“No one, Courtney has never been sick before. Is this going to be a problem?” Fiona asked.
“No. Go and record your diary,” Kat said, leading Fiona to a small area that was cordoned off with pipe and drape. Inside was a video camera and monitor with instructions taped to the desk. Kat quickly showed her how to use the equipment. “I’ll be waiting right outside.”
“Okay,” Fiona said after she turned the camera on. She looked at herself on the video monitor and smiled at her own reflection. She was wearing a dress from her father’s classic haute couture collection and it suited her well. She kept BellaAnn tucked in her arms as she leaned forward and pressed the Record button.
“Hello, I’m Fiona McCaw, fashion designer by day, single mom by night. I signed up with Matchmakers, Inc. because now that I have my beautiful baby girl, I’m ready to settle down and expand my family with a husband who can be a father to her. I . . . I’ve dated some, but most of the men I meet are married to their jobs or too vain to put anyone else first. There’s only room for two divas in my family, and Bella Ann and I have taken those roles. I hope my match is tall, handsome and ready for the adventure that life in the fashion world can be.”
She clicked off the camera and leaned back, looking down at her daughter. “I hope we find a man who can love us both.”
Alex Cannon stoodat the bar in the famous Ramsfeld East restaurant and waited for his match to appear. He’d signed up with the matchmaker because he seemed to be good at meeting women for the short term—usually incredibly beautiful ones who were attracted to his brainy masculinity. That’s what his last girlfriend, Loni, had called it. He had no idea what brainy masculinity was, but it sounded stupid to him. The truth was long term, he seemed to have difficulty sustaining relationships.
That’s when he’d realized that if he was ever going to have a family, he needed help. The supermodel types who liked the money he had to spend on them and driving around in his Bugatti Veyron were okay for a good time, but he wanted more. He couldn’t pinpoint when this restlessness had manifested itself, but he knew it had something to do with his mother’s health scare last year.
He wanted his kids to know their grandparents and if he didn’t settle down soon, he was very afraid they wouldn’t. So he’d gone to a matchmaker and had somehow been selectedfor this show. He didn’t mind having his life aired in public on reality TV. In fact, he was hoping that it would spur sales of his latest gaming app for the iPhone and iPad.
Developing games was his life and he was damn good at it. Hence, the expensive cars and houses on both coasts. But money couldn’t buy him the family he secretly yearned for. Most of his money had been made in first-person shooting games. Games where the player hunted down the bad guys and saved the world for democracy. His mom often said that timing was everything and Alex's Terrorist Hunter game had released right after 9/11.
“Hello, Alexander,” a tall, thin woman said as she approached him. “I’m Willow Stead, the producer ofSexy & Single. Do you have any questions before you meet your match?”
“Call me Alex,” he said. “And no. I’m ready to get this started.”
“Great. Did you record your diary already?”
“Yes,” he said, forcing himself not to grimace. He was never going to be 100 percent comfortable talking into a camera about himself.
“Then I think we’re ready. Jack Crown will be in later to record his part with you and your match. Are you ready to see her for the first time?”
He nodded. He was more than ready for this. He took a deep breath as Willow gave him some last-minute instructions about the cameras and where he was supposed to look. At that point, she moved out of the frame. She had straight blonde hair which she'd pulled back on the top in some kind of little clip and then the rest of it feel in waves to her shoulders. Her eyes were a brilliant blue color...aquamarine, he thought, just starting at her. Then Willow said, “Action!”
He pivoted to face the door and almost stopped breathing entirely. While he was used to pretty women, the one walking toward him was simply breathtaking. She moved like she ownedthe room and there was no way she didn’t. He knew every eye was on her and he didn’t mind, sincehereyes were on him.
She was super-model pretty and moved like someone who was very at home with every eye in the place on her. Had Mona not listened to what he'd said? He was glad he'd gotten a looker for a mate but he was searching for a wife not just another gorgeous piece of arm candy.
He stood up just a little taller, very glad that he’d followed his PE teacher father’s advice and worked out every day. Even though he was basically the king geek in his office, he had made sure he was still in his prime physically as well.
“Hello, I’m Fiona McCaw,” his date said, holding one delicate hand out to him. Her voice was very feminine—slightly high-pitched and just about perfect.
“I’m Alex Cannon,” he said, taking her hand and bringing it to his mouth to brush a kiss against the back of it.
Keeping hold of her hand, he drew it into the crook of his elbow and led her toward the patio where he knew their table had been set for lunch. “What do you do, Fiona?”
“I’m a fashion designer,” she said. “I have my own line within my father’s fashion house, House of McCaw.”
“House of McCaw?” Alex said. “I think I’ve heard of that.”
She laughed and the sound of it made him want to smile. “You more than likely have. He’s in all the major department stores.”
“Would I have seen any of your designs?” he asked, as they crossed the threshold out onto the patio.
“Doubtful, unless you follow high fashion,” she said.
“I don’t,” he admitted.
“Okay, cut. This is great, people, but we need to reset the cameras”“Feel free to talk with each other while I get the cameras set up.”
“Can I go get Bella Ann?” Fiona asked.
“Not yet. I want Alex to meet her on camera for the first time.”
