My One and Only: Book 1 in the Love and Weddings Trilogy (6 page)

              Meredith grinned to herself and ran the five mile loop in easy, strong strides and by the end of the run, she felt like she could conquer the world. Or at least the online dating world. She walked down to the beach and took out her phone, checking her messages while she cooled down. She had three. The first one was from Tristan,

             
Hey, Mer, Mom wants me to bring over a bag of grapefruit for you. She has too many               but I think she’s just worried you’re not getting enough Vitamin C. See you tonight.

              Meredith smiled and shook her head. Her mom was always worrying about something. Between her and Cleo she was getting healthier whether she wanted to or not. And most of the time, it was not.

              The second message was from Asher,

             
Love the name! You’re a genius, Mer. Taking you out to dinner tonight to celebrate. Be               ready by seven.

              Meredith felt her heart speed up as she smiled happily. Asher was many things, but the man knew how to take a woman out for a night of fun. Most guys just hung out and watched movies and ate junk food. Asher actually made plans and took girls out to dinner, a concert or dancing. Most guys refused to put in the effort.
She’d be ready by seven
.

              The third message was from Pule. She frowned as she read it,

             
So I’ve been wanting to relax and hit the movies and I was thinking, who out of everyone               I know would I want to watch a movie with? Your face popped up. I’ll let you pick the               movie if we can hold hands. We’ll have fun.

              Meredith stopped walking and looked out at the Sound, letting the cool, salty breeze sweep over her.
It almost sounded like Pule was asking her out on a date.
But there was no way …,
was there?
She stared at her phone in consternation for a moment and then slipped it in her pocket and headed back to her car. There was no way Pule would ever ask her out. For one thing, he was younger than her by almost two years. For another, Pule was Kam’s little brother. How weird would that be? And third of all,
he was Pule
. She’d known him since he was a teenager. She’d seen him at his worst and most annoying. But then again, he’d seen her at her worst and most annoying too. They’d butted heads many times, but lately instead of being sharp and sarcastic, he’d been kind of sweet and funny. She’d put it down to the fact that he was finally growing up, but what if it was something else….

             
What if Pule liked her?

              Meredith let out a tired breath.
Because life wasn’t complicated enough.
Meredith grabbed a towel from the back of her car and wiped the sweat off her face before grabbing her water bottle and drinking the whole thing before getting in and pulling out of the parking lot.

              Meredith shook her head and turned on the radio, smiling when Nico and Vinz came on the radio. She sang along to,
In Your Arms
and felt her spirits rise. She had a lot to be grateful for. She was now business partners with two amazing, talented and smart men. She was excited about their new venture into online dating and she was thrilled that her wedding planning business would be getting so much exposure. She should be on top of the world.

              Unless she looked a little deeper
and she always did
. She was aware enough to realize that Asher would like to have a relationship with her on more than a business level which could complicate things and hurt their business if things didn’t work out. And honestly? Things
never
worked out for her. Losing Dane to a car crash had changed her. Losing Kam to Bailey had humiliated her. She did not have a good track record when it came to the opposite sex. So it only made sense that she move forward with caution.
A lot of caution.

              If she was smart, she’d flat out nix any chance of a relationship with Asher. It would be the dumbest thing in the world to get romantically involved with a business partner. And she was done being dumb. It was time to grow up and be mature about business and life. And right now, she needed to focus on her career. She was getting too old to be irresponsible. And if Asher couldn’t see it, then it was her duty to point it out to him.

              And Pule?
No way.
She was just now easy again with Kam. She didn’t even want to imagine what he would think or do if he found out she was dating his little brother. She grimaced as a horrified shiver made its way down her spine. It was terrifying to even consider. Pule might be growing up to be another gorgeous specimen of the Matafeo gene pool, but he was off limits to her.
Way
off limits. Like, a fiery inferno of off limits.

              Meredith sighed as she allowed herself just for a moment to wonder what it could have been like though. What if she’d never met Kam Matafeo? If she’d met Pule now, with no weird history between them, would she date him?

              Meredith grinned and nodded her head. Yeah.
Absolutely.
Pule had everything she wanted. Brains, brawn and a wicked sense of humor. Add on a nice hero complex and you had yourself the man of your dreams.

              Too bad life wasn’t so simple.

              So that left her where? Meredith groaned.
Alone
. That’s where life left her. Alone. Like always.

              Well, if worse came to worse, she could always get a cat. And when Cleo moved out after marrying Tai, she’d be down at the shelter the next day. Being a cat lady was starting to sound inevitable.

              On the way home, Meredith decided to pull in at The Iron Skillet and grab a shrimp salad to go. Cleo would be proud of her for not eating pizza and it would taste good and be light after her run. She glanced down at what she was wearing and grimaced. She glanced at the clock and it was just eleven-thirty. Well before the lunch rush. No one would ever know she’d been there looking like a sweaty, hot, spandex clad mess.

