Unexpected Chance Read Free Page A

to hang out and have a good time,
not attending a Speed Dating event at seven in the evening.
    Brian continued with the instructions. “We will review the
scorecards and introduce you to your best match for the evening. If there
aren’t any questions, we will begin.” No one said anything. “Ladies and
gentlemen, welcome to the Speed Dating event sponsored by Walker-Stone
Marketing at the beautiful White Orchid. I hope you find a match tonight.”
People began applauding; I joined in and felt like an ass. “Please take your
seats.”
    Once we were all seated, Brian rang the bell.
    Holy shit! Here we go, time for the crazy Speed Dating to begin. I
was starting to sweat . . . fantastic! I noticed that most of the guys were a
lot older than I was. Most of them were going bald or had gray hair, and I was
sure the wrinkles weren’t smile lines; they were full-blown I-am-old-enough-to-be-your-father
wrinkles. There was no way all these guys were under forty. Note to self: remind
me to kill Julie later. She had to have known this and most likely didn’t share
because she knew I’d prefer to be home on my comfy sofa rather than here. Fuck!
    The first man who sat with me reminded me of my late Uncle
Charlie—not a great start. He liked going to movies on dates. He liked watching
horseracing, which I really never thought of as a sport, and when I mentioned
that, he started lecturing me on the mental awareness and muscular strength a
jockey needed. I just nodded and prayed for the sound of the bell. I continued
with my questions, and found out that he had never been married. He was about
to explain why when the bell rang. Thank God! He stood up to move to the next
table. That was when I noticed why he got so defensive about horse racing; he
had to be about five feet tall. He was probably a jockey. I almost started
laughing, but then another man sat down.
    As the night wore on, I got pretty much the same answers to all my
questions from the guys, and it seemed as though the answers were exactly what
a girl wanted to hear: I haven’t been in a long relationship in quite some time.
I like to go out to dinner on my dates. I enjoy watching sports, as long as it’s
with my date. That one was such crap! I didn’t know any guy who wanted to do
that unless his date loved sports, and even then it was suspect. I was getting
a bit frustrated, since it was all starting to feel phony—not that I was
helping the situation with my fake smile—I responded with all crappy answers to
make sure I didn’t get paired up with anyone who I didn’t think would be a good
muse, which pretty much meant everyone. None of them sparked anything that
would make me want to know them, let alone write about them. This whole thing
was not going well. I wouldn’t have even filled out a scorecard if it wasn’t
mandatory for me to turn it in at the end of the night.
    The bell rang twice, which meant it was over. Thank the good Lord!
That was the longest hour and a half of my entire life. I was just about to get
up when a shadow cast over my table. I was exhausted and didn’t want to go
through this torture anymore. I looked to my right, ready to tell whoever was
standing there that the bell had rung and to move on. However, I found myself staring
at a man’s waist, a very nice trim waist. My eyes continued upward, downward,
and back up again. Our eyes connected, and I couldn’t help staring, that is
until I lowered my eyes to his lips. Holy hell, he was gorgeous! He was tall,
about six foot two; his hair was cut short on the sides, but longer and wavy on
the top and styled perfectly. He had deep blue eyes, which almost looked navy,
a well-trimmed beard, not a full beard, but a little more than a five-o’clock
shadow. His body was teasingly god-like in his black fitted and most likely
custom-made suit. His cufflinks were platinum and were adorned with diamonds. He
definitely had money. He smiled at me, and I think I melted a little in my
chair. Where the