Page 11 of Fierce-Jax (Fierce Matchmaking #18)

NICE MEN ARE HARD TO FIND

“ T hank you so much for explaining this all to me. I was one of Dillion’s teachers in school. She actually told me to stop in and get some information one day. I thought I’d bring my sister-in-law in with me too.”

Dillion recognized that voice.

It was hard not to when she heard it enough.

It seemed like every time she turned around, Carolyn was there and hinting toward setting her up on a date.

Roni warned her that the Fierces were known for playing Cupid.

She appreciated the knowledge, but if she couldn’t even get a man she was all but throwing herself at to ask her on a date, the last thing she wanted was a blind date with a complete stranger.

But since Carolyn stopped in, the least she could do was pop her head out and say hi.

“Mrs. Fierce, so glad you could stop in.”

Carolyn’s face scrunched up. It was a game to her now.

“It’s Carolyn, and this is my sister-in-law, Diane. I don’t believe you’ve met.”

She walked into the consulting room where her PA, Noelle, had been talking with them and shook Diane’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “I’ve met your husband a few times. They don’t stop in as much as you ladies do. At least not to visit.”

“They are busy working,” Carolyn said. “We’re retired and when we don’t have our grandkids, we try to get out and stay occupied.”

“No one wants you to babysit?” she asked. “My mother all but begged me. But you know, I needed it years ago. I guess when it comes down to it, I don’t trust anyone as much as I trust my mom.”

“What a sweet thing to say,” Carolyn said.

“I wish our kids said that about us,” Diane said, pursing her lips.

Dillion smiled. It just reminded her of what her father had said to her weeks ago.

When you had a kid of your own, you looked at things differently.

She felt she had a good life and was raised well.

No, she wouldn’t do everything the way her parents did, but they respected her enough to listen when she disagreed with them when it came to Gianna.

She couldn’t ask for more than that.

“I’m sure they think it,” she said. “But don’t want your head to get too big with the knowledge.”

“I think that is more like it,” Carolyn said. “I’m sure you’re busy with patients, but do you have two minutes for a question?”

She wanted to say no, but Diane was looking down at the pamphlet of services. She was positive everything was explained well, but it wasn’t services she performed, rather her staff.

“Just a short two minutes,” she said. “I’ve got patients waiting.”

A new patient was brought to an exam room where Marcy was conducting a full mole exam on. She’d jump in to see if there were any issues or concerns and introduce herself afterward. As the doctor, she’d be removing anything major.

“It won’t take long,” Diane said.

“I’ve got an appointment,” Noelle said. “It was nice to meet you both.”

She waited for her PA to leave the room and Carolyn went and shut the door.

Yep, this was going to be personal. She should have said no.

“What can I help you with?” she asked.

“You know I’m always picking on you about finding a nice young man.”

“You are,” she said. “But I’m a little busy, and you know, nice men are hard to find.”

At least ones that want to be more than a friend.

Seemed like that was all Jax was interested in.

“We know one,” Diane said.

“I’m sure you do,” she said drily.

“Hear me out,” Carolyn said. “First, you know we’ve got a really good track record, right? Everyone we’ve matched up or helped is doing well.”

“I’ve heard all about it,” she said. She wouldn’t throw Roni under the bus, but even when her office rehab was being done, Royce Kennedy had warned her when he found out she was single.

That he’d been set up with his wife, Chloe, who was an engineer for Fierce. Royce’s sister, Elise, set up with Gabe McCarthy, and Walker Olson, who handled the lease, with his wife who was somehow related to Carolyn.

These were people who were part owners in the buildings and being set up. Not just staff or friends or other relatives.

The Fierces had no boundaries when they sunk their teeth in.

“Then you know we are never wrong,” Diane said. “And we won’t be this time.”

“It’s really hard when you’ve got a child,” she said.

“Jax loves kids. His sister was a single mother and he has his nephew all the time.”

“Jax?” she asked. Dillion wasn’t about to let them know her heart was racing over the name.

She could use all the help she could get if it was the man she was interested in.

And it would save her from having to make another move and embarrass herself if he said no.

But what if he wasn’t interested in being set up?

That might just make it harder for her.

Or awkward the next time they talked.

She looked forward to all those interactions and would hate to see them end.

“Yes,” Carolyn said. “Jax Hollister. He runs a large not-for-profit in this building. Pretty much takes up the whole sixth floor. I’m sure you’ve run into him a time or two and might not have realized it.”

No way she was admitting anything right yet.

“I’ve heard the name,” she said. It’s not as if it was a lie.

“Don’t worry,” Diane said. “We talked to him earlier. We’ve known him for a while.”

“You told him you wanted to set him up with me?” she asked. “Or just someone?”

“We said you,” Carolyn said. “He’s agreeable to it.”

“Agreeable,” she said, frowning. Didn’t sound like much excitement there.

“Don’t think of it that way,” Diane said. “He’s a great guy. He really is. I think he’s so focused on work. Kind of like you.”

“I think you two would have a lot in common. And our track record is darn good. What do you say? Do you think you’d be interested in maybe getting coffee or dinner after work one day? Maybe before? I know it’s hard with Gianna and all.”

“I’ll do it,” she said.

“That did not just happen,” Diane said when they were sitting in her car in the parking lot. “Tell me I imagined that too.”

Her sister-in-law turned her stunned face and looked at her. “It did. How is it that after all these years of joking around and saying we wanted to match someone up, someone actually said yes? Both of them did. I feel as if we are missing something here. Did we get pranked?”

“Don’t think that way,” she said. “If you think they’d make a good couple, then we’ll go for it.”

“But now we have to get them to meet,” Carolyn said. “I didn’t want to go back up and tell Jax that Dillion said yes and ask for his information to give Dillion. Nor did I want to ask Dillion for hers to give Jax.”

“Which we should have done,” she said. “We said we were setting them up and we both left there shell-shocked without figuring out the next step.”

“Do we go back in and ask one of them for it?” Carolyn asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “This is new. Let’s go back and see if Jax is around. We can just be honest. That we didn’t think she’d agree and we forgot to get her information.”

“There is no way I’m telling him we didn’t think Dillion would say yes,” Carolyn said. “Do you know how that sounds? It’s insulting.”

“Good point,” she said. Carolyn pulled her phone out. “What are you doing?”

“Calling Jax’s office to see if he’s available.”

“What are you going to tell him?” she asked.

“I’ll figure it out if he is,” Carolyn said, hitting the buttons and then putting it on speaker. “Hi, yes, is Jax available? It’s Carolyn Fierce. I was there about an hour ago.”

“Let me check,” the woman said, “Oops, it looks like he’s on a call. Would you like me to transfer you to his voicemail?”

“Yes,” Carolyn said. Jax’s voice came on to leave a message. “Hi, Jax, Carolyn Fierce here. We just talked to Dillion. She said yes she’s interested, but had a patient and we had to leave before we could get her contact information. Once I get it, I’ll pass it on. Bye.”

“That was good,” Diane said.

“Not bad considering this didn’t go any way we had planned,” Carolyn said.

“Which is funny since we always wished it did go this way. You’d think we’d be more prepared!”