, choosing her own path and never settling for anything that didn’t make her truly happy. Thankfully helping me run this place made her happy, and she didn’t have any plans to go anywhere.
It was a struggle to get this place up and going from the beginning. Our realtor showed us location after location, but nothing felt just right until we walked into this place. With exposed brick, floor-to-ceiling windows, and lots of space, it was perfect.
The building used to be an old textile factory, but with Maddie’s imagination and design skills, and my Wall Street earnings footing the bill, we were able to restore and give this place life again. The only downside— is my neighbor across the road.
Despite my attempts to assure him that there is, in fact, enough business to go around for the both of us, he’s declared me enemy number one in his book. After our first and only interaction, he just grunts or growls in my direction whenever we see one another out on the street. We could’ve helped each other if he wasn’t such a pig-headed douchebag. So now, I spend more time and effort doing everything I can not to go out of business in my first year. I don’t have the built-in regular clientele that he has, having taken over the bar from his father. I have to build everything up from scratch.
“I think you lost one,” Maddie says, walking out the front door and pointing over my shoulder.
I turn and see a red heart-shaped balloon as it makes its great escape from the rest. It floats upwards past the window where the beautiful woman was standing just moments ago. I’ve seen her around as she comes and goes, but I’m worried that if I approach her, Ben Capilano will burn my bar to the ground.
“Dammit,” I groan in irritation. Everything that could go wrong this morning has gone wrong. I hand Maddie the rest of the balloons to take inside.
“You don’t think it’s too much?” she asks as the wind picks up and the balloons whip around her head.
“I need this place to look inviting. It’s nearly Valentine’s Day, and no one wants to be the last single loser on the most commercialized romantic day of the year.”
“Careful, cousin,” Maddie says, pushing a balloon from out of her face. “Talking like that, you will have all the women in a fifty-mile radius swooning.”
I glare at her. “I’m serious.”
“Me too.” She holds the balloons out as far away from her as she can from her face. “Need I remind you that you are a ‘single loser’ as well?”
“I don’t care about romance,” I lie. “I care about making this business successful. It’s my first and only priority.”