              She parked and hurried inside, grabbing the first waiter she could find. “Hey, Jason. Do a girl a favor and order me a shrimp salad to go,” she asked, smiling as charmingly as she could.

              Jason smiled. “No problem. I’ll go tell the kitchen. Sit at the bar and I’ll bring it over, okay?”

              Meredith smiled in relief and walked over to the bar, choosing the farthest stool next to the wall. She was dressed in almost all black. She’d blend in if anyone glanced in her direction. She sat down and crossed her legs and watched the TV for a while and then groaned in frustration when the commercial turned into golf. How could men seriously watch golf on TV and not want to fall asleep? She hopped off her barstool and walked around the bar, looking for the remote. Everyone was preparing their tables for lunch so no one was paying her any attention. She looked up at the TV and pushed the arrow button to change the station.

              Automatically there was loud, buzzy gray noise. Meredith winced and glanced around the restaurant as she hurried back to her corner in the dark while pushing all the buttons she could find. She pushed another button and sighed in relief as a program came on.

              “Thank goodness,” she whispered and sagged against the counter. She had no idea what show she was about to watch but it had to be better than golf. She watched a couple dressed in nice clothes begin to argue and frowned as she tried to follow the storyline. It had to be one of those made for TV shows that were on cable. She glanced at the remote still in her hand and wondered if she dared to try and switch it to Bravo. She glanced up and gasped in horror as the couple was now ripping each other’s clothes off way too fast for a TV movie. Her mouth fell open as she caught sight of lady parts.
This could not be happening.
She’d somehow changed the station from golf to some kind of erotic, possibly X-rated show. She fumbled with the remote and searched frantically for the power button.

             
“Found a station more to your liking?”

              Meredith groaned and turned to see Taryn standing behind her looking up at the TV with wide-eyed horror. Meredith decided not to see what was going on. It would only make things worse. She meekly handed the remote to Taryn.              

              “I was just trying to find something besides golf.
Sorry
,” she said and stepped back from Taryn whose face had gone pale with shock. Taryn snatched the remote and quickly turned it back to the sports station.

              Meredith watched as Taryn walked behind the bar and put the remote on a high shelf, far away from her prying hands.

              “Next time you need help with something here at The Iron Skillet, you could always do what everyone else does
and ask
,” Taryn said in a sweet tone of voice that nonetheless felt as sharp as a knife.

              Meredith rolled her eyes. “You’d think in this day and age a person could walk into a restaurant and not have to be tortured by the golf channel. Women make up half the population you know. Not everything has to be about sports,” she said grouchily and stepped up to sit on her barstool again.

              Taryn shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked Meredith up and down with a critical eye. Meredith colored but didn’t drop her eyes.

              “If you have a complaint about how I run this restaurant, you’re welcome to take it up with the owner, Meredith. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.
Unlike ….,”
she said, giving her major side eye as she walked away in her elegant gray suit and pearls.

              Meredith glared at Taryn’s back and stuck her tongue out. “Taryn Moore, the biggest brat in the world,” she muttered as she tapped her fingers impatiently against the counter. She should have just stopped at Subway like everyone else did.

              “Who’s the biggest brat? It almost sounded like you said
Taryn
.”

              Meredith groaned and turned around to see Rob Downing standing next to her looking slightly amused.

              “Sorry, just having a conversation with myself. Your sister and I had a little disagreement about the fact that the TV here is always on a sports channel. I tried to change it to something more interesting and
uh
. . . might have found a slightly pornographic program by accident. Taryn wasn’t amused.”

              Rob laughed and walked around the bar, grabbing the remote. He looked up at the TV and surfed a few channels before picking Ellen. “Wren loves this show. Is this better?”

              Meredith grinned and relaxed.
Maybe Rob was okay.
“Perfect. I’m just waiting for a salad to go. I’ll be out of your hair shortly but thanks for changing the channel.”

              Rob smiled and looked at her curiously as he took a glass and filled it with water. “Brogan told me all about your business deal and the online dating website you’re starting. What are you guys calling it?”

              Meredith licked her lips nervously and crossed her legs. “I’m calling it,
Your One and Only.
It will be specialized for singles in this area and we’re going to plan tons of social events for people so it’s going to be a mix of the new and the old. New technology mixed with old fashioned matchmaking. We have Brogan taking care of the website, Asher taking care of the business end and I’ll handle the actual people. We’re pretty excited.”

              Rob nodded and rubbed a hand over his chin. “Keep The Iron Skillet in mind for anything social you want to do. I’ll give you a good deal.”

              Meredith’s eyes lit up and she grinned at Rob. “That would be perfect. Thanks, Rob. I really appreciate it.”

              Rob nodded his head and took a sip of water. “I want to see you three succeed. As a businessman I’ve learned that it’s always good to give the people you know a hand up. I was given plenty when I was starting out.”

