Yearnings: A Paranormal Romance Box Set (156 page)

“
You and me both.”Millie giggled. She’d spoon wrestle him for a cherry dipped in whipped cream any day. She’d even let him win. It would get on her nose and he’d point out the little something, then...

“
This your first time?”

“
My first sundae? Psshht. No. I have a thing for hot fudge.”

He grinned, showing the other dimple. “Sorry, I meant, your first time speed dating event.”

Dating. Oh, yeah. Matching people. “Oh! Yes. Sorry,” she said, doing a screwy finger at her head. “What about you?”

“
Didn’t you get the memo warning everyone? Newbie here.”

Millie giggled, again, trying to find a safe place to look at his face—ear. Ears were safe. Where was a briefcase when a girl needed one?

“
Me?” Oh, you know, serving time. Seven matches would set her free, return her to her former life. What an easy sounding punishment, right? Easier than picking trash off the side of a freeway. Right? Oh, if only. Love was anything but easy.

Just an average socialite, judged in Karma Court and handed the average punishment. Millie stammered. “Do?”

“
Yes, the place you go to every day, generally after a shower and cup of coffee?”

“
I love coffee—oh, yes.” Her cheeks got hot. “I work the deli counter at the Kroger on Stapley.”

“
Ah, a woman who knows her pastrami. I like it.”

“
I cut cheese so thin it melts on your tongue.” Did she just say cut cheese? Oh, brother. She cleared her throat, really wishing for that soda no waitress would bring. “What do you do, Steve?”

“
I’m a lawyer.”

“
Of course you are.” Handsome, tall, well-dressed, and a lawyer? So dreamy. “I can just see a jury hanging on your every word.” Look at how she hung on his every feature? Even his earlobe—the only real safe place to stare—was handsome. “So, forgive me, but what are you doing here? I mean, really, what in the world are you doing here?”

Steve laughed. “Uh, I’m flattered, I think. Really, though, I’m just trying it out. It was either that or watch movies with my cat all night.”

“
Me, too!” Man, what was up with her voice. Squeaky! She cleared her throat. “I swear, it was this or a marathon with my kitty, Delilah. Julia Roberts back to back.”

“
I love her. The Pelican Brief is a classic.”

Oh, how she loved a good Grisham adaptation herself, but she needed to stay focused. This was a fact finding mission, not a time to flirt.

“
What’s your all-time favorite movie?” she asked, internally begging, don’t say Star Wars. Don’t say Reign of Fire.

“
Huh, that’s a tough one. Of all time? I’d have to say...Shawn of the Dead?”

Millie inhaled. “I love that one! How his fear of commitment drives the whole movie and even zombified, he sticks by his best friend.”

“
I know, right? A classic. Friends till the end, and, of course, the zombies.” He shivered.

“
Exactly. Braaaiiinnnsss,” she said, hunching her shoulders and doing a chair shuffle.

“
Ah! You’re freaking me out!”

He was perfect! Handsome, suave, a sense of humor—bonus. Maybe they could get that ice cream after the last date—no, wait. What was she thinking? Tonight wasn’t about her. But who did she hook him up with? Who in here was good enough to be Steve’s perfect someone? Who here wouldn’t be totally stoked to meet him! Finally, an easy match!

“
Okay, Steve.” She said, feeling a tad hesitant. Part of her wanted to keep him. “Question.”

“
Shoot,” he said. “I’m an open book”.

Millie searched the room for “the One.” Who would be good enough for Steve? Not table eleven. She’d nearly hissed at Millie when she’d come in. Where was pigtails? She was cute, yes, but didn’t look worldly enough for him. He deserved someone special. Table four? No, she was too sweet. That sugary kind that probably knitted sweaters. Aw, but Steve might need a sweater around the chilly office. “What do you think of her?”

“
Vivian? She was very nice.” He tipped his head, his eyebrows drew in. “But I thought we were talking about you and me.”

She had no good answer. The truth certainly wouldn’t work. “You know, Steve, the timing isn’t quite right for me.”

