Chapter One
CARA
I was so desperate to find love that I resorted to speed dating. Okay, so technically one of those statements was false. Or maybe they both were? Or maybe they were both true?
Iusedto be desperate, but after one too many bad first dates, I gave up dating to focus on work. At least, that’s what I told myself. In reality, I was tired. Tired of first dates not showing up, or not being honest in their profiles. Tired of wanting different things than they did. Just tired. So while I used to be desperate for love, I’d just plain given up on it.
Unfortunately, my friends didn’t believe me when I told them, and they kept pestering me about it. Case in point: speed dating.
It was the one thing I hadn’t tried yet, for good reason. It was hard enough to sit with one person you might not click with, but dozens? That did not sound like a fun time to me, but my best friend, Blair, and her fiancée, Drea, promised me they’d leave me alone if I at least tried one event. I finally acquiesced, if only to get them off my back.
I was perfectly fine being alone, for the most part. It had just been me and my vibrators for the longest time, and that was all I needed. I knew my body better than any woman could’ve anyway. And at least a vibrator didn’t break your heart, unless it died before you finished.
I was scrolling my personal social media account when I saw an ad for a speed dating event. I was going to scroll away when I read the rest of the ad. It was a different approach onspeed dating, making a whole night of it, and there was a small gathering of drinks before the main event.
“A match made in masquerade,” I read the event name out loud. A speed-dating masquerade ball? That was something I’d never heard of before. I clicked the link to look into it more.
Which is how I ended up standing in front of a hotel just outside of Seattle. On a Saturday night. Dressed in a red halter-top dress and black stiletto pumps. Holding a black masquerade mask in one hand, and my overnight bag in the other. At least when this night was a failure, I didn’t have to drive back home.
I was running late, so I only had time to find my room and retouch my makeup before I had to go downstairs for drinks. I took a second to look in the mirror, calming my nerves.
“Okay, Cara. Deep breath’s. There are no expectations tonight. Enjoy the open bar, enjoy how gorgeous you look, and maybe enjoy a few dances. If nothing comes out of this night, at least you tried something new. You’ve got this.”
I grabbed my phone when I saw a message come through:
Dre: You’ve got this, love!
Blair: I love you, sweetie. Have the best time!
I loved my friends and their confidence in me. Blair was one of the first authors I signed at my publishing house, and we soon became best friends.
Drea, her fiancée, I had known for almost as long. I had a few authors on my roster, besides Blair, that had done signings at her bookstore,Open Book.
When Drea and Blair first met, it was… rough working with both of them. They were both very stubborn and hated each other with a fiery passion. That fiery passion quickly morphed out of hate when I forced them to work together again a few years ago. And now here they were, planning a wedding.
All of my friends were getting married, or already married and thinking about children, and there I was, doing a speed dating event because every other method of dating I tried had failed miserably.
I took one final look in the mirror, pleased with myself, and headed out the door. My room was on the fourth floor and when I walked out, I saw someone about to turn the corner to the elevator. They were dressed in a nice royal blue-colored suit, and I wondered where they were going. I shrugged and kept walking toward the elevator. Maybe there was also a wedding going on?
I stepped on the elevator just as the doors were about to close. In the corner was the mystery person. I still couldn’t tell their gender. Their head was faced down into their phone, and their hair and body gave nothing away. I was too on edge to strike up a conversation, so I checked some work emails while the elevator started to go down.
When the elevator doors opened, I looked up to tell the person to go ahead, when our eyes locked.
Warm pools of chocolate stared at me from behind a simple black masquerade mask. “After you.” Well, that answered the question of their gender.
Her slight latina accent wrapped around my body like silk. I was always a sucker for accents. Her smile was genuine and I couldn’t help but match hers with one of my own.
I cleared my throat and gathered myself. She only said two words to me, and I was forgetting how to breathe. I needed some water to pull myself together. “Thank you,” I managed as I left the elevator.
She caught up to me and we walked side by side without a word. I’d glance at her, she’d do the same, but no words were exchanged. The air was silent, but it still felt like it was filled with something. Charged, in a way I couldn’t explain.
I made it to the table to check in and was given a bottle of water before instructions on where the bars and bathrooms were. The ballroom was massive, and there were already more than a dozen women in all types of dresses and suits and masks. With one last glance at the mystery woman in the suit behind me, I headed inside.
There were tall tables surrounding the dance floor with red and black tablecloths and little masquerade masks as a centerpiece. There were large wall to ceiling windows that lined one side of the space as well, but other than that, it looked like a regular ballroom.
We were told to walk around and mingle until the event began, so that’s what I did. I ordered a glass of champagne and walked around the room, smiling and saying hello to a few women. Most of them were just my type. Soft, femme, gorgeous. I didn’t miss the extra glances they sent my way, and I was starting to get hopeful about how the night would end.
Without meaning to, I found myself searching for a dark blue suit and captivating eyes, which was ridiculous. I preferred my women in, and out, of dresses, but something about those eyes were distracting me. Maybe it was the mask. Maybe I just wanted to know who was behind it.