              Meredith’s forehead crinkled. “I can’t believe how cool you’re being,” she said with a laugh.

              Rob’s eyebrows lifted up and he grinned. “Oh, because I’m Taryn’s brother you mean? Yeah, well, we’re a little different. Plus you and I have never been in a brawl, so there’s that,” he said with a flash of a grin.

              Meredith blushed in mortification. When was she ever going to live that down? Answer:
never
.

              “Well, I hope that someday Taryn forgives me. Being in business with her husband makes things a little awkward,” she said softly, wishing that she could go back in time and take herself by the shoulders and give herself a firm shake.

              Rob walked over and patted her shoulder. “Take it from someone who has made a lot of mistakes and has a long list of regrets.
Don’t worry about it.
When Taryn sees how successful your business venture is and how happy Brogan is working with you and Asher, she’ll relax. Heck, you two might even become friends.”

              Meredith snorted. “That’s the second time I’ve heard that from someone and I have to tell you, I can’t imagine being friends with Taryn. That woman can freeze you with the lift of an eyebrow.”

              Rob laughed and then his face froze. Meredith turned slowly and saw what she expected to see. Taryn standing right behind her with her salad in her hand.

              Taryn sneered at Rob and then tilted her head and looked at her as if she was looking at a bug. “If you’re done gossiping about me, your salad is ready.”

              Meredith fumbled with her wallet and pulled out a few bills. Taryn took them with a snap of her wrist. “Enjoy your lunch,” she said coolly and turned on her heels and walked away.

              Meredith sighed miserably and glanced at Rob who was wincing. “Just my luck. I’m trying to make things better with Taryn and then I go and make things worse. If you see Taryn, would you please tell her I’m sorry and that came out wrong. I mean, I’d love to be friends with Taryn. Being her enemy isn’t that much fun,” she said feeling a little sad about it and hopped off the stool.

***

              Rob watched her go and frowned at Meredith’s retreating back. He shook his head and looked over to where Taryn was talking to three waiters. It might be time to talk to Taryn about giving Meredith a little break. Sure, she’d caused a horrifically embarrassing scene last year. But no one was perfect and he’d caused his own fair share of scenes. Taryn had too. It might be time to let bygones be bygones.
              He watched as Taryn finished up and then waited until she turned in his direction. She gave him a grumpy look and he smiled. She followed him back to his office and shut the door before sitting down in a chair.

              “Don’t even start, Rob. You know that woman is a menace to society. For heaven’s sakes I turn around and she’s switching the channel to an X-rated show. She probably did it just to get us in trouble,” she said with a lift of her chin.

              Rob laughed and sat back in his chair, resting his head in his hands. “Knock it off, Taryn. You know she was just trying to get it off the golf channel. Jeez, even I think watching golf is tedious. Give her a break.”

              Taryn stared at him in surprise. “You did not just say what I think you said. You just said to give
Meredith Jensen
a break?
Are you crazy?
This is the woman who was so obsessed with Kam last year that she went after Bailey right here in your very own restaurant. The woman is cracked.”

              Rob frowned at his sister and sat forward. “The woman was in love with Kam and heartbroken. Can you seriously have no compassion for that? How did you feel last year when you and Brogan broke up?
Huh?
Now picture Brogan moving on and dating a gorgeous blond and leaving you in the dust. What would you have done in her shoes?”

              Taryn looked stunned for a moment and then looked down at her hands. “I’d probably want to tear whoever Brogan was dating apart,” she said softly.

              Rob sighed and nodded his head. “There’s no
probably
about it. What we have here is a woman who is surprisingly like
you
. You might want to give her a break.”

              Taryn looked up at Rob already shaking her head. “She hates Bailey. How can I possibly be friends with someone who hates my sister? It’s called family loyalty.”

              Rob frowned at Taryn. “Then you’ll be happy to know that Kam and Bailey had Meredith over for dinner two weeks ago and from what I heard had a wonderful time. Kam cares about Meredith and Bailey is mature enough to realize that sometimes people let their emotions get the better of them. If they can let the past go, can’t you?”

              Taryn stood up and let out a loud breath. “I’ll think about it, but if she steps out of line with Brogan, the gloves are off,” she said, her eyes cool and her shoulders straight.

              Rob rolled his eyes. “Brogan is lucky they pulled him in on this and you know it. Why in the world would Meredith sabotage her own success?”

              Taryn walked to the door, whipping it open with a little more muscle than needed. “Who knows why that woman does what she does. But I’m keeping my eyes on her.”

              Rob watched his sister leave in a huff and closed his eyes in exasperation. Taryn was a force of nature and changing her mind once it had been made was almost always impossible. But it had been known to happen. Rob reached for his laptop and tried to blow it off. Why did he even care one way or the other if Meredith Jensen was able to move on from the past and become a success? He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Probably because he could see a lot of himself in her. Everyone deserved a second chance. Even Meredith.