He was a very physical man, she realized. She was fascinated by how he moved and just about everything he did.
“My parents are getting older and last year my mom had a minor stroke,” he said. “I’m thirty-three and I had always meant to start a family by this time.”
“And this seemed the easiest way?” she asked. She was only 25 so she didn't feel the age pressure to have a family. Bella Ann had just happened along.
“Yes, it did. I’ve tried online dating,” he said. “But that’s hit or miss. I think people don’t feel they have to be honest when a computer is asking them questions.”
“That makes sense. I know I was very careful when I was talking to the matchmaker.”
“Me, too. I had already compiled a list of compatible attributes that I wanted my match to have. But she didn’t ask me for that,” he said.
“Me, either. She asked me a lot of questions about myself,” she said.
“Me, too. I was afraid you’d be a computer programming whiz who never left her desktop,” Alex said with a half grin.
She smiled back at him. “I was afraid you’d be a devastatingly handsome man who only talked about himself.”
“You aren’t like that,” he said. “You want people to think you’re a total diva, but in reality you’re not.”
“What makes you so sure?” she asked.
“I’ve seen you with Bella Ann.”
“She is the game changer,” Fiona admitted. “She completely changed my life. I’d been drifting before.”
“So that’s why you went to a matchmaker?” he asked.
“Yes. I looked at my parents’ relationship and I realized that it was my dad who kept my mom on track. Without him, she’d be a basket case like me.”
“You’re hardly a basket case,” he said. “I think you know that. So am I too plain for you?”
She had to smile because this was Alex at his blunt best. ’“Not at all. You have to know you’re attractive,” she said. “Since we met, I did a little research. I saw some pictures of you with a couple of very sexy women.”
“You googled me?” he asked, looking just a tad arrogant.
She had and she’d been blown away by how much he’d accomplished in his short life. He’d started and sold threedifferent internet companies before beginning his latest venture developing gaming apps. “I did. Did you?”
“Yes. As soon as I left you the first afternoon,” he admitted. “I was very impressed with all you’ve achieved in your career.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I was impressed by you, too. But I see that you’ve dated plenty of sexy women, so why did you go to a matchmaker?”
“Ah, well, I wanted someone who... was interesting and who shared my values.”
“And you didn’t think those women would?” she asked.
“I wasn’t sure. I knew that sometimes . . . well, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and say you want something. The women I dated seemed to only be saying what they thought I wanted to hear . . . Anyway, back to not lying to a matchmaker. I figured if a woman had gone to one and been honest about what she wanted, ’I’d have a better chance of finding a compatible match.”
She understood what he was trying to say in that awkward way of his. And those few words helped to allay some of her apprehension about him.
“It was the same for me,” she said. “I wanted a man who wanted kids before he knew me or my daughter. I wanted someone who was family-centric.”
“I don’t know that I am, but I’ll certainly try to be,” he said.
“That’s all I ask,” she said. “Next weekend is Mother’s Day. Would you like to invite your parents to join me and my parents for brunch?”
“I’d like that,” he said. “Would you be willing to do it at my house on Long Island?”
“My parents live in the Hamptons,” she said.
