Morgan left without another word, and Lacey took the opportunity to look at the date folder again. The date sounded pretty fun. A picnic dinner by Lake Mirror followed by a movie at the Polk Theater. They were some of Lacey’s favorite places in all of Lakeland, and she knew Morgan did that onpurpose.
But none of it would be fun with Trevor. The guy was just too young, and looked far too fresh-faced for Lacey. He was a far cry from Pax, the guy she was supposed to be set up with. Lacey’s eyes wandered over to Morgan’s bulletin board, where all the matches were set up. She got up off the bed and walked over to where dozens of small pictures were pinned to theboard.
Lacey found her picture and a picture of Pax. There was a piece of string connecting the two of them, indicating a match. She continued to search the board until she found Trevor. The now-familiar face smiled at the camera. The picture also had string connecting it to another picture. Lacey followed it until she found the girl intended forTrevor.
She looked as young as her match, with brown ringlets framing her face. Lacey didn’t recognize her and lifted the picture from the board. She turned the paper over in her hands hoping to find a name on the back—only to find itblank.
Lacey huffed in frustration as she used the tack to replace the picture. How did Morgan keep everyone straight? And how badly were the datesmessedup?
Between Declan’s article that attacked Morgan and her methods, and the messed up matches, the Date Maker would be ruined. Morgan hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said that earlier. But did the solution really include Lacey going out with Trevor? She much preferred the idea of having a date with Pax despite themix-up.
She hoped that was still an option. Maybe she could convince Morgan to have her choice since she hadn’t even wanted to do the Date Maker in the first place. She’d signed up to help out her friend, expecting to get the hot match of her dreams. Now faced with the prospect of babysitting a freshman for her date, she was rethinking the wholething.
Lacey decided to stalk the two guys online to see if it would help her decide how to approach Morgan when shereturned.
First up was Pax. His Instagram was everything she thought it would be—shirtless pictures at the beach showing off his killer body, along with some pictures of him in a baseball uniform. He had a couple of games coming up. She could show up and watch him play—for research, ofcourse.
Once she was done ogling Pax, Lacey moved on to Trevor. His Instagram was not at all what she expected. And that was mostly due to him not having one. At least not one she could find. He did, however, have Facebook...and LinkedIn. Lacey closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. He was atotalnerd.
She looked at his Facebook page, which was mostly reposted articles, until she couldn’t stand itanymore.
Then, because Lacey was a complete glutton for punishment, she searched for Josh, the guy she’d been in love with since high school. Morgan affectionately referred to him as FarmerBrown.
Lacey had always thought Josh liked her, too. They had never dated, but the chemistry between the two of them was undeniable. Or, it had been until her last visit home. When Lacey had gone to Iowa over Spring Break, she’d arrived to find Josh engaged. And not only that, to one of the sweetest girls Lacey hadevermet.
She scrolled though his Instagram, looking at the candid pictures that filled his profile. Sometimes he was working on his family’s farm, other times, he was taking a selfie in front of the mirror. In each one, his smile was gorgeous. But in the newest picture that graced his feed—the one of him and his fiancée together—his smile was so wide, it was a miracle his face didn’t split in two. It was an expression Lacey had never seen inperson.
For all of hers and Josh’s supposed chemistry, he’d never looked at Lacey the way he looked at the girl in this picture. There was true connection between him and his fiancée. Therewaslove.
It was something she’d always wanted, even when she pretended she didn’t care. And with each passing year, her secret fear of ending up alone for the rest of her life felt closer to reality. She was sure it had something to do with all of her friends getting engaged. Everyone except Morgan, ofcourse.
Lacey pressed the button on the side of her phone to turn the screen off. Looking at Josh wasn’t going to fix anything, she knew that. And pining after Pax wouldn’t do much to change her currentsinglestatus. But maybe going on a date with Trevor Benson could fix at least one person’sproblem.
And maybe, just maybe, she would end up finding love in theprocess.
“What wasyour first impression ofTrevor?”
“Seriously, can we pleasejuststop?”
ChapterTwo
Lacey got dressedin something she hoped was comfortable and cute for her date with Trevor. They would be enjoying a late afternoon meal outside, and even though April had just begun, the weather was already heating up. Lacey loved going to school in Florida, but she still wasn’t quite used to the lack of seasons. She’d learned over the last couple of years that Florida only had two: hot andrainy.
There were also two weeks when the weather was perfect. Not too warm, low humidity, and a slight breeze. But that window had passed by now, as they made their way intosummer.
Lacey wore a simple cotton dress, strappy sandals, and her blond hair piled on the top of her head in a cute bun. For makeup, she kept it simple, just in case they started sweating. And the most important accessory—a smile she hoped would last the entire afternoon. This date was important to Morgan, and Lacey wanted to do her best to make it work, especially since the fallout from the mixed-up dates had alreadybegun.
Morgan was getting phone calls and texts all hours of the day by people requesting refunds or rematches. She was mostly quiet about what was happening—using client privacy as an excuse—but had mentioned the night before that even Pax was having a hard time withhisdate.
Apparently, his date had complained that he was a jerk and had requested a refund. Morgan took great delight in letting Lacey know she should be thanking her lucky stars that she had someone as great as Trevor byaccident.
Lacey looked down at her phone as she walked up to the lake. She was fifteen minutes early, and decided to walk around until Trevor showed up. The gorgeous lake was in the heart of downtown Lakeland. It had a walking path that went around the entire circumference, but the best part was the open promenade that stretched out on the south end of the lake. It was a grassy expanse that had several staggered levels that could accommodate large crowds. It was the perfect place for apicnic.
Trevor and Lacey would be able to admire the lake as they enjoyed their meal—a meal that Morgan had personally packed, and was now in a basket that hung from the crook ofLacey’sarm.
She walked around, keeping an eye out for the guy she wasn’t supposed to date, and felt a small wave a relief when she spotted him. He walked toward her, a quilt under his arm—his part of the picnic—and a huge smile on his face. He wore the typical college dude uniform. Polo shirt, slim khaki shorts, and a pair of boat shoes. His brown hair flopped against his forehead with each energetic step he took in herdirection.
Lacey had to admit he was much better looking in person than his picture. Somehow, he seemed less baby-faced now that she could see the slight stubble that graced his cheeks. Even his voice was deeper than she imagined it would be as he greeted her with asimple, “Hey.”
