Heartstrings and Diamond Rings (14 page)

Nope. That wouldn’t work. He didn’t have the time to build this business with the glacial speed his grandmother had, if he could even build it at all.

“I did run an ad on
Dallas After Dark
,” he said, “but I’m not getting much response.”

“Well, at least you’re advertising in the right place,” Alison said. “
Dallas After Dark
definitely targets singles.”

“Then why aren’t those singles calling me?”

“Some of your ad elements may be wrong. Or it could be placed wrong. Any number of reasons.”

“Oh, yeah. You’re in marketing, aren’t you?”

“Show me the ad. Maybe I can give you some advice.”

Brandon grabbed his phone and pulled up the website, his phone glowing softly in the faint porch light. “There. In the right column.”

She took his phone and looked at the ad. “Oh. No wonder.”

“What?”

“This is blah. Ordinary. Lost in the middle of ads for stripper bars and psychics. And why are you still calling it Matchmaking by Rochelle?”

“I was afraid people wouldn’t call if they knew a man was running things now.”

“Wrong. The best thing you have going for your business is you.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You have no competition.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you know of any other male matchmakers?”

“I’ve always thought of that as something I needed to overcome, not something in my favor.”

“Nope. You should always be looking for that one thing that sets you apart from the competition. You already have a niche because you offer the same personalized service your grandmother did. Toss in the fact that you’re a man, and you’ll get attention. Add the fact that you’re a young,
attractive
man, and you’re definitely one of a kind.”

“Wait a minute. You came to me only because you thought I was a woman. Then you freaked out when you found out I was a man.”

“Freaked out? I didn’t freak out.”

Brandon smiled. “Yeah, you did.”

“I was just a little surprised.”

“Nope. It was a bona fide freak-out.”

“Oh, come on! You’re acting as if I ran screaming from your office.”

“No. But you should have seen the look on your face.”

Alison slumped with resignation. “You know what? Just once I’d like to put something past you. That would make me really, really happy.”

“Well, you’ve got me where marketing is concerned. I still don’t see how being a man is going to give me an edge.”

“When I came to your office the first time, the shock of it just about made me turn around and leave. I wasn’t prepared for what I got. But if you present yourself properly, people are going to know in advance exactly who you are and what you can do for them.”

“And just how do I go about presenting myself properly?”

“I can take care of that.”

“You can? How?”

“I’ll show you. But first…” She raised an eyebrow. “What’s in it for me?”

“Uh…”

“How about we barter? Your services for mine. You comp your matchmaking fee for me, and I’ll bring you all the clients you can handle.”

No cash on the table? That got his attention. Of course, it meant he’d have to take cash back out of his pocket. But if she could do what she said she could, it would be like trading one client for several clients. Mathematically speaking, unless it netted him absolutely nothing, he couldn’t lose.

“Hold on,” he said. “If you’re talking about placing more ads, I can’t afford that.”

“No problem. You never should have paid for advertising in the first place.”

“How else am I supposed to get potential clients through the door?”

“With PR. You don’t pay for that. I’ll write you a press release. Send it to several media outlets. Once they read it, I guarantee the local press will run stories about you.”

“Because I’m a man who’s a matchmaker?”

“Exactly. Journalists need content, and they’re always looking for an angle. A slant. A great hook that’ll get people’s attention. We’ll provide them with one. I’ll e-mail it to a bunch of magazines, bloggers, radio stations, all that. With exposure like that, I guarantee you’ll have all the clients you could possibly hope for.”

Brandon felt a little thrill of anticipation. He’d lost hope. Now, with Alison’s help, he felt as if he could actually pull this off.

“Now, the question is, are you ready to be interviewed?” she asked.

“Interviewed?”

“That’s what’s coming.”

“Uh…yeah. I guess.”

“Just talk to people the way you talked to me the first time I came to your office, and you’ll have the singles in this town wrapped around your little finger.”

Brandon liked the sound of that, too.

“Another thing,” Alison said. “You need a new name for your business.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

He gave her a sly smile. “I could be the Love Doctor.”

