“Bedtime Game Night?” Rachel asked, confused. “Don’t you mean board game night?”
Maddie grimaced. “No. We made the mistake of letting Matt decide on the name.”
“And it combines fun and games perfectly,” he said contentedly.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Maddie waved her hand dismissively. “The important thing is that we’re going to win today. We’ve always been lacking someone knowledgeable about plants, medicine, and nineties music, and Rachel is brilliant at everything!”
Rachel raised her hands defensively. “I only know about succulents.”
“You know the word succulents,” Matt murmured. “You’re obviously a linguist too.”
“Oh, Rachel was the smart, pretty, and popular one in school — do you know what a rare combination that is?” Maddie stated proudly. “Mom just called her Perfect Rachel. And my nickname until graduation was Herring because once I brought some fish home one day.”
“Don’t put any pressure on me, okay?” Rachel said, laughing, albeit a little strained.Perfect Rachel. God. Her mother had wanted to make her feel good, but hadn’t understood that she’d called her other two daughtersimperfectby comparison. Maddie hadn’t cared, but Lucy was probably only so successful at her job because she felt she had to prove herself to everyone, even their dead mother.
“Pressure? What do you mean, pressure?” Maddie’s eyes were wide and innocent. “The date you invited today is smart, isn’t he? You like smart men, he should be smart.”
“Why don’t you ask him directly?” Hailey suggested, nodding over Rachel’s shoulder toward the entrance.
Rachel turned, and sure enough, a tall, lanky man in his mid-thirties with cute glasses and a slightly embarrassed smile had walked through the door and was looking around. She recognized him from his photo, so she rose and strolled over to him, smiling.
“Hey, I’m Rachel, the woman you’re looking for,” she said, extending her hand.
His shoulders slumped in relief, and he returned her smile. “Hi, Rachel, I’m Dwayne.” His gaze wandered over her briefly, and his cheeks turned pink. “You look even better than your photo.”
She laughed, and a comfortable, familiar calm spread through her.
This man radiated security. He seemed friendly, uncomplicated, calm. That was what his questionnaire hadrevealed, and sure enough, she could see it at first glance. This was exactly what she needed to get her life back on track.
“Thanks. Shall we sit?”
“Of course.” He glanced hesitantly at the table she’d gotten up from. “So we’re not alone? There are more people I need to meet?”
“Yes, like I said, it’s quiz night. You play it on teams. Is that a problem?”
“Oh, no. No, no.” He smiled again. “Let’s sit.”
“Okay.” She let him go first, her neck strangely tingling. Slowly, she turned and noticed Connor looking at her.
He had raised both eyebrows, appearing amused.
God, why the hell did he look amused?
Chapter Four
Shamans, astrologers, and couples' therapists – they’re the Holy Trinity of nonsense! Beware!
Tips and tricks for every situation from divorce lawyer Connor Stone
Your face, every word you say, and your whole body — are the Holy Trinity of shut up. - Rachel
So. The couples' therapist was into shy, gray nerds who preferred water with four lemon slices to alcohol, and didn’t say anything for an entire hour, just smiled nervously while the others discussed the quiz questions.
And Match Me! had apparently spit out this date for her.
God. It was perfectly fine to be shy and take a while to warm up, but how could the woman’s dating agency, a woman who obviously enjoyed deliberately making other people angry andthen discussing it to death, offer up a guy who seemed like one harsh word would make him cry?
He had practically won the bet already.
