Chapter Two
Nikko stepped into the waiting room of Paranormal Dating Agency. For months he had been ignoring his cousin’s continuous nagging phone calls, until last week when he finally stopped feeling sorry for himself and decided to pay her a visit.
Stepping up to the young woman sitting behind a desk he introduced himself. “Hi, I’m here to see –.”
“Nikko? Nikko Farkas?”
He didn’t have to turn to see who it was. He would’ve known that voice anywhere. A smirk worked up the corners of his mouth as he turned and there she was. His tiny, but tenacious cousin, Gerri Wilder stood in the doorway. Her presence, though small in stature, was commanding. Her petite frame with white hair and a personality made from fire reminded him so much of his mother.
“Hi, Gerri.”
She came toward him, wrapping her arms around him in a bear hug. “Oh, I’ve missed you.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t call after mom died. Thank you for sending the flowers. They were very nice.”
“Oh shush. Corrine was an amazing woman and the best aunt I could’ve ever hoped for. I’m just so sorry for your loss.” She placed her hands on his shoulders. “Now, let me have a look at you.”
He bit his tongue, knowing what was about to come.
“Oh my.” She shook her head. “You look horrible. When was the last time you got laid?”
And there it is.
“Geez, Gerri.” He tried his best not to laugh, but his cousin had never been one to mince words.
“What?”
He looked around the waiting room. “Do you ever use a filter when you talk to people?”
“Oh, please. You’ve obviously been away from me for too long. I don’t even have a filter. Much less use one.”
“I guess some things never change then.” He teased.
“With me? Never. But you on the other hand, things have changed. Haven’t they, cousin?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Oh come now. I’ve been trying to get you to the agency for years. You’ve never set foot in my offices before now. Not once. Now you just come strolling in with that ‘please help me, I need a good fuck’ look on your face.”
The woman behind the desk snickered.
“Well if you must know, I’m here to see if you can’t find me a mate. A real mate. Not just for… well, you know.”
“Not just to fuck?”
He rolled his eyes and could no longer contain his laughter. “You’re something else.”
“Indeed.” She smirked and motioned him into her office.
He stepped inside, while she closed the door. He hadn’t been sure what to expect, but a plain desk with a simple and humble office hadn’t been it.
“So how does this stuff work, anyway? Do you ask me a bunch of random ass questions that have little to do with anything and then run it through some computer program which spits out a mate for me?”
“Uh uh. Yeah. And then it’ll do your taxes, fold your laundry and cook you a steak too.”
“Smartass.”
“Better than being a dumbass, my dear cousin.”
“Tell me, how can someone so tiny be such a sniping bitch?”
“I’m going to ignore that little comment since I know it comes from a place of sexual frustration.”
He chuckled. “Okay, okay. I give. You always were the best at delivering the ultimate insult when we were growing up.”
“And things haven’t changed either.” She winked.
“Okay, so if it’s not a magical computer program than what is it?”
“Oh, Nikko. Tell me, why is it you men are always so simple minded?”
“Hey! Not all men.”
“Oh, please. If it has a penis, it already is automatically dumber by at least 20 IQ points.”
“Damn.” He laughed even louder. “I have missed you.”
“I am a gem. But, enough about me. Let’s talk about you. What are you looking for? You know, what’s your type?”
“I don’t know. I’ve always been an ass man.”
She shook her head. “I take that back. At least 50 IQ points.”
He leaned back in the chair across from her desk and crossed his arms. Glancing around her office he took note of the only imposing thing in the room, a large winged back leather chair which screamed ‘boss lady’ to anyone who dared to enter the Gerri lair, as they often called her make believe empires when they were kids.
Continuing with his scan he caught a glimpse of a photo peeking from within a file folder on her desk. The woman was a brunette with striking green eyes.
“Whoa. Who’s this?”
Pulling the picture from the file folder, he held it up to Gerri. “She’s gorgeous.”
She rolled her eyes in response. “She’s difficult is what she is.”
“Oh? How so?”
“Well for starters, she tried to fire me. Can you believe that? Me! I’m Gerri fucking Wilder. No one fires me.”
Nikko raised his brows and peered at her over the photo. “Why did she want to fire you?”
“She’s one of those super sensitive, all men are jerks types. Swears that every date I set her up on was a bad match.”
“Well?”
“Well what?” she asked.
“Were they bad matches?”
“Nikko, I am Gerri Wilder. I don’t make bad matches.”
“Right.” He tried to hide his eye roll, but she caught him anyway.
“Knock that off. I’m serious. She just needs to have sex. All of these people get all bent out of shape all the time. If everyone would just fuck and get it over with they’d find out they have a lot more in common than they think.”
“That’s my cousin. Always the romantic.”
“Yeah well, it doesn’t matter anyway. She told me she wouldn’t go out on anymore dates.”
“So she did fire you then?”
“No.” she crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “Not exactly. We’re just… taking a break. You know, until she realizes that I was right and she was wrong.”
“Yeah well, I’m gonna need you to call her.”
“Oh? Does my cousin like what he sees?”
“Are you kidding? She’s beautiful. What’s her name?”
“Natalie. Natalie…” she reached over and grabbed the photo from him, flipping it around to read the back. “Natalie Renquist. But honestly, I have a ton of women who you would love to meet. Let me just –.”
“Uh uh. I want to meet this woman.”
Gerri sighed. “You know she was quite rude to me the last time we spoke. I wouldn’t do this for any client, but since we’re family…”
He grinned and waited while she dialed the number.
“It’s ringing.”
“Good.”
“Natalie? Hi Natalie, this is –.” Gerri clenched her jaw and set the phone back down on the receiver hook.
“What happened?”
“She’s umm… she’s going to call me back.”
Laughing, he replied. “Uh huh.”