“Timing.” I answered. The week before, or the week after… maybe I wouldn’t have given a second thought to turning Rafael down, as I did with other clients who tried to hit on me. However, that particular week— the day before he came in, actually— I’d gotten one of the worst phone calls I’d ever had to endure. One of my first clients, the first ones to trust me, passed away. The wife was the one who called to tell me, through heart-wrenching sobs, that her husband, who she’d only had three short years with, had been in an accident he didn’t make it survive. It was devastating news, and my heart broke for her and their child, but in the back of my mind, all I could think about was the fact that I would never know the kind of grief she was feeling, because I’d never known that kind of love. What kind of crazy ass person is jealous of someone’s bereavement? That made me feel hopeless, and scared, and… desperate.
“You’re telling me Rafael was in the right place at the right time?”
I shrugged. “Basically. I was in the right frame of mind to be completely reckless. If it weren’t him… it would have been the same disaster with someone else. That’s what my entire dating life has been, a series of disasters. I’m over it.”
“So you … give up?”
Turning to her, I nodded my head. “Yep. I give up.”
I was relieved when the timer went off on the oven, and like clockwork, I heard my dad and sister’s voices entering the front door.
“Hey,” Lynne said, gently grabbing my hand as I stood. “I know you’re a grown woman now Victoria, but I want you to listen to me, okay?” When I nodded, she continued. “I was a lot like you, Sugar. When your daddy came along, a man was the last thing I was worried about. I had just escaped Mel’s daddy, and I was happy my little girl and I were alive. My heart was closed up like a fist, to everybody except your sister, but your daddy tried his damndest to pry his way in. I almost missed a good thing because I wouldn’t open my heart. You’re still hurting, Sugar, I get it. But you can’t walk around all locked up and expect to have a happy life. That’s not how it works.”
I gave her a small smile. “Thanks for the advice, Lynne.”
She shook her head, knowing I was going to lock her words away with the rest of the ‘shit parents say’ files. “You’ll remember it when you’re ready. But in the meantime… help me feed your greedy family.”
— 4 —
— Avery —
Dimples.
That’s the first thing I noticed about the attractive young woman staffing the front desk when I walked into Tori’s office. She looked up at me with a flirtatious smile, flipping her long hair over her shoulder.
“Welcome to Matched, cutie. What’s your name?”
I was taken aback by her casual greeting, but again, she was attractive, so I rolled with it. “Avery… I have a 1pm appointment with Tori,” I said as I approached, leaning against the high front of the desk.
“Avery Anderson?” There was something sultry about the way she said my name, letting it roll off her lips, with a little smirk at the end as she looked me up and down. I felt objectified, and shit… I kinda liked it. She couldn’t have been any older than twenty-five, so while everything I could see — big brown eyes, caramel skin, and that pretty, dimpled smile— was appealing, I was there on a mission. I couldn’t see myself doing anything other than well, doing a woman who was probably ten years younger than I was, so I decided it was best to keep the flirting to a minimum.
Still, I flashed a smile. “That’s me.”
“I’ll let Tori know you’re here. You can have a seat.” She gestured toward the couch behind me, then began tapping at the keys on the computer in front of her. While I waited for Tori, I took in my surroundings. Briefly, I wondered if she’d decorated her office suite herself. I could see her choosing the sleek, modern furniture, then accenting the space with the bohemian accessories that kept it from being cold and sterile. It felt very her.
Yeah, because you know her so well.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Anderson.”