Page 20 of Love in Fine Print

Second, he respected my boundaries. It was comically obvious that he’d wanted to follow me to the X-ray room and carry me to the truck as we left and come up to my office when he dropped me off to make sure I was okay, but he hadn’t because he knew I didn’t want him to.

And third, he took full responsibility for his part in me getting injured. He’d offered to pay for my medical bills, damages to my property, and lost wages. That might seem like what anyone would do in his position, but being in the legal world, I knew that it absolutely wasn’t.

Trevor was right. I did nitpick potential partners, but I only did that when I knew that there was something off about them. I wanted so badly for there to be something off about Ben, but for the life of me, I couldn’t come up with anything.

Well, there was one thing. The way my body responded to him. I didn’t feel like myself around him. There was an electricity, a tingle, an awareness that made me feel very out of control.

Control was my safe place. It was my Zen. It was my religion.

I wasn’t willing to give that up for anyone. Not even Mr. Arm Porn.

8

BEN

My palms were actuallya little damp as I walked up to the large wrought-iron gate that led to a small courtyard surrounded by upscale condos. I needed every client I could get. Especially ones that lived in neighborhoods like this and whose assistants set up initial consultations and wouldn’t disclose the name of my potential client for privacy reasons, which meant they must have some sort of clout.

I’d tried to run the company my way, and I was failing. Miserably. My first order of business after taking over was to get everything uploaded to digital files and then to create an online database where I could easily cross-reference clients and potential daters in Gran’s roster to set up matches. I’d even had Jake, my little brother who happened to be a tech genius, create an algorithm that would predict compatibility based on profiles. He wasn’t actually my little brother. He was the kid I was matched with in the Big Brother Mentor program right after I got drafted. He was only eight at the time and was having a lot of trouble in school, both academically and socially.

It turned out he was on the spectrum and had ADHD. His mom was a single parent with four kids, so I did my bestto be there for him. I knew what it was like not to have a parent around. High school had been tough for him. Kids were assholes. But he was thriving in college. He’d gotten a full-ride scholarship to Cal Tech and was living in Pasadena.

I was so fucking proud of that kid.

As much as I’d appreciated his algorithm, sadly, in the months since I’d implemented the new systems, I’d yet to have a single successful match.

So now I was going to do things Gran’s way. She met every client in their environment and decided whether or not she thought she could help them. She was selective in her clientele. She said that seeing people in their space gave her a better understanding of who they were, which in turn allowed her to better serve them in finding their soulmate.

Home visits seemed sketchy to me, especially in this day and age. A man showing up at a single woman’s home wasn’t exactly the smartest move on my part. I hated to be cynical, but my days of playing ball had taught me all too well that people exploit anything and everything they can.

I’d had more than one buddy end up fathering children after women poked holes in condoms. And it wasn’t just women. Men would start fights in bars, restaurants, even on the street so they could sue for financial gain. Nine times out of ten, they won because it was easier and less expensive to settle out of court than it was to go through the hassle, expense, and damaging exposure of a trial.

So yeah, I was nervous as hell about what I was going to be walking into. But this was for Gran and her legacy. And I would do anything for that woman because she had done everything for me.

After my mom left, she was the only nurturing adult I had in my life. She called nearly every day to check up on me, probably because she knew my dad, her son, had checked out. She madesure I had everything I needed even though I lived in Southern California and she was in San Francisco.

Without her love and support, I’m not sure I would have made it through my childhood. And if I had, it would have been a lot harder and a hell of a lot lonelier.

So, this was for Gran. I pressed the number four on the callbox, following the instructions in the email confirmation of this meeting. I was expecting someone’s voice to come out of the speaker, but instead, I heard a buzzing noise.

Looking around, I pushed the ornate gate open and made my way along a quaint brick path that meandered beneath a canopy of trees leading to the back of the property. As I walked, I noticed a hummingbird flying beside me.

Gran loved hummingbirds. She used to collect tiny figurines of them and even had a hummingbird feeder on her porch. I knew it was ridiculous but seeing the bird, made me feel like she was watching over me.

Still, when I got to the door, I rubbed my hands down my denim covered thighs, hoping to alleviate any moisture I had on my palms. I was more nervous than I’d been in the Super Bowl. Probably because, on the field, I knew what to do. I’d played football since I was five years old. My dad played football. My grandfather played football.

Football was in my blood.

So is matchmaking, Gran’s voice sounded in my head.

Right. So was matchmaking. Still, I hadn’t been matchmaking since I was five. I hadn’t even had a relationship that had lasted for more than six months. And Gran had always said that the recipe to being a good matchmaker was one part listening, two parts reading between the lines, and four parts sixth sense.

She always claimed that she just got a feeling about whether two people were right for each other. One time, she explainedto me that she knew when people were right for each other the same way a surfer knew which wave to catch. It was a feeling.

Over the past six months, I’d read books and watched YouTube videos on relationships, dating, marriage, and the science of attraction and I still didn’t know what the hell I was doing.

Football was easy. The rules were clear. The goal was easy, score the most points to get the W.

Dating nowadays seemed like the Wild West. There were no rules. At least not ones that everyone agreed on.

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