8
STACY WAS GOING TO LOSE
her mind if Marissa didn’t answer her phone soon. She’d started calling her early in the afternoon but hadn’t left a message. Once she started talking about her encounter with Isaac, she was afraid she wouldn’t stop. And the two-minute window to leave her message on voice mail wouldn’t be nearly enough.
What could Marissa possibly be doing that would keep her away from her business line for so long?
Now, ten calls and two hours later, Stacy prowled restlessly around her house as she cradled the phone against her ear. Her ankle still hurt from last night, so she hobbled more than prowled, but she hated the idea of sitting still.
She’d sat still in life for too long already.
“Hello?” Marissa’s voice came through the line.
“Thank goodness you’re there.”
“I’ve been…in a meeting. But I took a break and saw you’d called a few times. What’s up?” Her voice sounded soft. And sort of happy, too. Her meeting must be going well.
Unlike Stacy’s day.
“My life is a disaster,” she began without preamble. But she needed to get this out in the open before she lost her mind. “I’ve allowed my father to pull the strings for too long and I don’t know how to make him stop. I don’t really care about meeting Kyle Murphy.”
“Wait. What—”
“It was a dumb idea to say I wanted to meet him, but I thought it would buy me time to meet other guys.” She’d always tried to work around her dad passively, taking the path of least resistance since her father could be so very formidable.
No more.
“I thought you had a big crush on him,” Marissa protested, not understanding Stacy’s plan.
“My
dad
was gung-ho about the matchmaking, and I figured a big hockey star like Kyle would never agree to meet me. Ideally, while you tried to make that happen, you would have also found other dates for me. Realistic ones.” She sighed, hating that she’d gone about everything so ass-backward. But she really had thought a matchmaker could help her sift through guys who might not be good for her. Meeting Isaac made her realize she didn’t want help figuring out her romantic life. “Little did I know my father would think me snagging a hockey player would be a brilliant idea.”
Stacy paused in pacing around the living room. She had two Chihuahua mixes following her and both of her little dogs seemed dizzy from running in circles. She scratched the smaller one—Tink—under the chin.
“You have to talk to your father.” Marissa didn’t sound as happy now. She sounded vaguely irritated, but mostly insistent. “He’s got every matchmaker on the east coast vying to set you up with Kyle.”
“I will. Soon. But I didn’t call about that. I met someone else. Someone I wish wanted to get to know me better…” Her heart squeezed at the thought of Isaac being completely unmoved by her suggestion that they get together. He’d thought she’d made a clever joke. “But meeting him made me realize that I need to get out from under my father’s thumb if I’m ever going to connect with guys who see
me
and not my dad’s money.”
Isaac hadn’t known she was an heiress. She got the feeling he wouldn’t be impressed by money, anyway. When she’d checked him out online, she’d learned he was a big-deal CEO of a technology company, so he had no need to chase her father’s dollars. Besides, Isaac had said he lived in his head. She wondered what it was like in there and what ideas could occupy so much of his time that he didn’t notice his eyebrows were overgrown or that he needed a shave. Wouldn’t it be nice to be thinking so hard she didn’t care how she looked or what other people thought about her?
“I’m overwhelmed,” Marissa said after a long moment. “I’m sorry, Stacy. It’s taking me a minute to process this. Would you like my help with this new guy you’ve met?”
“I don’t know. No.” She didn’t want to subject Isaac to the kind of hell that Kyle Murphy would undoubtedly go through trying to escape a bunch of greedy dating gurus. Plus, if there was any hope of seeing Isaac again, she wanted to figure that out on her own.
She had already gathered that he was a bit of a philanthropist from the articles she’d read online. Undoubtedly his trip to the Phantoms’ fundraiser had been in the same vein. Maybe she would run into him again at another local charity function. Her style features for the paper certainly warranted her presence at that sort of thing.
“Well, I can do a preliminary screen for you at least, to make sure he’s legit. Email me his name and I’ll take care of that.”
