Jennifer Probst - Searching for Someday

Madeline sighed. “Each situation is different. Of course, marriage doesn’t happen overnight. Your father and I dated for almost a year before we married, but the connection helped open a flow between us that was vital to the relationship. Has this man pursued you? Shown any interest other than being a standard client of Kinnections? Do you have any type of relationship with this man?”

Kate remembered the way he trailed her at the bar. The way he stripped her mentally, challenged her snarkiness, and generally pissed her off. Remembered the stark beauty of his kiss, mouth to mouth, skin to skin, wringing away any rational thought except the need to be his. Was that a relationship? Or her own brand of crazy? “He’s just a client,” she said firmly. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

Madeline nodded. “If there’s no obvious flow, you should be okay.”

“Define flow.”

“Opportunities to see each other. Talk, share information. Each time an encounter of intimacy is formed, it makes the touch stronger and more vibrant. You never did anything other than touch, right?”

Ah, crap. “Well, we kind of kissed. But it was really quick and it’ll never happen again.”

Fear skittered over Madeline’s features. “Was it electric? The best kiss you ever had?”

Yes.

“No,” she said firmly. “It w-w-was good, but not the best.” Her mother gave her the look . “Fine,” she huffed. “It was the best kiss I ever had.”

“This is very bad, Kate. Very bad.”

Irritation kicked in. For goodness’ sake, she didn’t believe in witchery and spooks. She made a mental note to shift Slade over to Kennedy as his main contact. If she backed off, the whole thing would go away. “And if I decide to block this type of encounter?”

Her mother frowned. “You will cause the energy to be disrupted. And then cons—”

“Yeah, I know,” she interrupted. “Consequences will form.”

“Why is this man so wrong for you? Has he caused heartbreak to others?”

Kate eyed the joint with envy. “He’s a divorce lawyer.”

Her mother jerked back with sheer horror. “Oh, no! Negative energy probably invaded his entire aura. And I wished for so much more for your match,” she moaned.

“He’s not my match. I’m telling you it’s a mistake. I’ll fix it.”

She sucked in a deep breath of the sweetly sick smoke and hoped she’d get a good contact high. At this point, no consequences could compete with the hell of spending more time with Slade Montgomery. He pushed too many buttons, and they were obviously wrong for each other. There must be another explanation for their connection. Her phone bleeped out Maroon 5 “Payphone” and she clicked the button.

“Yeah?”

“I need you. Now.”

His voice leaked over the phone, all hot and creamy, like the favorite hot fudge and caramel sundaes she tried to avoid. Kate blinked through the smoke. “What’s up? Don’t tell me you’re canceling your date with Hannah, that’s just plain rude. And how did you get my cell number?”

He practically hissed at her through the phone. “Never mind, I’m in trouble and it’s all your fault.”

“I never even touched you, the baby’s not mine.”

“You’re a real laugh riot.”

Kate rolled her eyes and propped her phone up by her ear. “Listen up. Hannah canceled our date. She came down with the flu bug, was trying to make it ’cause she felt bad, but decided to pull out an hour beforehand.”

“Well, that sucks, but it’s not her fault. Did you reschedule?”

“I don’t care about rescheduling, I care about having a dinner date tonight.”

She stretched out her legs and rested comfortably against the cushions. Her mother busied herself with pouring another cup of her Japanese tea. “Sorry, not understanding. You can’t go out to dinner alone? Then order takeout.”

She heard the gnash of his teeth over the line. “You’re not listening to me. I need a date here, at my doorstep, in one hour. I’m about to walk into a huge business dinner where everyone has a date except me. I’m up for partnership, I need to make a good impression, and if I don’t show with someone fabulous it’ll take away some major points. I haven’t worked this hard to screw it up now.”

The true facts of his statement hit her in the gut like a sucker punch. Holy crap. His intimate, first date with Hannah was really a business function? Hot, pure anger pumped through her veins. “Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me for your first date with Hannah you planned to drag her to a business dinner? No alone time? You expected her to dazzle your partners on your terms and used my company to do it?”

A short silence hummed. “You’re twisting my words, and I have no time for this. I approached Hannah with the situation, and she agreed to help me out. Said she didn’t mind at all and she handled business dinners all the time with her job and with her family background. It’s not a big deal.”

Her voice squeaked. “Not a big deal? Of course, Hannah said it was okay. She’s sweet and always tries to help people out, but you used her just as much as you used Kinnections. Now, I’m thinking of kicking you out of our program!”

“Don’t be overdramatic. Listen, you need to get here within the hour.”

The phone almost dropped from her hand. “What did you say?”

“You heard me. I cannot show up alone, you arranged this date for me, and you’re going to get me a replacement. Besides, it’s in the contract. You don’t give me this, I have legal grounds to sue.”

Kate blinked. “That’s an indemnity clause for a completely different reason. It states if you’re not satisfied or get stood up on a date, Kinnections will find you a replacement date. It doesn’t say that night!”

“Your lawyers screwed up and should’ve thought about it. Since the contract clause does not specify a certain time, it can be used the night of the date. I’m invoking my right to get a replacement date within the hour or I’ll take you to court.”

She gripped her iPhone like it was his neck. “You son of a bitch. You can’t do that to me, it will never stick in court.”

“Try me. You have my address on file. Wear something conservative, but pretty. And bring your A game.”

“I c-c-c-can’t get there in an hour! I have no time to shower, change. I have to check in with Robert.”

“I can deal with an hour and a half. No more. And as for Robert, I don’t care what he thinks—business is business. If he can’t understand that, you should’ve dumped him already.”

“You are a horrible person, Slade Montgomery. Pure evil. As bad as-as-as Megamind!”

His laughter rolled over the phone, hit her ears, and stroked between her thighs. “A little old, but still a great movie. My friend’s kid made me watch it. And you must not have seen the whole thing. Megamind started off as the villain but he ended up the hero and saved the girl. Remember?”

“You-you-you—”

“See you later. Thanks for helping me out.”

Click.

Kate stared stupidly at the screen saver picture of her, Ken, and Arilyn in front of the Kinnections sign, arms around each other, goofy smiles on their faces. Her mind sifted through the possibilities of his threat. She doubted he’d follow through, but as the owner of a company that meant the world to her, she couldn’t risk it. And she had no time to begin calling random clients and begging them to meet a surly, arrogant man for a boring business dinner.

No. She had to do it.

Kate glanced at her watch, made calculations, and crawled to her feet. “Mom, I’m sorry, I have to go. I have an emergency at Kinnections.”

“Was that him, dear?”