“ party is amazing, Shelly. Your yard looks beautiful, like the fairies have moved in.”

Shelly grinned as her cousin complimented her on the party. “It was all my friend Jordan’s doing. She spent all day decorating while I had to work. She’s done a beautiful job.”

“She has.” George looked around the crowd. “Is she as beautiful as you are? If so, I’d like to meet her.”

Shelly laughed. “She’s beautiful and single, George. I’ll be sure to introduce you later.”

“Thanks—I’d like that.” He drifted off when he saw Boyd across the room, and Shelly looked for Jordan so she could prepare her for meeting her cousin. She waved as she saw her serving finger food to a guest. Jordan put the plate on a table and joined Shelly near the door, and they turned to look at the guests together. “Thanks so much for doing this for me, Jordan. You’re the best friend ever.”

“It’s no trouble. That is why I work for myself, after all. It gives me that little bit of freedom when I need it.”

“I have someone for you to meet later. My cousin, George, is single and eligible. He has a job, a car, and he’s taller than you.” She paused as a look of disgust settled on her features. “Well, you can decide for yourself if he has a nice ass—I don’t even want to think about it. Anyway, I’ll introduce you later.”

She squealed as she saw Emily and Andrea arrive together, and the four women were quickly chattering away and catching up. Even though they’d last had dinner two nights ago, there was always something to talk about when they were together. Shelly and Andrea quickly took to the dance floor as Jordan continued serving food and making sure everyone had a drink.

The party had the usual formalities, and Jordan smiled as speeches were made and the bride and groom were toasted. The happy couple cut the cake, and Jordan rushed in to help serve it to the guests. She cleaned up the remains and helped Shelly put a chunk of the cake in the freezer, and then she went around with a garbage bag, cleaning up the paper plates and plastic cutlery that now littered every flat surface. She was about to start clearing away the dirty glasses when Shelly pulled her aside and insisted she follow her into the kitchen.

A handsome man turned from speaking to Boyd, and his eyes lit up when they fell on her. “George, this is my best friend, Jordan Parker. Jordan, meet George, my cousin.” They shook hands and made small talk before George excused himself to go to the bathroom.

He made her promise to stand right where she was until he returned, and Jordan resisted the urge to watch him walk away. She didn’t want to be checking out men’s bums before she agreed to go on dates with them; after a few minutes with George, she could tell that they would get along if they decided to spend more time together.

He soon returned with a drink for them both, and they settled in to get to know each other. He asked for her number and she watched as he tapped it into his phone. Then she joined the party and her friends on the dance floor.

“George isn’t dancing with you?”

“I guess not. I came out here before he could ask, I suppose.”

“Did you give him your number? Did he ask you out?”

“Not exactly. He’s away for the next few weeks with work, so we’re going to catch up when he’s home. He has my number in his phone.”

Shelly squealed with delight, and Jordan could hear it over the music the DJ was playing—the DJ she’d been studiously ignoring since the moment he’d arrived to set up his gear earlier this afternoon.

Fish had made no secret that he was pleased to see her when she’d opened the door to Shelly’s home. She’d helped him carry his equipment inside, and then he’d requested her assistance to set it up. She’d excused herself as soon as she could, but he’d made sure he suggested she hang around afterward, so they could “reconnect.” She’d had to remind him that neither of them remembered the last time together and she wasn’t interested. He’d had the hide to suggest that she just needed a couple of drinks and she’d change her mind!

Andrea danced past her on the dance floor, and she quickly looked away from the man playing the music. She wasn’t interested, but gee, he was gorgeous. What she wouldn’t give for even a small memory of that night.

“Hey, Jordan, why didn’t you bring that guy, Richard, to the party?” Andrea cut into her train of thought and, as always, didn’t mess around with pleasantries.

“I asked him, but he said he was busy.”

“Damn. He sounded like he might have been worth a bit more of your time. I have someone at work I want you to meet.”

“Richard could still be worth it, and we’re having dinner next week. You can give my number to your workmate, if you’d like.”

Andrea grinned at her and danced away as she nodded her approval. The dance floor had become crowded, and Jordan turned to find George stepping up behind her. She smiled and they danced a few songs together.

The rest of the night passed in a blur, and it was a happy Jordan who drove herself home and snuggled in bed with Rex in the early hours of the morning.

 

***

 

week later, she sat in a hotel lobby in the city with Andrea’s friend from work. Pierre turned out to be smooth, and Jordan wasn’t certain they would be a good match, but she stuck it out, anyway. When he told her he had a dog, her heart sank as she realised he ticked all the boxes on the list.

How long do I have to wait for a man who is everything I want and who I actually like as more than a friend?

They were sharing a plate of tapas and talking about their work when she noticed he was eating faster. She was doing all the talking while he was shovelling food into his mouth. She didn’t miss his surreptitious glances at his watch, either. Something was going on. Jordan stopped talking to force him to stop eating and speak, and her eyes wandered over his shoulder as a woman sat up at the bar.

“Ally? Ally Hastings, is that you?” she couldn’t help but ask of the woman, who seemed so familiar.

“Yes, that’s me. Well, my maiden name.” She looked confused. “I’m sorry, I—”

“Sorry.” She slid off her stool and patted Pierre on the shoulder as a look of panic appeared on his face. “I’m Jordan Parker from Miss Bishop’s biology class.”

“Oh, Jordan, I didn’t recognise you. You look amazing!”

“Thanks! You, too. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, it’s lame, but I have a blind date.” She glanced at her watch, “I’m twenty minutes early, so I have a little time to chat.”

A light went off in Jordan’s head, and she had the sneaking suspicion that Pierre’s food-shovelling and Ally’s unexpected arrival were somehow linked. “How funny. That’s why I was here, too.” Only one way to find out. “Pierre, turn around. This is my old friend from school.” She smirked as he turned, and she noted the sweat that had recently appeared on his forehead. “Ally, Pierre. