Page 39 of The Singles Club

“Just get through the first part before worrying about that.”

“Okay.” He smiled down at me, although it didn’t touch his eyes.

How could someone this freaking unbelievably gorgeous have a problem on dates?

It can’t bethatbad.

9

It's a Date

Justin

There were many Saturday nights I had sat alone in my apartment, but I’d never noticed how empty it truly felt until now. Spending this much time with Vivian had disrupted my comfortable little world to the point that even the familiar just wasn’t enough anymore. No matter how much I tried to push them away, my thoughts drifted to Vivian. How her eyes lit up when she laughed. The way she tugged at her necklace when she seemed nervous or unsure. That way she could look at you that was so subtle, but somehow incredibly sensual and sexy.

I rubbed the back of my neck. These thoughts were beginning to venture into a place I shouldn’t be going.

Paris. She’s moving to Paris. Nothing will come of this. End of story.

But my gut nudged at me. I felt there was a lot more to Vivian than she revealed… and my gut usually didn’t fail me. It’s the biggest reason I was able to build myself up from practically nothing.

A woman who didn’t believe in love captured my attention more than I wanted it to. I looked over at my laptop, itching to Google her name to see what I’d find. Isabella said she stopped believing in love after her breakup with Lucas, and I was sure that story was covered in more than a tabloid or two.

I sat down on the edge of the couch and opened my computer, determined to solve the mystery of Vivian Hall. As soon as I opened my browser, I sat back, feeling a bit weird about the whole thing. Was Googling a form of stalking? Would that make me some kind of a creep? I ran a hand across my mouth, unsure of what to do at this point.

A ding sounded from my computer, and a notification popped up from the dating site.

Lexy24xox sent you a chat invite.

There were two click boxes underneath which readAcceptandDecline. Prickles of sweat formed at the crown of my forehead, as if this one choice would either diffuse a bomb or blow my life into a million tiny pieces.

I could already hear Brock’s reaction in my mind.For fuck sake, Justin. It’s just a chat, not a marriage proposal.

And what if something did come of it?

Maybe the reason Vivian came into my life was to rethink my whole theory on love… that perhaps I could have a second chance.

With my stomach twisting into a damned balloon animal, I quickly hitAcceptbefore I had the chance to change my mind.

L: Hi

I typed back the obvious reply.

J: Hi

Okay, now what? How the hell does one even begin conversations with strangers behind a keyboard? In person, I did fine, but this was new territory for me. Thankfully, she responded before I started to panic.

L: I loved your profile and the quote you chose.

Okay… that’s a start.

J: Thank you. I didn’t get a chance to look at yours yet.

L: Well, this site seems to think we’re a match… and from your interests, I can see how that could be possible. But if you’d like to take a few minutes to look, I can hold.

J: That would be great, thanks.

I clicked on her name, and a snapshot of her profile popped up. She was attractive, great smile. Brunette. To the right was a basic rundown of interests. It seemed the ones we had in common were highlighted. I quickly scanned through. She had a wide variety of taste in music, some that I didn’t care for, but she did like swing and Sinatra. That was a plus. She was an avid reader. Good. Oh, and she liked film classics. A definite plus. I popped over to the chat box and typed.