Free Orchid by Jayne Castle

going?”
    â€œFinished, thank goodness.” Veronica smiled as she took her seat. “I must say, I had no idea that getting married would be so complicated. I’ll be glad when it’s all over.”
    â€œOnly one more week to go.”
    The waiter materialized at the table. He whipped out his notepad and looked respectfully at Veronica.
    â€œThe fresh aspara-cado salad, please,” Veronica said. “Dressing on the side. And a bottle of Baker-Hood spring water.”
    â€œYes, ma’am.” The waiter turned to Orchid.
    â€œI’ll have the salmon-tuna burger, extra mayo and extra relish, a large order of fries, and a jelly-cola, please,” Orchid mumbled.
    â€œSorry,” the waiter paused, pencil poised. “I didn’t catch that. Did you say a large order of fries and a jelly-cola?”
    Orchid felt herself turn red. She glared at the waiter. “That’s right. And don’t forget the hot sauce for the fries.”
    â€œGot it.” The waiter shoved the notepad into the waistband of his black trousers. “Be right back, ladies.”
    He turned and sped off toward the kitchen.
    Veronica regarded Orchid with a knowing eye. “What’s wrong?”
    Orchid grimaced. “How do you know something’s wrong?”
    â€œDon’t be silly. We grew up together. Sometimes I think I know you better than your own parents do.” Veronica’s eyes filled with sympathy. “Is it the marriage registration thing? Have you had a call from your agency?”
    Orchid rolled her eyes. “Of course not. I haven’t had an agency date since I got matched with Preston Lucelast year. And I’m sure that was not a real date. I’m almost positive that Preston rigged it.”
    â€œI still don’t see how he could have done it.” Veronica frowned. “He would have had to know the results of the multipsychic paranormal personality inventory you took when you registered as well as every detail of your para-profile. How could he have gotten that kind of information? It’s all confidential.”
    â€œI think I’ve figured out how he did it.” It had taken her a while to come up with a scenario that explained how Dr. Preston Luce had managed to get himself matched with her, but Orchid was convinced she had arrived at a probable explanation.
    â€œAre you sure you’re not just being a little paranoid here?” Veronica asked. “As good as the matchmaking process is these days, mistakes do happen once in a while. Fortunately, they almost always get corrected before things have gone too far.”
    â€œIt wasn’t my counselor at Affinity Associates who figured out that Luce was a sneaky, low-down, conniving little worm-snake. I was the one who realized after three dates that he only wanted to use me to get himself introduced into the right circles in Northville. And that’s just what he did.”
    â€œNow, Orchid, you don’t know that for certain.”
    â€œYes, I do. And when I refused to go out with him again, he told my parents that he was heartbroken. Claimed he was willing to wait for me to come to my senses. They actually believed him for a while, even though I warned them that he was a user.”
    â€œPreston can be very charming.”
    â€œOf course he’s charming.” Orchid narrowed her eyes. “Sucker is a high-class charisma-talent, I’d bet my next royalty check on it. By the time my folks realized that he wasn’t the nice guy he made himself out to be, it was too late. He had gotten himself hired into the department of synergistic studies at the institute.”
    â€œI’ll admit that now that I’ve known him for a fewmonths, I’m very glad you didn’t marry him,” Veronica said slowly. “I don’t think he’s very popular with his research assistants, either. But there’s no denying that he earns his keep at