Miss Match (18 page)

“I should’ve shown better judgment,” Brooke said.

Zoey rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you should become a mind reader too.”

Brooke’s desk phone rang, and she answered it. A few moments later, she hung up.

“Charlotte?” Zoey asked.

Brooke nodded, then stood. “Well, it was nice working with you.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Zoey squeezed Brooke’s hand. “You’ll be fine.”

“I hope so.” If she got fired, then it’d make the decision to move easy at least.

Brooke slowly walked to Charlotte’s office, taking her sweet time.
No need to hurry to my execution.
Half the parlours were filled with matchmakers and clients, and the rest of the matchmakers appeared to be busy at their desks, scanning the database for matches. At least business was improving, disastrous date or no. She knocked once on the door, and opened the door when Charlotte said, “Come in.”

“Sit,” Charlotte said without looking up from her computer screen.

Brooke sank into a chair, her back rigid. “Charlotte, I can exp—”

Charlotte turned her computer monitor to face Brooke. “Have you read the articles?”

Brooke nodded. There was nothing more to say.

“This isn’t the kind of publicity I want. It makes it look like we let anyone be a client. We’re adding sparks to an already blazing fire.”

Fuel. The phrase is “adding fuel to the fire.”
But now wasn’t the time to correct Charlotte. “I’m sure Tamera was—”

“I will talk to Kendra about her client later,” Charlotte said. She leaned forward, elbows on her desk. “I want you to be honest with me, Brooke. Is it too hard for you to match up your best friend? Do I need to assign him another matchmaker?”

Brooke quickly shook her head. “I don’t know what went wrong with Tamera, but I can assure you it won’t happen again. My choice had nothing to do with my friendship with Luke.”

“I hope not,” Charlotte said. “I don’t need to remind you what’s at stake here. I want him on another date by the weekend. A
better
date.”

“Of course,” Brooke said.

Charlotte turned the computer screen back around. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Brooke quickly left Charlotte’s office.

* * *

Brooke spent the rest of the morning meticulously going over the files of every match the computer had populated for Luke. She had to find him a better date, and fast.

Zoey returned from a meeting with a client and picked up her purse. “Let’s go to the café for lunch. You need a break.”

“Agreed,” Brooke said. She locked her monitor, and they walked next door. The café was reminiscent of a French bakery. The menu was written on a chalk board in flowery script, and small two-person tables filled the front portion of the room. They took their place in line and waited to order. Brooke inhaled deeply, enjoying the smell of freshly baked bread and chocolate. She peered at the delectable assortment of pastries filling the display case. After this morning, she might order one of each.

“Think Luke is still mad at you?” Zoey asked.

Brooke rolled her shoulders, trying to ease the tension gathering there. “I hope not, or this is going to be a really long meeting.” She bit her lip. “Things have been so weird between us lately. I haven’t even told him about my dad’s upcoming divorce yet.”

“Seriously?”

Brooke nodded. “We keep fighting. I didn’t think it would be so hard to separate our friendship from a professional relationship.”

Zoey snorted. “What professional relationship? He’s only doing this for you.”

“He’s doing it for Toujour.”

“Yeah. Because
you
love working there so much.”

“He’s a good
friend
.” Brooke emphasized the word.

They placed their orders, then selected an empty table. “How did it go with Antonio last night?” After Luke had left, Brooke had gone to Antonio’s. She’d known he’d read about the date soon enough, and figured it was better to get it all out in the open.

Brooke clenched her receipt in her hand. “Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Great,” Brooke amended. Antonio had unfortunately brought up some of the same concerns the papers had, and she’d spent most of the night reassuring him she was genuinely trying to find Luke a girlfriend.

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic.”

“We got in a fight. Nothing major, just a misunderstanding.” She wasn’t about to give specifics. Zoey didn’t need any more ammunition for her Call Off the Wedding campaign.

“Hmmm,” Zoey said. Brooke knew she wanted to say a lot more, but appreciated her rare show of restraint.

Their names were called, and they quickly picked up their food, ate, and headed back to Toujour. A reporter jumped in front of them as Brooke reached to open the door. He brought a camera to his eye and quickly snapped a photo. “Miss Pierce, do you take responsibility for Mr. Ryder’s failed first date?”

Brooke’s cheeks heated. Zoey grabbed Brooke’s arm and pushed past the reporter into the building. They quickly made their way to their cubicle.

“This is fantastic,” Brooke said. “Just what Toujour needs.” She slammed her juice down on the desk, causing a few drops to squirt out the straw.

A deep male voice spoke from behind. “Yeah, the reporters attacked me too. Woo-hoo.”

Brooke jumped. “I didn’t hear you come in,” she said. “I thought Lianna would’ve told you to meet me in the parlour.”

“I’ll try to walk louder next time.” He looked handsome as sin in a charcoal suit and deep red tie. His dedication to work was obviously sticking. “I’m meeting Mitch at the office in an hour. Will this take longer than that?”

“That depends on how hard it is to get information out of you.” Brooke grabbed her laptop and stood. “I think the same parlour we used last time should be open.”

He nodded and followed her to the appropriate room. She let him in, then shut the door behind them and set up her laptop. “I’m sorry your date was such a disaster,” she said.

“Me too. I’m trying to help you, and that—” He ran a hand through his hair. “Tamera and I were never going to work, but I wanted the date to go well for the press. What if the media coverage hurts business even more?”

Brooke’s chest tightened. “They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity. I take full responsibility for the date, and I promise to choose more wisely next time.”

