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Erin hadn’t missed the fact that Jason had known exactly how to prepare it.
She shrugged. ‘Not well.’
‘I’m sorry. Once you get past today, I’m sure you’ll rest better.’
‘Yeah,’ Erin agreed. Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead. She’d never wanted an autumn wedding anyway. She hadn’t wanted her new life starting when everything around her was dying or going dormant. It just wasn’t a good omen.
‘Did you have anything you wanted to do today? We’ve cleared our schedules.’
‘You two don’t have to babysit me.’
‘Did you want to talk?’ Sienna asked quietly.
Not really. Erin was so talked out. She’d already cried on her friends’ shoulders for hours. She poured some cream into her coffee and swirled it round and round. ‘I’m OK.’ With a sigh, she confessed, ‘I think Marty did the right thing.’
‘What?’ Sienna squeaked.
Jason merely stood staring at her, leaning against the counter with his arms wrapped across his muscled chest.
Erin swept back her hair. The dampness from her shower was drying, leaving the blonde strands wavy. ‘I’m not saying he did it the right way, but, more and more, I think we narrowly avoided making a mistake.’
Sienna touched her arm. ‘Why do you say that?’
‘Because I miss the wedding itself: my dress, the flower arrangements, the reception with all my family and friends. I miss it all – but I don’t miss him.’
There it was, the truth that had been bothering her so much was out. She risked a look at her best friend.
Sienna didn’t look convinced. ‘Are you sure you’re not just angry with him? You were together for so long.’
For seven years. Last year of high school, all of college and grad school.
‘I’m not angry with him. At this point, I don’t even think about him.’ Not Marty in particular, anyway. She thought about their plans together, their habits as a couple, the way they’d used to talk, sex…The question that consumed her most, though, was why.
‘Then you’re right,’ Jason said. ‘You avoided a bullet.’
She had, but who did that? Spent all that time together and walked away without looking back? Had they ever been in love?
‘I just want to understand.’ Marty was the one who walked, but she was having a tougher time. She hadn’t seen it coming. Her hands tightened around her coffee mug. ‘What was so boring about me?’
‘Whoa,’ Jason pointed a stern finger at her. ‘You are not boring.’
‘But that’s what he said.’
‘He said that things had got boring, but he never tried to fix them,’ Sienna said, jumping in. ‘Jason’s right, you’re sweet and fun and friendly.’
‘And sexy as hell,’ Jason muttered as he concentrated on pulling a waffle out of the cooker.
Sienna’s head whipped around.
He shrugged as he brought over a plate and placed it in front of Erin. He dropped a kiss on her forehead before looking at his girlfriend.
‘What? It’s the truth.’ Catching the back of Sienna’s chair, he leaned in. ‘But her loss, I’m taken.’
Erin couldn’t have been more surprised when Sienna caught his face with both hands and pulled him in for a sizzling kiss. ‘And don’t you forget it.’
He let out a low growl. ‘Not likely.’
He gave her another quick peck and headed back to the waffle maker.
Erin blinked. The man was having the most amazing effect on her normally conservative friend. ‘He’s just joking.’
Jason looked over his shoulder so fast, he nearly poured waffle batter into the sink. ‘What are you talking about?’
Erin rolled her eyes. ‘I’m cute. The friendly little blonde.’
‘And you think guys don’t find that hot?’
She stared at him blankly.
He shook his head and returned to making breakfast. ‘Bullet dodged. Huge, huge bullet.’
‘He is the Sloan Gunman,’ Sienna said dryly. ‘He should know.’
They ate their waffles, which were surprisingly delicious. Being a man, Jason had fried some bacon, too, so the meal was salty and sweet and thoroughly unhealthy.
Perfect for a cancelled wedding day.
Was he right? Could there be a fiery, intense relationship out there waiting for her, too? Erin nearly snorted into her orange juice, but Jason wasn’t the type of guy to lie to save her feelings. She trusted him, because he’d always been brutally honest with her. He didn’t treat her like she was made of fine glass.
She dipped her bacon into the syrup on her plate.
OK, maybe she was attractive – she couldn’t quite make the leap to sexy – but Marty was the only lover she’d ever had. He’d been her first, although there had been another man whom she’d really, really wanted to have that honour.
Yet he’d walked away from her, too.
‘So what’s the plan from here?’ Jason asked.
‘I thought maybe we could go back to the ice rink,’ Sienna said.
That was where they’d gone on the day Erin had met Jason. She hadn’t even known her roommate was dating a former hockey player until he’d taken them to the rink to help her work out her anger and frustration. Jason had taught them how to fire a slap shot that day, and they’d been friends ever since.
‘I’ll make a call, but that’s not what I meant,’ he said. He sat back in his chair, coffee mug in hand. ‘What’s Erin planning to do with her life?’
Sienna sucked in a breath. ‘Don’t push her. Not today.’
‘I want to find a job,’ Erin said without hesitating. ‘I want to take cooking lessons and maybe start a blog. I could do more charity work.’