“
But you’re at a speed dating event. “

“
The longest night of my life, Steve, I swear it. But Vivian seems nice, yes?”

His eyes shuttered, sending a pang through her. “Vivian was a little nervous, but sweet,” Steve said. “She has a new puppy named Lola that she’s a little worried about leaving alone.”

Ah. He was such a good listener.

Stop it, Millicent! He was a good match, for someone
else
.

She pointed to table number four. “And how about her?”

Steve tapped his finger to his lips, a well manicured finger at that. “Sharon? Yes, Sharon. She’s done this a few times. She had a lot of pointers for me. Good ones, too, like always keep a mint on the table.” He quirked an eyebrow at her.

Rejected and still cute. “Yeah, that is a good tip. I’ll have to remember that,” she said.

He grinned and leaned in. “Also, park near the door. Just in case.”

Millie laughed too loud. Maybe none of these women were good enough for Steve. But she needed a bracelet off. If not six, just one! She glanced around, eyes landing on cute as a button, again. “And the woman in pigtails. Did you get to chat with her?”

“
Can I be honest without you thinking I’m a jerk?”

“
Um, yes.” Yes, please, in fact.

He leaned closer. Close enough that she could smell his woodsy cologne. “With so little time left, I’m just not sure I can help Rachelle find her savior.”

Millie couldn’t have heard right. “Savior?”

“
Some people, it just takes longer and with the countdown already started, well, you understand.”

No, hold on. Did crazy train just pull in? Nope, not getting on it.

“
With less than twenty-four hours before the second coming when the dead will rise, I have to have a partner of faith.”

“
Um, back to the dead rising part...”

“
Well, yes. Like I said, Shawn of the Dead. What sense does it make binding myself to a sinner?”

Millie stared at him a few seconds, blinking. “Sinner.”

“
Exactly, yes.” He gave her lawyer hands, flat palms that cut the air with each word. “With the dead rising at dawn, be evening, the world will be in total chaos. Who else will we have but each other and Christ to see us through?”

Millie had no words, which Steve apparently took as agreement.

“
Hey, you and I both know that even if I could help Christ into her heart, she’ll need protection. I don’t have a flak jacket that will fit her. She’s too big on top and it just wouldn’t fit.”

“
A flak jacket. Sure.” Of course a flak jacket. “Or, nothing could happen and you’d meet a really nice girl who could eventually convert to your religion?”

“
If only that was a possibility, right? Truly. I haven’t even asked you about faith, but I don’t need to Millie. No matter what you’d say, you are worth saving. Through Christ or my panic room. Don’t you see? God brought us together.” His hands sliced at each word. “You will fit my flak jacket.”

But, but, she was so close. She was picking out his China pattern. She was gifting him to a lucky woman who might never even know what a gift Millie’d given her. How could this be?

Steve recaptured her hand. “Look, this is fast. I know that, but with Armageddon coming, I need you in my bunker.”

She shook her head. “Not me.”

“
Yes, you, Millie, Look at your excellent symmetrical features, those nice eyes. You’re smart, funny and have ideal birthing hips—”

Ding. Ding. Ding
.

“
That’s your cue, Steve. The next table is waiting for you. Double tap, okay?” She gave him a thumbs up. “Double tap.”

Steve only got up after Millie looked away, unable to watch his muscular legs carry him from her table. She sagged back in her chair. She tugged at the top bracelet. Not like it would budge. Still, maybe the cuffs weren’t so bad. She twisted one around, lining them into a neat stack. This was it. Her fate. Matching lunatics.

The bell dinged, but Millie couldn’t bring herself to hope. She couldn’t bring herself to even look up.

“
Is that any way to greet someone?”

Millie’s head snapped up, recognizing her supervisor’s voice. “AJ!” She looked around. Date twelve was well under way, the chatter filling the bar, drowning down the music. “What are you doing here?”

“
Sitting with you.”