“Thank you. I’ll email you what I’ve found so far, but that’s not why I called.”
“So how can I help?” Marissa sounded confused and possibly a little exasperated.
Which was just how Stacy felt so much of the time dealing with her father. But no more. She was done trying to figure out how to make him listen without offending him. Done letting him make her think she wouldn’t succeed on her own.
Last night she’d seen herself through Isaac Reynolds’s eyes and she hadn’t liked the view.
“I need a new direction. A total life overhaul.” Looking around her glitzy home, financed by her father, her expensive lifestyle that she could do without, Stacy felt a new sense of purpose. “I’m going to be writing some new things. Blogging some pieces that will be very different from what I do for the paper.”
Her writing voice was big and offbeat. And since she only felt comfortable exercising it in print, she owed it to herself to start using it.
“That’s great, but—”
“I hoped you would read them for me before I put them online.” She trusted Marissa. She’d met her years ago at a Brandy Collins concert after Stacy’s dad had finagled a VIP pass for the show. Stacy had always admired Brandy’s exciting stage presence and energy, but after meeting the mother and daughter in person, it was Marissa who impressed her the most.
From the way she handled the people backstage, it was obvious the younger woman was the quiet calm beneath the noise and chaos. And she’d been touched at how she’d guided her mom through meetings with the fans, never allowing anyone to take too much of her time.
Stacy had realized then that her life lacked a Marissa. A stable sounding board who listened and didn’t dictate. While Marissa had a Type A parent with a strong personality, just like Stacy had in her dad, Marissa had found a way to work with her mom instead of being smothered by her. Stacy had never mastered that balance of loving her dad without being under his thumb.
“Wow. I’d be honored, of course, though I’m not sure if I would be the best critic.”
“That’s okay. Just be honest and tell me if I’m taking too much of a risk. I’ve made some poor decisions in the past, so I’d like an outside opinion before I do something crazy.” She swallowed hard, thinking as long as she could afford dog food and rent, she’d be okay. “It’s overdue, I know. But I’m finally claiming my independence.”
* * *
“
EVERYTHING OKAY
?” Kyle looked up at Marissa from his spot at her stove where he moved a skillet back and forth across a burner. The scent of frying eggs filled the kitchen.
She’d offered to make him something to eat before the team flight to Pittsburgh, but when she’d taken the call from Stacy, he’d finished the job. But as delicious as his cooking smelled, she’d rather have a taste of him since he looked good enough to eat. He’d pulled on his jeans and they hung low on his hips, revealing a network of muscles her fingers itched to trace. But he deserved a break to refuel. He’d caused her to see stars the second time they’d made love. She’d barely recovered when the phone rang.
Now, she didn’t know how to begin to answer his question. How could she tell Kyle that Stacy had made him a hot commodity among the matchmaking community without risking her client confidentiality? Could Kyle unknowingly be sacrificing Phil Goodwell’s support for the youth hockey camp Kyle wanted to establish by
not
dating Stacy? The ethics of the situation were getting sticky.
“Just a client going through some personal problems. She wanted my advice on career ideas.” That was true at least.
“Is that in the matchmaker’s job description?” He sprinkled cheese on top of the omelets he’d made and her mouth watered.
Apparently good sex made her ravenous. And Kyle seemed to be a very competent cook, seeming comfortable in her kitchen. Perhaps she had drawn unfair conclusions about him by seeing him as a “star” like her mom. Marissa was used to managing her mother’s career and, to a certain extent, her home life, as well, since Brandy Collins had never done much in the way of taking care of herself or her household. But Kyle obviously didn’t expect star treatment. Yet another way he was a down-to-earth guy.
“No. But she’s become a friend.” She hadn’t fully realized it until Stacy placed the call. But it touched her heart that the younger woman looked to her for advice, especially when Marissa hadn’t been making the best work-related decisions herself lately. She needed to confess that she was…what? Dating Kyle? She had no idea where they stood, but it seemed that she owed Stacy an explanation. “Maybe giving her some guidance will help me figure out some new ideas for my career, too.”
