Free Looking for Love by Kathy Bosman

your
clients?”
    She knew what he meant and
usually ,
she’d be seriously put off by such a forward guy, but the way he
said it—not in a pushy, lustful way, but a questioning, kind sort
of way, her tummy did a flip and landed into her throat so she
couldn’t speak a word.
    “ I’m sorry. That was totally
uncalled for.” He pulled back and stuffed his arms around his
checked shirt which probably hid a six-pack inside, the way he
oozed power and strength from his every movement.
    “ No…I, it’s okay, really. I don’t
normally get those requests. I…couldn’t really match you up with
myself because I wouldn’t be able to judge the whole scenario
properly—my subjective take on it would skew my perspective a
bit.” And The Album wouldn’t allow it but we won’t divulge such
details.
    “ Let me put it this way—forget the match. I’ll pay for this
consultation, but rather, will you go out with me tonight? Right
now? Do you have any more appointments?”
    What? He wanted her? This gorgeous
specimen of humanity thought her potential fodder? There was no way
she could decline. No appointment, no shocked response from her
friends, nothing would stop her from saying, “Yes. That would be
great.”
    And she actually said it! She put on an
easy, confident smile while her insides turned to jelly and she
flung her knee painfully against the inside of her desk. She
squeezed the edge of the wood with her hand until the pain passed,
hoping he wouldn’t see how watery her eyes had become and think she
was so desperate for a man, she cried at a simple date
request.
    “ I’ll pick you up in an hour. We
can go out for supper. That okay?”
    “ Yeah, that would be great. I’m famished.”
    He smiled and her tummy fell over and
plunged right down into her core, tightening every female organ to
its max. Imagine kissing him.
    He left, leaving his scent behind, and she
sat in the chair where he’d sat the last hour and absorbed the
residual body heat still in the fabric, closed her eyes, and
dreamed. The office phone broke her erotic dream.
    Carol.
    “ How’s it going? Got any appointments for tonight?”
    “ I just helped my last and only one.”
    “ Mind if I bring a work colleague over?”
    “ Right now?”
    “ In about thirty minutes.”
    “ No, it’s not going to be
possible.”
    Silence.
    Of all her friends, Carol was
the most passionate about The Album . It’s like she clung onto it desperately because
it had miraculously cured her of her cynicism. She hated
disappointing her friend. “Can they not come tomorrow
night?”
    “ Oh, all right. What’s up? You okay?”
    “ I…” She had to tell her friends, but how? “I have a
date.”
    “ With one of your clients?”
    “ He asked me first. Well, I
wouldn’t have asked him but he’s so cute. Oh, Carol, he’s the
hottest guy I’ve ever been asked—”
    “ You can’t do that.”
    “ But I don’t want to miss out on going out with
him.”
    “ As a part of this business, I won’t allow it.”
    “ Carol, please.” She balled her
fists and wanted to scream. She did feel guilty about the whole
thing but she enjoyed being naughty and doing something reckless
and crazy for a change—in the love sense, of course. And Carol
wanted to stop that.
    “ I’ll call you back.”
    She hung up, leaving Ella wondering who of the
Famous Four she’d call first and get on her side. At least Ross
would understand. He’d been bugging her to go on a date for over a
year because she’d backed off from dating altogether, deciding it
was too stressful, and there was no point doing it until she’d
found someone worth going out with.
    Should she call him? Ask his
advice? He’d been anti- The Album for so long. This time, she wasn’t using The
Album . It
really had very little to do with it. Without thinking too deeply
about it, she called Ross.
    “ Hi.” He sounded so quiet, so
serious.
    She nearly dropped the phone as if it were
a hot coal.
    “ Ella?”
    He