Page 39 of She’ll Steal Your Heart
“Candid laughter for the win,” Lauren said. “Just put a filter on it to brighten the lighting, and you’re good to go.”
Mia tapped at her phone for a few minutes, her brow furrowed in concentration. She was indeed using only one finger, and it was as cute as Lauren had anticipated. Then Mia looked up at her. “Well, it’s official. I just switched my profile to active.”
“Success.” Lauren fist-pumped the air. “Now let’s browse some available women for you.”
Mia shook her head. “You first. Let’s get your profile set up too.”
“I’ll update my profile, but I’m not sure I’m ready to make it active,” Lauren said. “I have to get my shit together before I start dating.”
Mia’s face fell. “Sorry for pushing.”
“You didn’t, and it doesn’t hurt to see who’s out there, right? I just need to take my time.” Lauren reached for her own phone and opened her photo roll. She wouldn’t go on any dates until after her court date, but a little online flirting might help to distract her from Mia. “Luckily, I have plenty of selfies to choose from.”
“Let’s see.” Mia extended a hand, and Lauren passed her the phone. Mia scrolled for a minute in silence, smiling periodically as she looked at Lauren’s photos. “Okay, definitely this selfie you took the weekend of ourIn Her Defensemarathon. You look adorable.”
Lauren beamed at the compliment. “Okay.”
“And this one in the park. That top looks great on you. Just enough cleavage to catch a lady’s eye.” Mia handed the phone back.
Lauren felt slightly dizzy at the thought of Mia looking at her cleavage. “Thanks.” She updated her photos, and what the hell, she set her profile to active. “All right. We’re both officially on the market, although I’m more interested in looking than dating.”
Mia grinned at her. “Nothing wrong with looking.”
Lauren scrolled through the list of compatible women the site had compiled for her. The fifth profile on the list made her freeze, nervous laughter bubbling in her throat.
“What?” Mia asked, glancing at Lauren’s phone, and then she froze too.
The site had matched Lauren with Mia.
* * *
“I’m not sure about this,”Mia lamented three days later. She was in her office, staring apprehensively at the message she’d just received from a woman on the dating app. Since activating her profile, she’d received alotof messages. Most of them were blatant attempts at hooking up, but while Mia wasn’t looking for anything serious, at least not yet, she really wasn’t the one-night-stand type either.
“Oh, come on. She’s pretty, and she invited you to get a coffee. That seems like a good place to start, doesn’t it?” Lauren sat across from her, eating a chicken wrap while they shared their lunch break.
“I suppose.” Mia studied the woman’s profile picture. Joy was a few years older than Mia, with bits of silver sprinkled through her dark hair and a warm smile. She was a stockbroker, a career woman like Mia.
“Do it.” Lauren’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “You smile whenever you message Joy, so why not have coffee with her?”
“Fine.” Mia knew her hesitation was mostly rooted in her own insecurities. It had beenso longsince she’d been on a date. She needed to rip off the Band-Aid and get the first date over with, and, as Lauren said, Joy seemed as good a place to start as any. She tapped out a quick reply, letting Joy know she was free tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow was Saturday, so Joy shouldn’t have to work. “Done.”
“Yay,” Lauren said. “You may have to go on a lot of first dates before you make it to a second, so be prepared for that, but I think that might be exactly what you need, anyway.”
“I need a lot of bad dates?” Mia twisted her lips to the side as she picked up her own wrap.
“Not bad dates, but you need some experience under your belt,” Lauren said. “You were off the market a long time. I think you’ll feel a lot more confident once you’ve been on a few first dates.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Maybe you’ll even get the courage to ask Beth out,” Lauren said with a smirk. “The flirting’s getting pretty heated these days.”
Mia wanted to scoff at that, because it was embarrassing that Lauren had seen her flirting with Beth, but earlier this week, Mia had sat at Beth’s table while they shared a cup of coffee, and it had been…nice. She felt like a schoolgirl with a crush when they talked, the way she remembered feeling when she and Kristin first met. Maybe Mia would ask her out.
But first…Joy.
At three o’clock the next day, Mia sat in a coffee shop in Queens, one foot tapping restlessly against the floor and an uncomfortable ache in her stomach. It would be a damn shame if dating caused her ulcer to flare up.
The door opened, and Joy walked in. Mia recognized her easily from her profile pictures. She waved to catch Joy’s attention, hoping she was as easily recognizable.
