Hot to the Touch

Oh, my lord.

Her in-box notifier chimed, startling her back to the real world and this bizarre email intrusion. She gasped and put a hand to her temple. What was this? Another three emails from Milwaukeedates. Three introductory “hellos” from three more guys. It was almost as if she were signed up on the site, and men were able to find her and—

No. No way.

She shoved her chair back from the table, pounced on her phone and dialed, not caring what time Marie went to bed or what might be a decent or polite hour to call.

“Hey, Darcy, what’s—”

“Why the hell am I getting emails from Milwaukeedates.com guys? Specifically from Chaz, who you were just trying to fix me up with, but also this other person, TallGuy.”

“Troy?” Marie gasped. “Troy wrote to you?”

Something turned ice-cold in Darcy’s chest. “Troy?”

“Justin and Candy’s friend. He signed up months ago, in February. I guess he found your profile. I was only going to leave it up a while longer, to make sure Chaz—”

“That guy, TallGuy, is Justin and Candy’s friend Troy?”

“Yes.” She sounded surprised, undoubtedly by Darcy’s incredulous and slightly hysterical reaction. “That’s him. Isn’t he gorgeous? Get now why Candy always fans herself when she talks about him?”

“Yeah. Um, I guess.” She could barely think, barely get her mouth to form coherent words. In some sickening coincidence, she’d unwittingly slept with someone her friends all knew. If they found out, the matchmaking would be relentless.

So. They wouldn’t find out. She wouldn’t see him again, and that would be that. As long as he didn’t find out who she was…

“Why?” Marie’s voice sharpened into curiosity. “Do you know him?”

“Of course not. Of course I don’t.” Darcy sank back into her chair. Troy’s eyes were still smiling at her from her laptop; she couldn’t stand looking at them, and couldn’t stand looking away. “Marie? Why do I have a profile up on Milwaukeedates?”

“Gloves are off. I’m playing dirty now,” Marie said cheerfully. “I want you to stop shutting your life off from possibilities. Meet men like Chaz and Troy, fall in love and live happily ever after as people are meant to do.”

“Not all people.” Darcy jumped out of her chair. “My parents? Not happily and didn’t last ever after. Neither did my—”

“You don’t have to have your parents’ relationship. In fact, you have every reason not to.”

“It’s not just them. I have my career to think of now, and Gladiolas. What guy is going to put up with the hours I keep?”

“You can have a career and love, too, Darcy. Millions of women do it, and millions of men support them.”

“Good for them.” She clutched her head, trying to control a scream rising up through her body. “But I guarantee those women are still doing the lion’s share of the work at home. I’m hardly ever home to begin with. You should have seen my father when he got laid off and Mom had to work and couldn’t cater to him anymore. You should have seen my boyfriends when—”

“Not all men are like that.”

“All the ones I fall for are. It’s a cycle and I can’t break it.”

“Maybe a therapist…”

“I don’t have time for that, either.”

Marie gave a long-suffering sigh, which made Darcy want to pinch her. “Candy, Kim and I can all see how much you want this.”

“They’re in on this, too?” She wanted to cry at the betrayal.

“We understand that you’re scared, that you have every reason to think you can’t be happy. Candy and Kim just went through similar journeys and look how happy they are now. All we’re doing is nudging you in the direction you deep down already want to go.”

“I want to go?” Anger upgraded to rage, which Darcy was uncomfortably aware contained some of the exact fear Marie was talking about, plus panic that once again people she thought she could trust weren’t worthy of that gift. “So the three of you have ganged up and decided you know more about me than I do.”