Page 32 of It's Not PMS, It's You

I smirked. “Sorry, I just can’t do that.”

Dee frowned. “Maybe he can’t spell.”

“I guarantee you he C-A-N.”

“Who’s more pathetic, you or me?”

“That’s up for discussion.”

Dee finished her croissant and gulped down the rest of her coffee. “Okay, anyway, I will go through and delete all blue-collar workers, even though I don’t want to. That is still going to leave you with about twelve men, I think. And you’re going on a date with one of them tonight.”

“What?!” I leaned in again since Brandon and Nick both glanced toward the house after my outburst. “I have a date?”

“Seven thirty at Jake’s.”

Jake’s was a tasty seafood restaurant right on the beach in Del Mar. It was one of my favorite places to eat, close enough for me to walk to. I couldn’t believe she’d set me up on a blind date already.

“If I have a date with him, that means you’ve been talking to him and pretending you were me.”

“Basically. I didn’t want you to scare off the first potential man.”

“How would I scare him off?”

“By opening your mouth.” She laughed. “And I think you’ll love what he does for a living.”

I was scared, but I had to ask.

“What does he do?” I whispered.

She smiled. “He’s a chef and a restaurateur.”

“He owns the restaurant?”

Dee nodded. “He sure does! A businessman, plus he can cook for you anytime you want. What more could you ask for?”

Okay, I had to admit that sounded appealing.

He wasn’t working in an office environment, but I think I could get used to the idea of going out with a chef. Chefs work hard, are career-driven, and only want to deliver the best product to their customers because their reputations are on the line with every single plate that leaves the kitchen. He could be another perfectionist, but I would be okay with that, because that meant he cared. And hopefully he would prepare me elaborate dishes since I rarely cooked.

“You’re thinking too much,” Dee said. “Stop that. You’re going on the date.”

“Okay—I’ll go on the date, but it’s not going to be dinner.”

“Why not? Dinners are more romantic.”

“That’sexactlywhy I want to avoid it. I don’t want something romantic with a man I’ve never met before and in this case, someone I’ve never talked to. Lunch dates have a ticking clock since people only have so much time before they need to get back to work. I have an out. If I don’t like the guy, I have the perfect excuse to leave.”

“That’s not going into the date with a positive attitude. You need tobelievethat there is a chance he may be the one you’ve been searching for all your life.”

“I’m just being realistic. We both know that the odds are against him out of the chute because I’m not going to settle for just anyone. But, if the man gets past the first round, the first date, he will graduate to a dinner date and I may even wear a dress for that one! All first dates are lunch dates only. No exceptions and I won’t budge on this.”

She studied me for a moment and sighed. “You’re already making this difficult and we haven’t even started yet. And you are not going to wear a business suit on a first date, whether it’s a lunch or dinner.Iwill not budge on this. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

“Fine. Set up a lunch date. In fact, see if you can make it happen today since it’s still early.”

“It may be a possibility since it’s his day off. I’ll message him.”

“That would work out great, then I could go straight to the tea with Judy afterwards. And we’ll see just how good you are at matchmaking. Don’t get your hopes up, though.”