She screwed up her face. “Get serious. You know that’s been used about a thousand times before in a thousand different ways. Radio shrinks…advice columnists…”

“Porn sites.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Porn sites?”

“Oh. Didn’t I tell you about my doctor-nurse fetish?”

She looked at him dumbly. “You have a hard time focusing, don’t you?”

“Not at all. What you’re telling me is that I need a name that’s uniquely mine.”

“Exactly.”

“Any suggestions?”

“It’s all about emotion,” she said. “Your name needs to reflect that. Put yourself in the position of somebody who’s looking for their soul mate.”

Well, there was something he had no idea how to relate to. “I’m drawing a blank.”

“Think about how relationships feel in the beginning. There’s that whisper of love in the air. That sense of hope. That tiny little tug on the heartstrings. That feeling that this person just might be
the one
.”

Now he really felt like a fraud. How was he supposed to sell the prospect of love everlasting when the longest relationship he’d ever had consisted of a three‑day weekend in Vegas?

Suddenly Alison smiled and snapped her fingers. “That’s it.”

“What?”

“That’s your new name. Heartstrings.”

“Huh?”

“It has all kinds of positive connotations. You’ll need a good tagline, but it’s something you can work with.”

“Wrapping people in strings? Sounds like you’re trapping them.”

“People come to you because they want to be trapped. They want to be wrapped up in soft, fuzzy little strings from their heart to their soul mate’s heart. That name could be good. It could be
great
.”

But Brandon wasn’t convinced. “Sounds kind of…I don’t know. Weak?”

“Well, I suppose you could call it Brandon’s Great Big House of Burning Love. How’s that work for you?”

He grinned. “Now you’re talking.”

“Men
. God
.” She shifted around on the swing to face him, talking with her hands now. “Listen to me. It’s not weak. It’s gentle. Big difference. You have to think how people who want to fall in love think. They want to feel the warmth and safety of a relationship. They want to feel the soft, comforting touch of a partner, that one person on earth who will always be there for them. And not just women, though they’re the only ones who’ll admit it. Guys, too.
That’s
what they’re looking for.”

She spoke with such passion that he knew the words came straight from her heart. She wasn’t only telling him what women in general wanted. She was also telling him what
she
wanted.

“So are we going with Heartstrings?” she asked.

He appreciated her help. Hell, he was dying for it. But what was she going to say in a few months when he bagged up all the profits from this business and hit the road for Houston?

It didn’t matter. He needed new clients, and Alison was a pro who was willing to help him get them. He’d be out no cash because he was comping her fee, and she swore to him that a free press release would be far more effective than expensive advertising. So what else was there to think about?

Maybe the fact that he was being just a little bit dishonest.

Then again, so what if he closed his business in a few months? He’d traded her even up, hadn’t he? His services for hers? This was business. Nothing more.

“Heartstrings it is,” he told her. “So tell me what this press release is going to say.”

“You leave that to me. I’ll run it past you before it goes out. And I’ll need a photo of you to send along with it. I’m pretty good with a camera, so I can handle that. But you’re also going to need a new logo to go with your new name so you look professional.”

“But that’ll cost me. I already told you I don’t have money for that.”

“All it will cost you is a box of Godiva chocolates. Can you handle that?”

“I don’t get it.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll take care of the rest. You’re going to have all the business you could ask for.”

“You’d do all this for me?” he asked.

“Hey, I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for me. If I can get you more people to practice on, maybe you’ll get the hang of it before you match me up again.”

He smiled. “No. You’re doing it because you’re a nice person who likes to help other people.”

“So we’re back to the nice girl thing again? I told you before.
Men don’t want that
.”

“The man you’re looking for does.”

“Then find him for me, will you? I’m not getting any younger.” She sighed. “Let’s just hope the next guy really is over his last love. I don’t know if I can take another bout of hot sex in the ladies’ room that I’m not participating in.”

Just then, Jasmine strolled across the front porch and jumped up onto the swing. She put one paw on Alison’s leg, then looked up at her.

