“We can’t help being attracted to some looks and turned off by others.”
“Well, yeah. I mean, I am a guy.” He shrugged as if it were the most obvious conclusion in the world. “I do want a woman who cares about her appearance.”
Marie nodded. “Understood. Beyond the facade, do you want a risk-taker? A homebody? What type?”
“A little of each. Someone happy to be alive, someone who throws herself into each day, who’s grateful for what she has 54
but works hard to get more. A woman comfortable with her body, with a healthy attitude toward sex.”
“‘Healthy’
meaning…”
“Uninhibited. With a good appetite.” He winked, again covering his discomfort. The best way not to get caught in a lie was to tell as much truth as possible, but as he kept talking about what he wanted, he kept seeing Candy’s face, not merely as a target of this investigation, and kept having to tamp down excitement he hadn’t felt in a while.
Which was nuts. He didn’t know Candy at all. She could be a prime manipulator, using men to pad her friend’s coffers and her own. He was out of his element, that was all—displaced from his old home, not yet comfortable in his new one. Of course he’d latch on to someone he could conceivably belong with because belonging was something everyone wanted. Because he’d never belonged with Angie, no matter how much he wanted her or how much he tried.
Half an hour later, hallelujah, Marie finally closed her folder, apparently out of questions, leaving Justin drained, as if she’d sucked out several pounds of his self. No wonder they called psychologists shrinks. “What do you think, Marie, is there hope?”
“Absolutely. Come see.” She reached eagerly for her laptop, eyes dancing. He stood next to her, found himself oddly nervous as she logged on to the Milwaukeedates.com site.
“You’ll have your own username and password to look through profiles, but I always start people off with a suggested match since I know my clientele pretty well. Someone came to mind when you were talking, and I thought you’d like to see her.”
“Sure.” Here it came, the moment of at least partial truth.
Had someone really “come to mind” or was she offering Candy to all strangers?
“She’s fun, energetic, but a good solid person underneath.
Like you, she had a serious relationship that didn’t work out, and while she wants marriage, right now she’s more interested in easing back into dating than in going for the perfect fit first try. However, I guarantee if you hit it off, you’ll find she’s strictly a one-man woman.” She pressed a few more keys.
“Let me pull up her profile.”
He held his breath. Five…four…three…two…one—
Candy. Dressed up the way she’d been the other night, the seductress. Not proof yet, but another hint that all wasn’t on the up-and-up at Milwaukeedates.com. If he hadn’t said sexually uninhibited, he might have gotten the version of her with the braid and the sensible shoes. If he said he liked strong women, he could have been standing here looking at her picture in that overly masculine suit.
Instead of triumph, he could only manage grim satisfaction mixed with disappointment. Apparently he hadn’t acknowledged the part of him that wanted Candy and Marie and this entire operation to be clean. Because…? He didn’t want to explore further.
“What do you think?” Marie twisted to look at him. Justin had apparently missed the window for a normal response to the image.
“She’s gorgeous.” He gestured toward the screen, back on script. “You’re not going to believe this, but she lives across the street from me.”
Marie’s face fell. “Oh, I am sorry. I usually check addresses.
I’ll just—”
“It’s fine.” No way would he let Marie back out of this now that he’d gotten her where he wanted. He reached over and hit a button to enlarge the image. Candy’s sexy smiling face filled the laptop screen. Sweet-hot innocence? Or a devious diva preying on the lonely for profit? He wanted to find out, more than was professionally appropriate. “In fact, it’s no problem at all. I’ve been wanting to get to know Candy a lot better.”