Page 29 of Imperfect Match (Imperfect Match 1)
My heart races as we enter the warm, dimly lit interior, and my eyes struggle for a moment to adjust to the dark. Red leather banquettes. Velvet upholstery and drapes. Crystal chandeliers. It’s sexy and romantic, the perfect place for an intimate first date. I scan the room for Reid and Kandace but don’t see them.
“Good evening. Do you have a reservation?” asks the hostess, a pretty twenty-something with long dark hair and a nose ring.
“We were supposed to,” says Aspen, who sounds as if she’s choking up, “but I just plain forgot. It’s a last minute trip, you see, and we’re trying to fit everything in.” She lowers her voice to a stage whisper. “My sister’s only got a couple months to live.”
The girl gasps. “Oh, no.”
“Yes.” Aspen nods sadly while I try to disappear into the woodwork. “Look at her face. That ashen color—it’s terrible. And those bags under her eyes. She used to be so pretty.”
“I’m very sorry,” the hostess says solemnly.
“Thank you.” Aspen puts a hand over her heart. “It’s been so hard. Do you think you might find some little spot for us to have one little celebration of life drink? It’s my birthday, and all I want is to see my sister happy one last time.”
“Of course.” The girl touches Aspen’s shoulder. “Give me one moment.”
“Thank you. Oh, and if you’ve got something in a corner somewhere, you know, just out of the way, that’s even better. My sister doesn’t like people seeing her face in this condition.”
The hostess nods, her eyes wide with sympathy. “I understand completely. Let me see what I can do.” She hurries away, and I smack Aspen’s arm.
“Are you nuts?”
She shrugs. “What?”
“You told her I was dying!”
“No, I didn’t. I only implied it, and anyway, it could be true—we don’t know when our number is going to be up, Willow. Death is a part of life. No one can escape it.”
I roll my eyes. “I can’t believe she fell for it. And what was all that B.S. about my face?”
“I was serious about your face. And this lighting really isn’t doing you any favors.”
I want to hit her again, but the hostess is returning, her expression happy. “I found a cozy little nook for you. Right this way.”
We follow her from the front of the bar to the back, and I keep my eyes on the feet of the patrons seated at the bar, letting my hair hang in my face so Reid won’t easily spot me. I look carefully, but I don’t see any shoes I recog
nize as his.
The “cozy little nook” turns out to be two wooden chairs along the wall between a giant potted fern and the bathroom doors.
“This is perfect,” says Aspen, taking a seat in the chair next to the fern.
I take the one next to her and smile at the hostess as she hands me a menu. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.” Her face falls. “I’m so sorry about your illness, and I hope you find peace at the end of your journey.”
I drop my eyes to the floor and pray I won’t start to laugh. Aspen elbows me a moment later. “She’s gone. Did you see them?”
“No. Did you?”
“Yeah. On that navy velvet sofa just on the other side of this plant.” She gestures toward the fern. “In fact, if we’re really quiet, I bet we could hear them!”
I tug her arm. “Switch places with me. I need to see better.”
Aspen sighs heavily but gets up, and we swap chairs. Parting some of the fern stems with my hands, I stick my nose in the plant and peer through it. Sure enough, I can vaguely make out Reid on the far side of the sofa, facing me, and I see the back of Kandace’s wavy, golden hair, which she’s tossing over one shoulder as she laughs.
“Oh my God, that’s so funny. You’re so right!” Kandace enthuses.
Right about what? I wonder. And does she have to sit so close to him? She’s sort of perched on one hip, with one elbow on the back of the sofa and her legs crossed in his direction. She’s wearing a short skirt and heels. Reid is a leg man, and he has to be turned on with Kandace’s long, bare limbs on display like that.
