Boom.
She shivered and put her car into gear. Automatically, she glanced in the rearview mirror and paused when a shiny red Mazda pulled up behind her. A gorgeous girl with long red hair and a tight white dress clambered out of the car, dropping her keys into the valet’s hands.
The sinking sensation in her chest intensified. His date? Was this what kind, sweet, and loyal looked like?
Well, that was fine. Totally and utterly fine.
If Rhiannon’s tires squealed when she peeled out of the driveway, well . . . that must be what closure sounded like.
Chapter Nine
HEYYYYYYY, SAMSON.”
Samson groaned and lifted his head from his cupped palms. The fancy hotel restaurant was deserted except for him and Tina. “You don’t have to use that tone.”
“What tone?” The blonde slipped into the chair opposite him, where his “date” had sat twenty minutes ago.
“That mustn’t upset the talent tone.” Samson grimaced. “I know I stank.”
Tina interlaced her fingers on the snowy tablecloth. There was a wine stain next to her thumb. “You didn’t stink, exactly . . .” She stopped when he growled in disgust. “Okay. That was not you at your best.”
Samson grimaced. That was a severe understatement. “Can we get that poor girl a consolation prize? Disneyland tickets?”
Tina cracked a smile. “She doesn’t need Disneyland tickets. I told her we would reimburse her for dry-cleaning or replacing her dress.”
Samson groaned again. The red wine he’d accidentally knocked over onto the woman’s lap had left a glaring stain. “I don’t know what happened.” He wasn’t sure if he was talking to himself or Tina.
Tina patted his hand. “Listen, we all have off days. Sometimes there’s no chemistry between two people, no matter what the match percentages say. Don’t tell Belle I said that, though.”
“She’s going to be disappointed.”
“We can work some editing magic, probably, and cobble together a few minutes, at least, of you two looking at each other like you were enjoying each other’s company.” She hesitated. “Or at least, not actively disliking and boring each other.”
“You know, my friend Harris, he mentioned that I may be out of practice when it comes to dating. It’s possible he got in my head? That’s the only explanation.” It was true, he hadn’t dated for a long time. But he’d broken the seal with Rhi months ago. That Night hadn’t felt so weird and awkward. When they hadn’t been talking in that dark bar, they’d sat in comfortable silence, their knees pressing together.
Speaking of whom . . .
“Can you edit out the part where I called her by the wrong name?” he asked grimly.
Tina winced. “Yeah, that probably wasn’t your smoothest move. In your defense, Rachel and Rhi do both, um, start with the same letter.”
He scrubbed his hands over his face, then remembered that the makeup artist had blotted something on him to mystically create shadows where there were none. He used the towel to wipe the brown makeup off his palm.
“Also, you’d just seen her. Easy to misspeak.” Then, more casually, she said, “I didn’t realize you and Hunter were so close. I heard your interview when you were at CREATE, your rapport was good, but you, like, know each other otherwise?”
“Uh, yes. We’re . . .” Friends? Exes? Neither of those terms really fit, and something made him viscerally cringe away from using the word colleague as lightly as Rhi had. “We know each other. From before. Somewhere else.”
Curiosity brightened her eyes, but Tina only nodded. “Ah, gotcha. What did she want? How did she even know you were here?”
“I had some questions for her, at the conference,” he lied. “She was kind enough to come by and talk to me in person. You know, since I’m new to the industry.”
Tina raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I’ve never heard her called kind.”
“What have you heard her called?” His tone may have been a bit sharp, but he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what she’d said.
Specifically, why did she fear Annabelle thinking poorly of her? What had her former employer said about her? And why?
He knew how rumors and backstabbing and blacklisting worked. This wasn’t something he could google. And even if he could, he wouldn’t want to. They’d made a pact.
“I stay pretty isolated from the industry, too, working with Belle on behind-the-scenes stuff for as long as I have. I don’t know Rhiannon personally, but I’ve heard she’s a shark.” Tina perked up. “Actually, that’s not quite right. I’ve also heard she’s a fantastic and fair employer. Not always easy to find.”
I play fair. “Fair is a good word for her.” No wonder his behavior had so bothered her. It hadn’t been fair.
He’d felt like a million pounds had lifted off him when she’d accepted his apology. Oh, she was still clearly and obviously wary of him, but at least she knew what had motivated his ghosting.
Closure.
Whatever had brought her to him, he’d take. He’d shoot Belle an email in Australia when he got home and hope that his aunt would respond somewhat soon. He didn’t know what Belle would do with regard to Rhi wanting to buy Matchmaker, but it cost him nothing to put the message through. He owed it to his colleague.
She hadn’t felt like his colleague when he’d stood behind her, when he’d brushed his arm against hers.
That spark of attraction had started a heat low in his belly, a heat he’d thought he’d banked when she’d run away from him. No wonder he’d been too distracted to properly talk to poor Rachel.
He still wanted Rhi.
“She’s pretty too. Prettier in person. You two seemed comfortable with each other. We’ll find you someone we can replicate that with.” Tina came to her feet. “Too bad you can’t date her.”
“Yeah—” He stopped. Tina had already turned away and was walking to the door.
“If we can’t edit you and Rachel, we’ll trash tonight’s footage. I’ll see who the next girl is on the list,” Tina said, over her shoulder.
Too bad you can’t date her.
There were a few milliseconds before someone hit your body with the full force of theirs, when the world narrowed to nothing but the other person. He was there, in that tense, panting moment. “Things may not go any better with the next woman we find on Matchmaker.”
She stopped and gave him a sympathetic look. “One bad date can make you feel that way, I know. We can expand past entertainment people. It might give you a wider net. You can also work on your acting skills before the next meetup.” She rested her hip against the back of a chair. “What’s the last great date you had? Pretend your next date is her.”
The last great date he’d had.
He thought about sitting next to Rhi in that dive bar. That heart-pumping, soul-destroying connection.
The truth came upon him like a body blow.
Rhi may have gotten closure, but he hadn’t. That connection was still there, the connection that had urged him to beg her for a second date, even though he’d known she was a tourist in his beach town.