She’d been taking care of me all week. She hadn’t pressured me to take the job offer. But after doing some soul-searching, I decided to accept the position.
How could I not? It would be stupid to shoot myself in the foot because I got a broken heart. The best revenge was success. I would use the job to take the first step up the ladder to what I hoped was an amazing career.
After I accepted, I had to wait a week while the transition was put into place. And I spent that week wallowing on the couch eating ice cream and watching terrible reality TV while trying not to think about Dane.
It hadn’t worked. I’d thought about Dane constantly.
Tomorrow, I would go back as the new Head of Matchmaking. It was a major promotion, the exact kind of job I’d dreamed about when I’d moved to New York. And all I could think about was how I would have to walk past Dane’s office every day. I would see him in meetings and have to pretend my heart wasn’t broken every time I heard his voice.
“You should be excited,” Abby said as we pushed through the crowd. “This is huge, Ina. Your own department. Your own team. You’re going to be amazing.”
“I know. I’m excited.” I pulled my coat tighter against the February cold. “But it hasn’t exactly fixed the giant crack in my heart.”
“Nothing’s going to fix that except time. Or Dane groveling. Whichever comes first.”
We finally made it to a spot where we could see the screens.
“Why are we here, exactly?” I asked. “Once that commercial airs, my face is going to be out there. I don’t want to be recognized.”
She waved her hand. “No one is going to notice you. I’m sure there was some serious movie magic. You’ll be unrecognizable.”
“Hey, not cool. I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”
Abby laughed. “You’ll be fine.”
The crowd around us was dense and in love, wearing lots of red and pinks, holding hands, and taking selfies. The energy was electric, and normally, I would love being in the thick of it. But I was so not in the mood for love and happiness. I wanted to be miserable just a little while longer.
Then, at exactly seven o’clock, the screens went dark. A hush fell over the crowd. And then there we were.
The commercial started exactly as I remembered from the shoot. Dane sitting in that ridiculous throne Lucas had insisted on, saying his lines about being the Most Eligible Bachelor. Then me, walking into frame, taking his hand.
The kiss on his cheek.
His smile.
The tagline:Love finds you when you least expect it. Find yours at Cupid’s Arrow.
I’d seen this already, in rough cuts and final edits. It was beautiful. We did look like a couple completely in love. What a fool I had been.
People around us were oohing and aahing, pointing at the screens, taking pictures. A few people were already pulling out their phones to look up Cupid’s Arrow.
The commercial ended, and I turned away, blinking back tears I’d sworn I wouldn’t cry. I was done. Abby could stay if she wanted to, but I needed to go home.
Dane’s voice boomed from the screens, and I froze.
“Wait,” Abby said, grabbing my arm. “Look.”
I turned back slowly. Dane was on every screen in Times Square.
It wasn’t the commercial I had seen. He was sitting in what looked like his office, the camera close enough that I could see the circles under his eyes.
He looked wrecked, which was very much how I was feeling.
“My name is Dane Kavanagh,” he said, his voice steady but raw. “I built Cupid’s Arrow on a simple concept. I believed love was an unhelpful concept. That compatibility could be calculated. I believed if you had the right data you could predict who will work together.”
The crowd around us had gone quiet, everyone staring at the screens.
“I believed that because it was safe,” Dane continued. “Because data doesn’t hurt you. Logic doesn’t make you vulnerable. I built a billion-dollar company on that concept, and it works. Thousands of people have found love through Cupid’s Arrow.”
