Summer’s eyebrows rise. “You’d be okay with that? Having a first date at an event?”
“Why not?” I shrug. It had been a foolish suggestion, but here I am, committed to it.
“No, no, that’s great. If the female client is amenable to that, it’ll work great.” She gives me another sunny smile. “Two weeks, then, to find your soul mate.”
“Good luck,” I say. “You’ll need it more than me.”
5
Summer
The summer rain is a torrent outside my office window, stronger than New York has experienced in weeks. It’s needed, but I still don’t like it. Not when I know what it’ll mean for the windows in my apartment.
No matter how many rolled-up towels I stuff against the window frames, water still finds ways to seep through. I might applaud its ingenuity, if I wasn’t living with the consequences.
I sigh. Ace looks up at me from his sprawl at my feet, eyebrows raised the way only a dog can.
“Nothing’s up,” I tell him. “Excited to go to my parents this weekend?”
He gives a huff and settles his head back on the floor. Manhattan’s not the place for a dog, and my parents would be more than happy to add him to their little pack upstate, but…
I want him here with me.
“You’re the real matchmaker, aren’t you?” I tell him. My door is closed, with neither Suzy nor my aunt here to witness just how often I talk to my dog. “Clients take one look at you and they melt.”
Ace turns on his side and pushes his snout against my ankle, his nose cold.
“That’s right. Now, if only you could charm Anthony Winter too.”
Ace doesn’t reply. Smart move, too, because the man seems utterly resistant to charm of all sorts. And utterly dismissive of the women I’ve set him up with.
How do you win a bet against someone who is determined to play unfairly? He might say otherwise, but I doubt he gave Isabelle a proper shot. Ciara, well… that’s a different story.
Which reminds me.
I reach for my phone and put on a wide smile as I dial Ciara’s number. She’d asked me to call her back.
“Summer,” she says. “I’m so glad you called.”
“I’m here to help.”
“I just want to touch base about the date last week.”
I grit my teeth. We’ve already spoken about it. “Absolutely. What about it do you want to discuss?”
“Like I said right after, I’d really like to go on another date with Anthony. The date ended so quickly, he didn’t have a chance to grab my phone number.” She laughs, like that had been a silly mistake on Anthony’s part.
“I see,” I say. “Well, it’s always up to both parties if they’d like to schedule another date.”
“You’re right, and I think in this situation, it is certainly mutual,” she says, voice lowering. “Honestly, I’m a bit impressed, Summer. I’d heard great things about Opate but I couldn’t imagine my first date would be with Anthony Winter!”
I frown. “Were you aware of him before you went on a date with him?”
“Okay, I admit I wasn’t. But I Googled him before, of course. Did you know his family owns Winter Hotels? You know, the giant chain?”
I didn’t. I clear my throat. “Well, we do pretty extensive interviews with clients when they join.”
“Oh, that’s right. Of course you know.” She sighs, a tad dreamily. “He wasn’t very talkative, but that’s okay. There are more important things. Would you be so kind as to give Anthony my number and let him know I’m available? That’d be lovely. Oh, I have to go.”