Page 1

Chapter 1

Kendra Hilton shifted from foot to foot as she watched the stream of hopeful single daters arrive through the doors of the Enchanted Captain. She stood at the entrance alongside her immaculately turned out colleague, Ivy Blain, checking their names.

“Here’s your number for the evening,” Kendra said to a smartly dressed Koob. “On your port screen, you’ll have a list of numbers corresponding to every single female attending tonight. If you’re interested in one of the women after you’ve spoken with her, put a tick next to her number, and we’ll do the rest.”

The Koob smiled and nodded as he walked to the bar.

A swirl of worry ran through Kendra as she surveyed the crowd. There were far more males than human women. She did a head count, and her nerves increased. Several of the single women who’d confirmed they were coming had still not shown.

“We’re starting in five minutes,” Ivy muttered. “Where are all the hot women you promised this lot?”

“They’ll show. We’ll have a packed house.” Kendra brushed her dark hair off her face and ignored her worry. The speed dating event had been her idea. She’d been at My Single Alien as a matchmaker for three months, and this was the first time one of her ideas to promote the agency had been agreed to by Ivy.

Kendra had assured Ivy there would be plenty of females to go around. So far, there were lots of excited male aliens strolling through the door but not enough women. If she wasn’t careful, the randy males would turn this into a brawl if they didn’t get a chance to speak with a female.

She had to stop doubting herself. This would work. It had to. She couldn’t afford to get on the wrong side of Ivy. She’d never let her forget it if this failed.

Kendra sucked in a breath as the boss of My Single Alien, Diadora Hardwick, walked in. Her sharp gaze went around the room, and her lips tightened. She stomped over to Kendra. “Is everything going to plan?”

“Almost. We’re giving it a few more minutes before we start.” She swallowed her nerves. Diadora had this effect on everybody. She was a no-nonsense, straight talking woman with a frighteningly strong cybernetic arm. She was always willing to use that strength to get what she wanted.

“You need more women,” Diadora said. “We can’t have potential customers sitting on their own. It will bring the reputation of My Single Alien into doubt. That cannot happen.”

Ivy joined them, her expression stern. “You need to keep a handle on these aliens. Two of them just tried to test out my goodies.” She patted her backside. “I do not like my butt handled by anyone other than Karn.”

“You see,” Diadora said. “We must have more women to share in this testosterone-fueled nightmare. I thought you had this organized.”

Kendra’s fingers tightened around her port screen. “I did. I mean, I do. All the women have said they’ll be here. Maybe they’re running late. This will work. We’ll get plenty of new clients.”

Diadora’s nostrils flared. “Make sure it does. I’ll be monitoring the numbers closely after this event.”

“Perhaps you’d like to sit in and help make up the numbers.” Kendra glanced at Ivy, who swiftly turned her back. It sounded like she was stifling laughter.

“What are you suggesting?” Diadora’s expression was stony. “Do you think I want to date any of this lot?”

“Oh, no. Well, they seem nice. And they are all single. I didn’t think you were involved with anybody.” Sweat prickled on her upper lip.

“I choose to remain single,” Diadora said. “I do not have time to date. But if I did, I wouldn’t come to this sleazy bar.”

“I like the Enchanted Captain.” Kendra’s throat tightened. Had she just been dumb enough to suggest her scary boss go speed dating? “They do a good two-for-one cocktail offer.”

Ivy couldn’t hold in her laughter as she turned. “You’ll have to bring Diadora here for a free cocktail the next time you arrange a girls’ night out.”

Kendra blushed. “It’s a nice place. Lots of people come here to relax after a hard day at work. It’s the perfect venue for our first speed dating evening.”

“Maybe this is a perfect place for you to find love,” Diadora said. “I shall not be sitting in to find the alien of my dreams this evening or any evening.”

“Of course, it was a daft idea. Forget I said anything.” Kendra glanced at Ivy. “I don’t suppose you—”

“There’s no way you’re getting me to sit and talk nicely to these aliens,” Ivy said. “If my guy catches me flirting, he won’t be happy. I save my flirting for him.” Ivy had been dating Karn for over a year, and they had the cutest baby together. Although Ivy came with a spiky side, whenever she was around Karn and their child, she got a soppy look in her eyes, and the sharpness vanished.

“We can’t misrepresent ourselves to future clients,” Diadora said. “What if a potential client requests a date with Ivy and we have to refuse him?”

Kendra pinched her lips together. “You’re right. Stupid idea.” She studied Diadora out of the corner of her eye. She was an attractive woman, but it would take a man with an ego that couldn’t be bruised to get involved with her. There must be somebody out there for Diadora. If she gave tonight a try, she could find her perfect guy.

She decided to keep those thoughts to herself. She valued her job.

“We’ve got the media watching tonight,” Ivy said. “I’ve arranged three camera bots to film the whole thing. If we have uneven numbers, it won’t look good.”