“Oh, look at her!” Alison said. “She’s such a sweet kitty. She actually
asks
if she can get into my lap.” Alison scratched her behind her ears, and Jasmine plopped down. “She could teach my cats a thing or two about manners.”

“Now, see?” Brandon said, smiling. “You
need
her.”

“Oh, come on,” Alison said. “You know you want this precious kitty.”

Sooner or later he’d have to find her a new home. But how? She was his grandmother’s cat after all. He couldn’t just take her to a shelter.

He decided he’d worry about that when the time came.

“I’ll need to write you a new check since you tore that one up,” Brandon said.

“We’ll settle up when I see you next. Give me two days, and I’ll have everything ready to go.” She smiled. “Don’t worry. Things are going to work out just fine.”

He believed that. He believed her when she said she knew what she was doing and could get him the clients he needed. The question was, could he hold up his end of the bargain and find her a husband?

After Alison left, Brandon grabbed a beer and came back out to the front porch, flipping off the light so he wouldn’t draw bugs. He sat there a long time in the dark, sipping the beer, thinking about how he’d entered into this business with little more than the bare bones of a plan and a whole lot of audacity, thinking he’d get in, toss the dice on enough matches to get him the money he needed, and get out. But now for the first time, he was beginning to realize that the business he’d intended to bleed dry and then toss away just might be more important to people than he realized.

And there was something about Alison that made him want to give her the happily ever after she was dreaming of.

On Monday morning, Alison sidled up next to Lois’s cubicle. As soon as Lois saw her, she poked her computer keyboard and closed the website she was looking at, as if everybody in the entire office didn’t know she spent at least an hour a day on a
Twilight
fan forum.

“What do you want?” Lois said, pretending to concentrate on the Photoshop image that was now on her screen.

“I need a favor.”

“I don’t do favors.”

“I need a logo.”

“So hire a graphic artist.”

“You’re a graphic artist. The best graphic artist I know.”

“Don’t kiss my ass. You know how I feel about ass kissing.”

“How about if we barter a little?”

Lois turned slowly back to face her. “What did you have in mind?”

Alison pulled out the unmarked sack and gave Lois a peek inside.

“Godivas?” Lois said in a panicked whisper. “You can’t bring Godivas in here! That’s like cheating on the company!”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah! Somebody in accounting brought a sack of those mini Snickers bars to the office once and got an official reprimand, and you’re flashing
Godivas
?”

“That never happened. Somebody started that rumor as a joke.”

“It was no joke. Management doesn’t like to see competitor’s products anywhere in the office. I don’t mess with management.”

“Lois,” Alison said, whispering enticingly. “It’s
Godiva
.”

Lois scowled at her. “You’re a horrible person, Alison. I know everybody thinks you’re really nice and everything, but you’re not.”

“There are only two people in on this. You and me. And I’m not telling.”

Lois looked back into the sack at the gold box and actually licked her lips. Any moment Alison expected her to flap her arms, take off, and buzz around the box of chocolates like a vulture over a dying rat.

“Candy first,” Lois said. “Then the logo.”

She reached for the sack, but Alison pulled it away. “I need it by tomorrow afternoon.”

“Anything in particular you want?”

“I’ll e-mail you some info on the company. You can take it from there.”

“I’ll have a mock-up for you in the morning.”

“Deal.”

Alison handed her the sack, which she quickly stuffed into her lower desk drawer. But not five minutes later, Alison saw her grab the sack out of the drawer again. She flicked her head back and forth, checking for witnesses, then disappeared into the ladies’ room. Good God. What kind of person ate a box of Godiva chocolates while sitting in a bathroom stall?

A really,
really
compulsive one.

On her lunch hour, Alison wrote the press release. By the next afternoon, Lois had the final logo for her. It was a pair of hearts connected with strings, just as Alison had expected, but it was stylized just enough that it didn’t look dumb. The tagline Alison had decided on,
Tying Two Hearts Together Forever
, was in a serpentine pattern beneath it in a casual font. It looked enticing and interesting but highly professional at the same time. How Lois could be Lois and still come up with good stuff like this, she didn’t know. Brandon had traded a box of Godiva for pure gold.