“Hey.” Luke reached forward and grasped her hand. “I didn’t mean to make you feel guilty. I was mad, but I’m over it now. It’s not your fault. No one could’ve predicted this. Is something going on that you aren’t telling me about? It isn’t like you to be so off your game.”

Brooke sighed. “Miranda took the girls and left my dad. He has a new girlfriend. But I won’t let that distract me from making better matches for you in the future.”

Luke squeezed her hand. “Why didn’t you tell me he was getting divorced again?”

Brooke shrugged. “I found out at lunch on Saturday. With all this Toujour stuff, there hasn’t been time.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Brooke nodded and cleared her throat. “Thanks.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. I think I got all my ranting out during the car drive home. Antonio helped me talk through it.” She motioned to her laptop. “Right now, let’s focus on making sure your next date goes better.”

Pain flashed across Luke’s eyes for a moment, but he nodded. “Okay then. So do I just tell you about the date or what?”

Brooke logged into the database and pulled up Luke’s file. “I ask you specific questions about how the date went, if you’re interested in continuing the relationship—”

“That’s a huge no.”

“—and go from there. I’ll meet with Tamera’s matchmaker later today to compare results.”

Luke folded his arms across his chest and crossed his feet at the ankles in front of him. Brooke tried not to stare at his long legs. “What’s the first question?”

Brooke glanced at the questionnaire. “On a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest, how would you rate your physical attraction to Tamera?”

“That depends on if we’re talking about the beginning of the date or the end.”

“There’s a difference?”

“She was super hot until she opened her mouth. Some men might think a girl screaming at refs for three hours is attractive, but not me.”

“Okay, can you assign a number value to her?”

“If I’m totally wasted and she doesn’t open her mouth, I’d dance with her at a club.”

This is going well.
Brooke typed in a “3” and moved on to the next question. “What do you feel was the best part of your date?”

“This crap is really supposed to help someone find their soul mate?”

Brooke sighed. “Remember what I said about this taking longer if you don’t cooperate?”

“Let me make it simple. There isn’t going to be a second date. The whole afternoon was a train wreck.” His mouth quirked. “It’s kind of funny, now that I think about it. But it definitely wasn’t at the time.”

“Okay, let’s try this. Tell me about the date, and I’ll fill in the answers as best I can.”

So Luke told her, and Brooke’s cheeks heated with every word he uttered. “You must think I’m the worst matchmaker in the world.”

“I know how you can make it up to me.” Luke leaned forward and grinned, making his dimple pop.

Brooke would’ve called Luke on breaking Rule #15 if she didn’t feel so bad. “I never pegged Tamera as a nervous drinker.”

“In hindsight, I shouldn’t have bought her two beers. But how was I supposed to know she couldn’t hold her alcohol?”

“This doesn’t make sense. Kendra described Tamera so differently from how you’re describing her, and nothing in her file matches up with what you’re telling me.” Brooke tapped her finger against the space bar on her laptop. “I think the difference is you. Our clients have never dated a celebrity before, and celebrities tend to bring out a different side in people.”

Luke rubbed a hand over his face. “That’s what I’m afraid of. I don’t want someone who treats me like a celebrity. I want someone who treats me like a regular Joe, like you do.”

Brooke laughed. “Maybe I’ll have to go back in time and find someone who knew you when you were an obnoxious sixteen-year-old, before you were rich and famous. I’ll work on it.”

Luke moved from his seat to the arm of Brooke’s chair. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, resting his chin on the top of her head. “What a disaster.”

Brooke squirmed out of his grip. “At least the papers painted you a hero. Tamera’s the one who comes off looking like an idiot. Well, and me.”

“Hey now, the papers only said that you were my matchmaker.”

“Yeah. The failed date is my fault.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

“I’ll find you the perfect girl. Promise.”

He held her eyes. “I’m not sure you can find someone who will measure up to you.”

Brooke’s breath caught in her throat, and she wondered if his lips tasted like the spearmint mouthwash he used. She stood quickly. She was losing her mind. “I think I can fill out the questionnaire based on what you’ve given me. You can leave now. I would hate to be the reason Luke Ryder takes another
sick day.”

“I’ll take a sick day with you anytime.” He wrapped her in a tight hug.

Brooke quickly pulled away and followed Luke out of the office. She needed to get her head on straight.

* * *

It wasn’t too hard to fill out the rest of the questionnaire before her three p.m. meeting with Kendra, Tamera’s matchmaker. Brooke knew Luke so well she could practically hear him saying the words as she typed.

Kendra poked her head around the cubicle. “Ready?”

Brooke grabbed her laptop. “If you are.”

They went to the same parlour she’d met with Luke in earlier. Brooke swallowed, taking a seat and opening her laptop as Kendra did the same. “Want me to go first?” Kendra asked.

Brooke nodded. She didn’t want to taint Kendra’s opinion of the date by what she had to say.

“Tamera thought the date went well right up until the frat boy mishap. She was thrilled with how ‘hot’” —Kendra made air quotes— “Luke was. Even hotter than in the photos, apparently. And she said he was a perfect gentleman. According to her, he bought them enough food to feed a third world country, and she thought that was cool. Something about how he doesn’t buy into our society’s ridiculous ideas about body image.” Kendra rolled her eyes. “Anyway, she’s embarrassed about her drinking and the confrontation with the frat boys, but thought it was ‘simply adorable’ how Luke stepped in the middle of it. She thought he handled the whole thing really well. She was a little disappointed they didn’t go out to dinner afterward because she felt they didn’t really get to talk, but she still had a great time and would love a second date and the chance to get to know Luke better.”

Brooke sighed. “I hate it when this happens.”

Kendra’s smile turned pained. “He isn’t interested, is he?”