Page 23 of New Girl in Town
“But kind of pointless when you’ve met the most interesting woman before the thing even starts.”
“I bet you say that to all the ladies.”
“Only when it’s true.”
I chuckled. The banter was easy, and there was a spark of an attraction. While it wasn’t the roaring heat I had experienced with Grant, it was nice.
The sudden chiming of a bell made us both stop speaking, and we looked to the front of the room, where a woman in a flawless blue pantsuit and a sleek bob smiled at everyone. Clearing her throat, the woman paused for a moment before she started speaking.
“Good evening and welcome to the city’s first round of speed dating for the winter season. I am so very excited to see what sparks fly tonight.” She laughed as a round of applause filled the room.
“You will have all, by now, filled out a name tag. Now, please take a seat, make sure that your name is visible, and note that the guests to the right are to move to the right, and those on the left will likewise move to the left when the time comes for the next date. The signal to meet a new date will be the simple chiming of my bell. Dinner will be served at the conclusion of the event, and we encourage our guests to take the opportunity to get to know one another.”
“Damn. Food is at the end of the night,” Melinda hissed to me as she appeared at my side. It took everything in me not to hug Melinda with my entire being. I was in danger of slipping down into a longing-and-comparing-every-man-I-met-tonight-to-Grant decline, but she was the key to snapping me out of it.
“Bad luck,” Ben whispered to Melinda as the event's organizer continued to speak in front of them.
“You’re telling me,” Melinda sighed.
“There is an upside to dinner being served last.”
“What’s that?” Melinda asked.
“Now I won’t have to be worried that I have spinach in my teeth while trying to catch Aurora’s eye.”
Melinda went still next to me, and I could feel her vibrating in triumph. “Minx,” she whispered to me with a wicked grin.
Shaking my head, I turned to Ben and grinned. “I would have offered to don some spinach so we matched. You know, sympathy spinach.”
Ben laughed. “The tried and true method of dating in your 30s—shared trauma.”
“As American as apple pie,” I said, though my ears perked up at Ben’s mention of 30s.
The sudden chiming of the bell signaled the event had started, and the space around us erupted into activity as people rushed to find seats across from other prospective daters who had caught their eye.
“Looks like we were too slow, Aurora,” Ben said with a little shake of his head.
“What?”
“All the seats across from each other are taken. It looks like I’ll just have to work my way around to you.” Ben gestured toward the now almost full table.
“How did Mel get over there so fast?” I wondered when I saw her giving me an impatient wave.
“She’s fast,” Ben observed, “but the good thing is so are the dates. It won’t take that long to see you again.”
“Until then, Ben.”
Ben gave a little bow. “I’ll be counting the minutes, or should I say dates, until then.”
I laughed and gave him a mock curtsy, which left Ben sighing and clutching his heart as he sauntered to his seat.
This was what I needed, a simple night where a handsome man flirted with me.
You have that with Grant,my traitorous brain mocked.
My smile faltered, and I slid in beside Melinda with a sigh.
“Why are you sighing?”