Ah, crap. Busted. He wasn’t supposed to know about tonight. Had she left the web page open? Crap. Probably. She’d been so excited to get to it. This totally broke rule #148 that stated a Cupid must take one assigned love target at a time. Keywords being ”assigned” and, oh, probably that ”one” part, too. The way things were going—or more like not going—with her current match, she’d really hoped this could work. That she could match now and explain later.

Maybe he didn’t realize what she was after.

Ah, who was she kidding? AJ knew everything. Especially the rules. Verbatim. “We both know what I’m doing here. So, what’s my punishment?”

“
Punishment? Wasn’t this punishment enough?”

He waved for a waitress. The one that had ignored Millie all but skipped over to their table. “Thirsty?”

Parched, but really? He wasn’t going to launch into whys and what fors? Didn’t he have five examples lined up in his brain to illustrate how he’d been her and done this and so had many, many others?

The waitress arrived and eyed Mille, pen ready. “Sorry. Hi. A sprite would be great.”

“
With cherries on top,” AJ added. “Lots of cherries. And a Guinness for me.”

“
We have a great happy hour appetizer menu,” the waitress said, her hips rocking a little.

“
No, thanks,” AJ said and leaned back, stretching his legs, putting his hands behind his head.

“
You must be at least a little pissed at me.”

“
How could I be?” One side of his mouth curved up. “Your heart was in the right place.”

Millie gave him a look like, come on.

“
Well, maybe not your heart, but baby steps, right?”

She drooped a little. “I don’t get it. It’s the most romantic day of the year. It’s our day, literally! Not even one match.”

“
Love takes more than a three-minute conversation,” AJ said softly.

Clearly. She knew plenty about what it didn’t take by now. If only she could also discover some of that Julia Roberts kind of magic. “What about soul mates? What about those great loves of all time? They had me at hello’s of the world?”

“
Even the people who know right away didn’t truly know. They suspected. They feel a spark, stick it out, see it through. It’s in retrospect, once they’ve been proven right that they shout to the world, they knew.” He put his arms on the table. “You can’t determine how many sparks were lit tonight. Neither can I. Only time tells such things.”

Time. She didn’t want this time. Why couldn’t she see the sparks? Let alone a slow burn. The waitress arrived with her Sprite, a mountain of cherries on top, and AJ’s beer. Millie grabbed her straw and tore at the paper.

AJ stopped her, his hand a breath away from covering hers. “I almost forgot,” he said and reached under the table, retrieving a crunched up paper bag.

Giving him a suspicious look, she took the bag. She pulled out the contents. Long, thin, plastic. The lines down the body followed a curly cue shape that dizzied the eyes. “A super silly straw? No way!”

How many times had she begged her nanny and her mom for one? Silly straws were for silly girls and Kiki Kent had a future empire to inherit. But Millie Match was just a Cupid. No empire. No gawking public to let down.

“
I can’t believe they still make these.”

Did they even still make these?

“
Wait for it,” he said, removing the remaining wrapper and sticking it into her cherry piled drink. “Now sip.”

She did. A burst of sweet fizzy liquid pinched her taste buds and unaccountably stung her eyes. She looked down and laughed. With just one sip, her pink straw had turned blue. Bluer than her memories. Bluer than the commercial. Bluer than she’d ever imagined.

“
It rocks!”

AJ grinned, shrugging one shoulder.

“
Where did you find one of these?”

“
I have my sources,” he said, then glanced around. “

Millie popped a cherry in to nibble on. The bar was filling up, the music louder now that the round of daters headed for the door or a stool. “Look,” she said, pointing. “I never would have put them together. She’s so, so normal looking.”

“
Looks can be deceiving.”

“
Tell me about it.” She gasped, seeing The Condition put an arm around pigtails. “And I’d never have paired those two. Never.” She yanked a cherry stem off.

He sat forward, easing his arms onto the table and stealing a cherry. “Not never. You just have to realize love goes beyond putting people together like matching salt and pepper. And it takes more than things in common to cement a bond.”