Mason and I were best friends, so he knew how much I hated anyone suggesting I didn’t work hard to earn my keep. “Yikes, you’re right. You two weren’t a good pair.” He shrugged, running a hand through his long, black hair. “But maybe you just got unlucky. I mean, there’s no way she can nail it every time. So she messed this one up. Go back and tell her you want another date. You donated a shit ton of money.”
“Why would I trust her judgment a second time?” I growled. “I’m already out the money.”
“Fine. Continue to date your hand.”
I clenched my hands into fists. “You’re pretty arrogant for dating my baby sister and recommending me to a dating club that gave me no sex and cost me millions. I thought we were best friends but I can’t tell right now.”
“Listen here, you brat.” Mason stood up and leaned over my desk. “We’re best friends, but we aren’t going to be if you continue to hold Alaina over my head. I love her, so get over it. Also, you’re going back.”
“Says who?”
“Says me, because you need to get laid so you can stop acting like a baby with a shitty diaper.” He snatched my phone up off my desk before I could beat him to it. He unlocked it, long-since knowing my password, and I could see him clicking away. He tossed it back down onto my desk. “There. You’re meeting her tonight for another consultation.”
“Sorry,” I grumbled. “That was just such a shit date, and it sucks because she was stunning.”
“Well then, that means she’s got your physical type down. Tell her you want someone who looks like that, but doesn’t act like that.”
That was true. She’d knocked it out of the park with Parker looks-wise. She’d at least found someone who excited me physically. If she could find me someone like that who didn’t have Parker’s nasty attitude, it’d be perfect.
“I’ll try that.”
“Good,” Mason said. “Now get up, because you’re also probably hangry.”
“I’m not.”
“What’d you have for breakfast?” I remembered myself storming right past my fridge in my angry tornado that morning. I didn’t respond and Mason nodded. “Exactly, let’s go.”
I was glad for a lunch with Mason to distract me from how horribly my date with Parker had gone. He was right though, I at least had a physical description to work from now. I kept my head on a swivel while we were out, looking for anyone who looked even kind of similar to Parker that I could ask out and get out of trusting the Wish Maker with a second date opportunity, but I didn’t find anyone worth approaching. I only saw one redhead and she was completely consumed with the man she was with, and they both had on rings. I still found myself staring for a moment. Not because I didn’t know how to respect a woman who already had a man, but because I was jealous. For a half-second when I saw Parker, I imagined us that way. I wanted someone I couldn’t keep my hands off so badly I could taste it. As much as I didn’t want to go back to the Wish Maker, I found myself hoping that Parker really was just an anomaly. Surely the second woman she’d find for me wouldn’t be so awful. I wouldn’t get that unlucky twice in a row.
Right?
I walked into Wishes and the entire night came rushing back to me. That moment when I saw Parker and thought I’d struck gold, compared to me driving home covered in wine and white-knuckling my steering wheel. It wasn’t just Wish Maker luck, I had to think that no person could have such a horrible date twice in a row, divine intervention or no.
“Mr. Williams.”
The Wish Maker walked up to me, back in her basic, assistant garb. She gave me a polite bow and then pulled the face mask out of her pocket that she’d presented me with the last time we spoke. The entire situation was still sketchy, but maybe there was a small possibility she’d set me up with a bad match on purpose, to prove that she could if I disrespected her. If I wanted an A+ date like Mason and his friends had gotten, I needed to play by the rules – message received.
I nodded. “Fine.”
She smiled. “Glad to hear it.”
She handed over the face mask and I pulled it over my eyes, and I felt her arm link into mine a few moments later. I walked with apprehension as she led me through the club blind. I had to tackle a flight of stairs, complete with that embarrassing double step thing at the top, but I forced it out of my mind when I heard a door opening. I was gently pushed inside and guided over and down into a chair.
“Okay. You can take it off.” I pulled the blindfold off and sighed. There was exposed brick and a huge floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the cityscape. A fireplace blazed in the corner, and the chair I was sitting in was one of four arranged in a semi-circle across from a huge oak desk. The Wish-Maker, now with short, brown hair in a pixie cut as opposed to her blond locks from before, sat down behind the desk and folded her hands on top of it. “Now, what can I do for you?”
“You made a mistake.”
The corner of her mouth twitched before it rose into a smirk. “No, sir. I don’t make mistakes.”
“You did. Ask your waiter guy, your pick was terrible. She was beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but she had a nasty personality. She was short, rude, inappropriate.”
She shrugged. “That doesn’t sound boring at all.”
Several trains of thought went crashing into one another at that phrase. I tried a few times to respond before settling for a huff of dissatisfaction. Yeah, I said I wanted someone who wasn’t boring, but I was hoping we’d get along at least.
“Maybe I wasn’t clear,” I said finally.
“Maybe.” She grinned at me. “Why don’t you tell me exactly what you’re looking for?”
“I liked her looks,” I said. “She was beautiful. I’ve never seen anyone like that before. If you could find me a woman that looks like her, and is still interesting, but we get along a lot better than that, that’d be good.”
She laughed. “You want me to find someone you get along with better?”
I realized as she said it why it sounded strange. “Yeah, uh, I guess I didn’t really get to know if we’d actually get along because she skipped right over pleasantries and right to insulting me. I don’t quite know how you’d find someone who won’t do that, but I assume most people don’t, so really any woman who looks like her will be fine, I think.”
Her smirk turned into a full smile. “I think I can do that.”
“Regarding my donation...”
She held up a hand. “You need not worry. I pride myself on my success rate, so I will set you up on a second date at no additional cost.”
I was going to demand that, but it might have irritated her, so I was glad she offered. “I appreciate the consideration.”
“Where would you like to meet?”
I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that I had some sort of Wishes curse. Trusting both the Wish Maker again and the same club that landed me with a drink in my face seemed like a bad idea, but you know what they say, go for broke. “Can we meet here again?”
She nodded. “Of course. Our club is always available for dates.” She had a mischievous smile that I didn’t like.