Page 21 of Love in Fine Print

I had to put everything I’d read and everything I’d tried to learn out of my head and focus only on the client. That’s what Gran did. She said that she went into every initial consultation with a clear mind and zero expectations or judgments. Everyone she met had a clean slate and only they would write who they were on it.

I closed my eyes and did my best to get into a zen state. A meditative state, just like I did when I was in a big game. Whatever arena I was playing in disappeared. The chants and cheers from the fans muted. The only thing that existed were the men on the gridiron. All that I cared about was getting the ball into the hands of the receiver.

The sound of the door opening startled me and my eyes popped open. When they did, I saw the woman who had been popping up in my mind for the past forty-eight hours.

Olivia Bradshaw.

For a split second, I thought that I must be seeing things, that she was a figment of my imagination. But that theory was disproven when she spoke.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, clearly as confused to see me as I was to see her.

“What are you doing here?” I repeated before realizing how asinine that question was.

“I live here. And I’m actually expecting someone, so…”

“Someone from Ever After Matchmaking?” I asked, thinking this had to be some sort of prank.

“No, a deliver…wait, did you saymatchmaking?”

I nodded. “Remember I said that I inherited my grandmother’s business? This is it.”

We stared at each other, neither saying a word.

“You’re a matchmaker?” she repeated slowly.

No, I thought as I nodded my head in the affirmative.

Her brow furrowed slightly. “What qualifications do you have?”

Seeing her doubting and questioning my qualifications lit a fire under me. A competitive fire that had driven me to two Super Bowl rings. “Matchmaking is in my blood.”

“How many successful matches have you made?”

“I just took over the business.”

She stared at me and I felt…exposed. I had the strangest impulse to tell her that in reality I had no clue what I was doing, that if it were up to me, I would shut the doors of Ever After and preserve Gram’s legacy, that I was a fraud.

Her eyes were like truth serum.

Before I confessed my deepest, darkest secrets, she opened the door wider and stepped back. It was a silent invitation to come inside her home.

I took a deep breath, trying to shake off whatever had just transpired between us. Those eyes were lethal. I would not want to be on the witness stand with her questioning me.

Those thoughts were filling my mind as I walked in and looked around. Olivia’s condo was not what I would have expected. It was warm. Cozy. Inviting.

I don’t know what I would have expected her to live in—maybe a high-rise penthouse with marble floors, whitewalls filled with expensive art, and the highest level of tech imaginable.

Instead, there was what looked to be original hardwood flooring, high ceilings with beams, and one entire wall was brick. The furniture was casual but homey. There was a light brown leather couch with warm green throw cushions. A large area rug that looked to have a Moroccan flare to it. Opposite the brick wall was a wall with built-in bookshelves.

There were live plants and beautiful pieces of art hung on the walls.

A buzzing sound caught my attention, and I saw Olivia pull her phone from her pocket, silence it, and then put it back.

“What exactly did Trevor tell you?” she asked.

“Trevor?”

“My assistant, you met him at the park.”

---