Belatedly, she realized Kyle needed plates and forks. She hurried around the kitchen to gather serving items and brought them to the wooden bistro table.
“Don’t tell me I’ve scared you away from matchmaking.” He flipped the omelets in half and slid them onto their plates.
She smiled at their gargantuan size. Ravenous or not, she’d be eating the eggs he gave her for a week.
“No. I got into it because I have a knack for it and I enjoy it.” Taking the skillet from him, she put the pan in the sink and gestured for him to have a seat. “But you can’t rush love for the sake of generating a paycheck, and I’m at a position in life where I need a supplemental income that’s more reliable.”
Preferably large.
“Because of your mom?” He waited for her to join him before digging in.
“Yes. Matchmaking would support me just fine. I personally don’t need a big place, but I don’t want to sell my mother’s house when her cognitive rehabilitation therapist says it’s helpful for Mom to be in familiar surroundings. I won’t sacrifice things that anchor her memories when she has such a hard time remembering anything.” She thought about their conversation last night and wished she could have recalled a time when she’d eaten too much cotton candy. Whatever days her mom was recollecting, Marissa would have liked to have been there with her.
“But why does the income have to come from you? Brandy is a huge star. Can’t you release a greatest hits or something to generate some funds until she’s better?” Kyle frowned in thought. “I could check in with my dad for ideas, if you like. Robert Murphy is the king of making something out of nothing in business. He has a whole team of finance guys who might—”
“That’s okay.” She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, tying herself even more to Kyle when she’d been so certain she could maintain her distance. She hadn’t had time to think about what this afternoon meant for their future yet. “But that’s very generous of you. Thank you.”
She knew a little about his family from the preliminary screening that she always did for her clients. The Murphys were based in Boston, where Kyle’s father had made a fortune in real estate and property development after starting with nothing more than a popular clam shack restaurant on Cape Cod. He’d ridden the business boom of the eighties, starting a small inn next to his restaurant. Now, he had a global resort chain with his oldest son poised to take over as CEO. Kyle, the youngest biological son, had distinguished himself as an athlete while the other brothers had either struck out on their own in business or turned to the military, each one as competitive as the next, by all accounts.
Kyle shrugged. “It’s an open invitation. But what about the greatest hits thing? Is that an option?”
“I know my mom’s fans would support something like that, but with so much music available digitally, the profits aren’t in releasing a record. The real money comes from touring.” She’d already investigated that avenue, and the music industry was much different now than ten or fifteen years ago when a greatest hits album would have generated cash. These days, all the music already existed on iPods and computers. Putting it in a new format didn’t lead to big sales.
Taking a bite of omelet, she savored the food she hadn’t had to cook. It was an unusual treat for her since she’d done all the food prep for both her and her mother for months. “This is delicious, by the way. Thank you so much.”
“Stick with me, kid. I make a mean spaghetti, too.” He grinned at her over his fork piled high with eggs.
Did he realize what he was saying? No doubt he’d only meant it as an offhand comment. But what would it be like to see him again? And again?
“Uh-oh.” He put his fork down.
“What?”
“I ruined the moment by talking about a future, didn’t I?”
“Not at all.” Embarrassed for taking the idea seriously in the first place, she wished they’d been able to keep the lighter mood.
“I think I’m supposed to wait a few days before I make another date or something, right?” He shook his head, though he didn’t seem terribly serious. “I failed Relationship 101.”
“Just as well, since we were both very determined not to have a relationship, right?” She took a big bite, determined to move past the awkwardness. She didn’t know where things were headed with Kyle, but she couldn’t deny she was extremely attracted to him. So much so, she found it hard to keep away. Plus, being with him had been a welcome break from worries about finances and her mom. She didn’t want to ruin it now.