Free Not Until You: Part VII by Roni Loren

have a reservation?” the host asked.
    Sam stepped forward. “We’re here for the cooking class.”
    “Ah, yes,” he said, his smile welcoming. “Follow me. You’ll be in the banquet room.”
    The host led them through the main dining area and then through a short hallway and another set of doors. The banquet room looked much like the other side of the restaurant, but the lights weren’t as low and there were tables set up around the perimeter with cooking equipment and little bowls of ingredients. In the center of the room, there were smaller, more intimate tables where they’d presumably eat their meal after learning how to prepare it. Pitchers of sangria gleamed ruby red on each table. A number of people were already sitting at the small tables, mingling and drinking. The tinkling sounds of nervous first-date laughter mixed in with the music.
    Tessa’s stomach did a flip, and she almost turned to leave. Sam put a hand on Tessa’s arm, as if reading her unspoken intention, and guided her forward. “Don’t chicken out now.”
    A man with a clipboard near the entrance grinned brightly. “Welcome to the meet-up ladies. I’m Jim, your event liaison for the night. Names?”
    “I’m Samantha Dunbar, and this is Tessa McAllen.”
    Jim scanned the clipboard, nodding. “Ms. Dunbar, your perfect match is Cory Heath, table five. He’s already here if you’d like to head over and say hi. We’re letting everyone chat and enjoy their drinks for a few minutes before the class starts. Break the ice, you know?”
    “Sure,” Sam said, peeking over at the dark-haired guy at table five, scanning him from head to loafer. “Sounds good.”
    But Tessa’s brain snagged. “Wait a second. I thought we were just mingling with everyone?”
    Jim smiled. “Oh, no, ma’am. Perfect Match is full-service. We took the profile you sent us and matched you up with someone compatible for the evening. No use wasting time on people you have nothing in common with, right?”
    “The
profile
I sent in?” Tessa asked, shooting daggers at Sam.
    Sam sent her a please-don’t-kill-me look and gave Tessa’s hand a squeeze. “Just try to have a good time, okay? I promise, it’s no big deal. It’ll be fun.”
    With that, Sam hurried off toward her “perfect match.” Tessa had to fight hard not to lose it right there. Not only was she going to have to manage a date with a stranger but said stranger would also be under the impression that they’d been matched together. And God only knew what Sam had put in Tessa’s profile. She cringed at the thought.
    Jim was scanning his list again, and Tessa smoothed the front of her dress. She hadn’t thought to put much effort into her outfit tonight. This was supposed to be a cooking class after all. So she’d simply stayed in the black wrap dress she’d worn to work. But now she felt plain and out of place. Everyone else had put on their A-game ensemble for date night.
    God, why was she even worrying about it?
This isn’t a real date.
She’d been trained by Doug to look her best at all times, because you never knew who you’d run into, and sometimes that old urge was hard to shake. But she wasn’t here to impress anyone. She was here to drink sangria and to learn how to cook. That’s it.
    The door opened behind her as more people came in.
    “Ms. McAllen?” Jim asked, a small frown curving his thin lips as he lifted his gaze from the clipboard. “Do you have your confirmation number with you? You’re not showing on my list.”
    “My what?” She automatically put her hand on her purse, but knew she had nothing of the sort in there. “No. My friend set all this up for us both.”
    “Hmm.” Jim tapped his pencil on the clipboard. “Well, I’m not showing you on here, which means we don’t have confirmation of your payment. If you’d like to pay the fee now, we can let you stay for the class. Then if you find your confirmation, we’ll refund you. But since you weren’t on the