She’d do anything to make herself less humdrum and tiresome. She’d gone into her engagement with no thoughts past being someone’s wife. Now, she wanted more. She wanted to stand on her own two feet. She wanted to explore her interests. And she wanted to find a man who thought she was sexy and captivating.
She sat up a little straighter and felt something brush against her bare foot. Looking down, she saw a stiff black piece of paper.
It was a business card, a classy one. Black with gold trim, it had Sienna’s name on it with a phone number underneath. Erin felt excitement rise within her. When Sienna tried to snatch it, she pulled it out of reach.
Luxxor Limited.
‘Is this where you’re working?’ Her roommate had recently got a job, but Erin hadn’t been able to ferret any information out of her.
Sienna turned pale. She shared a look with Jason, but then admitted, ‘Yes.’
‘Don’t you like it there?’ Erin had thought Sienna was happy with her work. She always seemed to be in a good mood when she came home from a day at the office.
‘I love it.’
‘Then why won’t you ever talk to me about it? What do you do there?’
‘I’m their communications director.’
‘Director? That’s great!’ After struggling to find a job after receiving her degree, Sienna must be thrilled.
‘Thanks. It’s a small office.’
Small or not, it had been smart enough to hire a great employee. Erin wiggled the card between her fingers, but the company name didn’t ring any bells. ‘What does Luxxor do?’
Sienna shifted in her seat. ‘It’s confidential. The company likes to keep a low profile.’
Erin frowned. In DC, that could mean a few things. Defence contractor, intelligence related, even political fundraising. None of those seemed to suit her friend, though. ‘Oh, come on. Tell me. Please?’
‘I…I can’t.’
Erin pouted. ‘I was supposed to get married today.’
Sienna looked pained.
Jason just laughed. ‘You’re evil.’
‘I just want to know.’ Curiosity had been killing her. She could keep a secret, but she hated when she was kept out of the loop – especially if it was to ‘protect’ her. Her family had done that her entire life and where had it got her?
Blindsided when she’d been dumped.
Jason reached out to gently hook Sienna’s hair behind her ear. ‘She’s just embarrassed.’
The look that his girlfriend threw at him could have melted steel.
‘Why?’ Erin asked. What could a company possibly do that would be that embarrassing? ‘Do you make feminine products? Erectile dysfunction pills? Urinal cakes?’
Her eyes widened. ‘Oh, no. It’s not the call centre your mom referred you to?’
Sienna covered her face with her hand, while Jason fought not to laugh.
‘It’s a…’ he started to say.
Sienna grabbed his wrist. His gaze locked with hers, and he turned his hand over to take hers.
‘Matchmaking service,’ he finished. His thumb moved over the back of Sienna’s hand in a gentle caress.
Erin put down her fork and sat back in her chair. She looked at the card again. ‘Matchmaking?’
‘Of a sort,’ her roommate replied. She fiddled with her unused knife. ‘It’s very exclusive, catering to high-end clientele.’
Erin ran her finger over the crisp edge of the stylish card. Matchmaking…Take charge. Be aggressive. Go for the gusto. She didn’t know what was running faster, her pulse or her thoughts.
‘You can’t say anything to anyone,’ Sienna begged. ‘Not even your parents or your brother.’
Why would she say anything to them? This was information she needed. She wanted to break out of the norm and try new things. This was certainly new. ‘It’s that confidential?’
‘Yes.’
‘I won’t tell a soul.’
Sienna’s shoulders relaxed. ‘Thank you.’
‘Thank you for finally telling me.’ Erin lifted an eyebrow, but let the question go. Jason and Sienna had met at a charity function before Sienna had started working at Luxxor. But this was interesting…
She set the card beside her plate.
Sienna held out her hand. ‘I’ll take that.’
Uh uh. No way. ‘I’d like to keep it.’
‘I’m sorry. I’m not allowed to hand out my business cards to anyone but clients.’
So she wasn’t high-end enough? Erin cocked her head, ready to argue, but it obviously wasn’t a question that Sienna would be open to. She’d have to find someone else who’d be willing to give her more information. For that, she needed Luxxor’s phone number.
She lifted her chin stubbornly. ‘I’m your roommate. I need to know how to get in touch with you.’
‘You have my cellphone.’
‘But what if you drop it or it loses power? What if you get sick and need me to call into work for you?’
‘Jason has the number.’
‘Well, now I do, too.’ Erin deliberately took another bite of her waffle. Sienna stiffened, but Jason squeezed her hand, and the subject was dropped.
Yet Erin’s gaze kept going to the card as they finished their breakfast. Luxxor Limited. Her mind was awhirl, and, surprisingly, not over her cancelled wedding. She’d wanted to move on. Had the opportunity just fallen into her lap?
Did she have the guts?
When the meal was over, she helped clean up, but the first thing she did was take the card to her bedroom and hide it away. Sienna might not like the idea, but the more Erin thought about it, the more she liked it. A matchmaker might be exactly what she needed.
