Page 3 of Jake

Hours passed as their game dragged on. In the end, Ryker won, as usual. Luke’s goal was to take Ryker down and he grew more frustrated every night that he didn’t win. Although, he’d come close tonight.

Jake threw the last of the empty bottles away and wiped down the table before dropping onto his black leather sofa and propping his feet on the ottoman he’d argued with his interior designer about buying. She’d practically fainted when he refused a coffee table for this. He told her he meant to put his feet on it regardless and she’d finally given up.

Evan wasted no time and sent him the link for the app for the blind dates the second he’d agreed. He pulled it up and clicked to start the download. If he was really going to go through with it, he figured he might as well research it.

It took nearly an hour to put all his information in and take the million-question test that went with it about his likes and dislikes and so on. It was annoying, but when he started paying attention to the questions, he could understand where they came from and saw how the algorithm was going to work.

Programming had been what got him to where he was, as the CEO of his father’s tech company, Arnoldson Robotics. Unlike many other parents, his father never guaranteed him a position and so he’d worked his way up from research and development to his current position at the top.

Once complete, the app told him to check back in two days to allow the system time to find a match. The last step was to tick a box if he wanted to be able to chat with dates once they were scheduled. Figuring why not, he ticked the box.

He laughed as he set his phone down. At the rate he was going, there wasn’t going to be a match for him anywhere. People were interested in his name, the money, and the face that went with it, but few cared about him outside of that.

He stood, stretched, and headed for his bedroom. Tomorrow was Saturday and that meant no suits, which always made it worth getting through the week. It wasn’t that he minded dressing the part in his fitted suits, but there was something to be said about jeans and a shirt and blending in.

He slid on sweats before crawling into his king-sized bed. His room was the only real pop of color in his apartment and no one ever saw it. He liked things simple and understated in his room. With the exception of the TV that was hidden in the wall behind a painting that slid out of the way with the touch of a button.

He yawned as he lay back, watching the ceiling fan spin. Tomorrow he was going to hit up the farmer’s market and just enjoy not being the most popular man. Well, he was going to give it a shot, anyway.

With any luck, he might meet someone among the vendors and shoppers that didn’t know who he was and didn’t want anything from him. Then he could let this whole blind date thing go and not have to do it.

Dinner, in the dark, at a restaurant, what a wild concept. It was expensive too, he noted, and if he invited someone on a date, he had to pay, and vice versa. All in all, it was an interesting business concept, and he could see why Evan had been interested in it.

Chapter Two

“Please, I need just ten minutes.” Lauren knocked on the bathroom door. “I’m going to be late for work.”

Her roommate, Fiona, had been in the bathroom for nearly an hour now. It was like this every morning, but Lauren had started getting up earlier to try to avoid the drama. This week, though, Fiona had gotten up early every day just to hole up in the bathroom.

It was intentional. She wanted Lauren to move out. Unfortunately, as much as Lauren wanted to, her hands were tired unless she could find another person looking for a roommate because rent was too high to do it alone.

“Please,” she begged.

No answer came from the bathroom. Resigned, she went back to her bedroom and pulled out her dry shampoo. It was going to be a long day, if this was any indication.

She quickly got dressed, fixed her hair, popped a piece of gum since she still couldn’t brush her teeth, and ran out the door. The elevator hadn’t worked in two weeks so she carried her shoes, sprinting down the stairs.

Her skirt didn’t allow for wide steps, and she seriously considered hiking her black, knee-length pencil skirt up to move faster but decided she needed to keep her modesty. The heels she carried already made her sprint look like a walk of shame as it was.

“Excuse me,” she said as she ran past a lady coming in the building as she exited, waving her arm to catch the attention of any cab driver that would stop for her.

Cabs weren’t an expense she’d normally willingly spend, but today she’d be late regardless, and this would make her slightly less late. A cab stopped for her and she slid in, quickly giving her address.

She put her shoes on, her hose no doubt torn from not putting them on in the building. She didn’t bother to look; it didn’t matter now. Pulling out her compact, she double-checked her makeup and hair, taking the time to adjust. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a bun, the only thing that was really going to hide her lack of shower this morning.

While she hunted for a new place to live, she would start showering at night. There was no way Fiona could bogart the bathroom all the time. Her phone vibrated in her purse and she pulled it out, quickly answering.

“You’re late again,” came Catherine’s voice.

Catherine had grown to be her friend in her time at H&T Marketing. Catherine was part of the H in the name and the brother of the man she worked for, Cade Hawkins. She wasn’t owner or CEO, but Cade was. Catherine had decided she didn’t want the pressure of that title, so when their father left the company, Cade stepped into the role alone.

“I’m on my way.” She was still trying to catch her breath.

“You sound stressed. Is it that roommate again?” Catherine knew what she’d been going through.

“She never left the bathroom. I didn’t even get to shower,” Lauren complained. “I should have known she would do this. She doesn’t want me there any more than I want to be there.”

“How many more times must I offer you a place to stay before you get out of that toxic mess?” Catherine had been offering her a room in her apartment, but it didn’t feel right since she worked for her brother.

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