“I texted you,” I blurted, my heart ready to do somersaults. “I texted Caleb’s business card and ID.” Relief like I’d never felt washed through me.Maybe it isn’t as hopeless as I thought?
“Want me to put him in your rotation?” I had his number! In the whirlwind of last night, I’d completely forgotten I’d texted Abby his information from his phone.
“Rotation?”
“For the speed dating.” I opened and shut my mouth. “He’s signed up for it. I looked him up. Did you not know?”
“No, I did,” I cut in because I didn’t want her to think badly of Caleb. “Umm…” I pressed my lips together. “If he checks in for the event, yeah, I mean, if you can.”
“Checks in?” Abby’s brow rose.
“He had an emergency this morning with his daughter,” I shared.
“Maybe he came back?” she suggested. I shrugged because the last thing I wanted to do was get my hopes up.
“Maybe.” My smile felt tight, and I knew she noticed.
“You’re worth driving back here for, Rosie,” she added quietly.
“I know.” I did. But Cassie could have been seriously injured, and he might have to take care of her. “But sometimes… life happens. Reality checks and all that.” I hated using his words, but they were true. Abby’s phone pinged once, twice, and then it was like the thing was about to blow up.
“Shit. I gotta go. The hockey player is here.” She rubbed her forehead. “He’s a bit of a diva.” I made a face, and she laughed. “I’ll see you down there. In like an hour?”
“Sounds good.” I hugged her, and when Abby reached the door, I called out her name. “Do you think when you get a chance, you could send me his card and number?”
“You didn’t get his—“ Thankfully for me and unfortunately for her, her phone started to ring. “Shit. It’s Harrison Storm.” She rolled her neck. That was the boss who grated her nerves with all his rules. “I’ll get that to you as soon as I can. I gotta go.”
“Go! Go! I’ll see you later!” I waved and shut the door behind her.
I had a way to find him other than going on social media and stalking him like some kind of weirdo. Not that I hadn’t already tried that. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly while standing by the huge floor-to-ceiling window that faced the lake. It might have been pouring rain last night, but the new day had been relatively nice. Mild weather. The sun had even come out a couple of times. Even now, the resort ground, both inside and out, was bustling with people. The place was completely booked with singles ready to mingle.
Too bad I didn’t feel single and was not in the mood to mingle anymore.
11.Rosie
“And I would like everyone to give a special welcome to Houston Lonestar!“ The crowd went wild before they even said the hockey player’s name. The guy looked in my direction and winked. He really thought very highly of himself. I half clapped as I looked around the fully sold-out venue, trying to catch a glimpse of the most perfect baby-blue eyes but came up short. That small bubble of hope that had come to life after talking to Abby was slowly deflating.
“And now, give a warm welcome to Moonlit Pines’ very own supermodel, Rose Walker!” the MC called. I stood and waved out to the crowd, a fake smile pasted on my face, before sitting back down.
The MC went on to explain the rules of the evening and just how speed dating would work. Names had been randomly shuffled, for the most part. I had a feeling Abby was trying her hand at playing matchmaker with a couple of people. I could only imagine who she’d set me up with.
There would be ten lightning rounds.
Five minutes each with questions in hand to help the conversations get going. That would take a little over an hour and a half with a small ten-minute break. From those tenpeople, you would put the top three people you would like to keep getting to know into the app for the event. If your names matched up, you were sent to one ballroom, and the rest were sent to the other before the wall that separated the two spaces would be pulled back after an hour so that everyone could party and dance the night away.
It had sounded kind of fun before last night. now sounded worse than going in for a root canal.
“Okay, now, ladies! Go take your seats!” the MC called out.
I stood begrudgingly. Everything inside of me was yelling at me to go back to my place and call him. To check in and see how his daughter was doing and apologize for running away like a scaredy cat.
My eyes caught Abby’s, and she winked.
I couldn’t disappear.
Not when I’d promised Abby.
I watched as she looked at her phone, then me. Something about it made my feet freeze just before I stepped off the stage. She turned to the main door, where I noticed three very big, muscled security guards dressed in black suits stood. But even as tall and muscular as they were, there was no missing the man on the other side facing off with them.
