Page 36 of Love in Fine Print

Although appearance didn’t seem to be a priority to Olivia.

A lot of people said they didn’t care what someone looked like, but she was one of the only people I’d met that I could tell actually meant it.

On paper, Olivia and Neil should be walking down the aisle by spring. But Gran always said the only way to find out ifpeople have chemistry is to put them in a room together. She maintained there was no way to find out if sparks would fly until two people locked eyes.

A flash went through my head of the first time I’d seen Olivia when I’d tried to help her up after Dolly took her out. Everything around us disappeared. My entire body tingled with awareness. It was like I’d taken a drug or something.

As I walked into the bar, I shook my head, trying to forget the way the tiny hairs had stood up on the back of my neck when our hands touched. I didn’t want to think about how the rest of the world had faded in the background. There was absolutely no reason to dwell on the way my chest had constricted.

Olivia Bradshaw was a client. I was not going to mix business with pleasure. How sleazy would it be if the owner of a matchmaking service dipped his pen in company ink? Very sleazy. My clients needed to feel safe and like they weren’t going to get hit on by the owner of the fucking company.

Maybe Miss B was right. Maybe I did need to get into a relationship.

Or maybe you just need to get laid,an inner voice that sounded a lot like Declan sounded in my head.

It had been a hot minute since my pen had been in any ink. The last year I was playing ball, all five of the women I’d had casual relationships with were either married or engaged. Then, right before the season ended, Gran had her stroke, and I made the decision to retire. Once I hung up my cleats, she spent a month in the hospital and then she was gone. After she passed and I found out her final wishes, it had basically been a blur.

I still didn’t understand why Gran had never said anything about leaving Ever After to me. If she had, I probably would have done my best to talk her out of it. Not in a way that would offend her, just to make it clear that I wasn’t cut out for this. Because let’s face it, I wasn’t.

The bar was dimly lit but I easily spotted Declan at the end of it. He was six foot six, with dark hair, a thick beard, tattoos, and a booming voice. He was hard to miss. When he saw me walking toward him, his arms flew up in the air.

“Hey, man!” Declan stood and slapped his palm against mine before pulling me into a one-armed hug. “How ya been?”

“Hangin’ in there.” I slapped him twice on his shoulder. “How about you?”

“Same old.”

We sat and I saw that Dec had done me the honor of ordering a whiskey straight. I appreciated his forethought.

“Thanks.” I lifted my glass and he did the same. We clinked the edges of our glasses, and both took a drink.

“So how long are you in town for?”

“Just a couple nights. I was actually trying to get a hold of Charli. Have you seen her lately?”

It was obvious that Declan was trying to play it cool bringing up his on-again off-again hookup. As far as I knew, he and Charli had never had anything serious between the two of them. At least, that’s what they wanted people to think, including each other. From the outside looking in, I’d always thought they both had strong feelings for one another, but both of them were too proud to admit those feelings.

They’d been playing emotional chicken for the better part of a decade and neither one was going to bail first.

“Actually, I saw her last week.”

That certainly got his attention.

Dec sat up straighter. “You did?”

I nodded. “Dolly knocked a woman down at the park. It broke the woman’s wrist, and sprained her ankle.”

“Holy shit! Is she gonna sue you?”

“That’s funny you say that because she’s a lawyer.”

Declan grimaced. “Oh fuck. You’re screwed.”

“No.” I shook my head remembering how defensive Olivia was of Dolly and how she refused to let me pay for anything. “She was actually really sweet about the whole thing.”

Declan stared at me for a beat, then tilted his head. “You like her, don’t you?”

Fuck.Was I being that obvious? I shook my head. “It’s not like that. She’s on a date tonight with someone I set her up with.”

---