There was a microscopic pause before she clipped, “No. I’m surrounded by great people.” She looked from Whitney to Willow.
A smile crept across my face. “Are you naïve, Willow?”
She scoffed. “Absolutely not. We write more relationships than most people have in their entire lives. I know all the tricks we use to get people to fall in love.”
“Are you insecure?”
“Would I be up here if I were?” she clipped.
The room felt like a vacuum, entirely devoid of sound.
“Then how about a little dare?”
What little oxygen remained in the conference center was collectively sucked out of the room.
Willow’s eyes flared with anger as her jaw worked back and forth. But if my hypothesis was right, she would take the bait.
“I think we’re all curious to know what this wager entails,” the moderator said.
I looked straight into Willow's pretty green eyes. “Date me.”
Wander shrieked and nearly toppled out of her chair.
“Date you?” Willow scoffed. “Absolutely not.”
“You called me a fraud. Let me prove I’m not,” I said, trying to sound reasonable. “I’ll use the program I coach my clients through. Twelve weeks. What do you have to lose?”
She burst into uncontrollable laughter. “You truly believe you can make someone fall in love with you in three months? This is real life, Ford. You can’t win a woman with quippy pick-up lines. It’s apparent that you aren’t a good listener because I already told you—I know all the tricks. I write them.”
“There are no tricks. I’m confident in my method, and I’m willing to stake my reputation on it. Twelve weeks to fall in love with me. We fall in love, and you have to endorse my program. You win, and I’ll end my podcast.” I decided to throw her words back at her. “I know how you feel about bro podcasters who like to hear the sound of their own voice. So. What do you say, cupcake?”
Willow glowered at the nickname.
Whitney clapped her hand over her mouth.
Wander gaped like a fish.
Jordan looked like he wanted to be anywhere other than onstage with our three-ring circus.
Then Willow’s face went neutral. “And who’s to be the judge of whether or not we’re in love?”
I was a betting man, so I went all in. “No one knows you better than your friends, so I’ll give you home-field advantage. You, Ms. West, and Ms. Whitlock can judge if I make you fall in love. I’m pretty confident. Are you?”
The silence was deafening.
Willow raised her microphone to her mouth.
My heart raced.
Her words were stalwart. “You’re on.”
THE FORD METHOD: WELCOME
Welcome to the Ford Method. Now, you might be thinking, “Twelve steps to fall in love? This is either a scam or the easiest thing on the planet.”
But you would be wrong, my friend.
Here’s the thing. You get out of The Ford Method what you put into it. If you do the bare minimum, you’ll get a fun little fling. If you dig deep and put in the work, you’ll have a real shot at forever.
