Free Mister Match (The Match Series Book 1) by Catherine Avril Morris Page B

her reveries. “What?” A date? With a man?
    “Yep.” Clare smiled gleefully. “His name is Reese. Kind of classy, don’t you think? You’re meeting him for breakfast tomorrow morning.”
    “Tomorrow?” Her stomach dropped. “I can’t. I’m scheduled to be here tomorrow morning at eight.”
    Clare arched an eyebrow. “Good thing the person who sets your work schedule is the very same person coordinating your love life. I gave your first appointment to Willow. You don’t need to be in till eleven.”
    “Love life,” Lisa repeated flatly. “Right. A breakfast date? Is that even a thing? Like, is that allowed?”
    Clare snorted. “If you’re asking whether it’s legal, yes, it’s legal.”
    “No, you know what I mean.” Lisa frowned. “And I don’t know if I like the name Reese. It sounds sort of stuck-up. Don’t you think it sounds stuck-up? Kind of WASP-y?”
    “Maybe it bothers you because it starts with an R,” Clare suggested. “Too similar to the Rod. Anyway, you’re just having cold feet. Willow and I chose this guy together, and we think you’re really going to like him. You’ll have fun, I promise.”
    “A breakfast date,” Lisa said again. “Tomorrow.”
    “Oh, stop thinking so hard,” Clare said dismissively, turning toward her computer. “I told you we’d do all the work behind the scenes, and all you have to do is show up and fall in love. So show up at Sweetish Hill tomorrow morning at nine, and fall in love with Reese.”
    Lisa did her best to smile, although the truth was, she felt a bit sick. The idea of a breakfast date with Reese—or any date, with any man—didn’t sound exciting in the least.
    And it wasn’t just that she wasn’t ready to plunge back into the dating world. That was part of it—this was all happening so fast. But it was also that, whoever it was she was going to meet, and however nice and interesting he might be... He wouldn’t be Adam Masters.
     
    L ater, looking back, Adam could see the interview with Kiki James had been destined to be a travesty from the start.
    He arrived at the Access Austin studio twenty minutes early, and then sat around for fifteen, waiting and getting more and more nervous by the moment.
    He was surprised by the nerves. He told himself they were a good thing—it was good not to be cocky. He should’ve known they were a sign of how awry everything was about to go.
    Five minutes before the interview was scheduled to begin, the production assistant seated him in a black canvas director’s chair across from where Kiki James, the show’s hostess, would sit. A small live audience was already assembled in the studio, and Adam scanned the crowd with his best, most dazzling smile, making eye contact with a few people and giving out a few friendly waves before consciously tuning them out.
    He needed to concentrate. He’d done his research. Kiki James was relatively new to the show and network, but not to the industry. Everything Adam had read said she was making a name for herself, and she was poised for big things in her career. Having grown his startup from the ground up in the past few years, he knew how that could be. It meant he had to draw her in as quickly as possible, to make sure she was in his corner.
    No sense repeating what had happened back in February, when that reporter had thrown him under the bus and called his entire website, matchmaking method and livelihood into question.
    Just then, Kiki James walked into the studio, her stiletto heels clicking smartly on the wooden floor.
    Adam watched her work the room from the moment she entered. Unconsciously, he sat up a little straighter. The woman was like a politician. She had that star charisma that just beamed out of her, and she knew just how to work the audience, who had turned toward her like flowers toward the sun as soon as she’d walked in. She was grinning and engaging with them now, giving out high-fives and bantering lightly with them.
    And then,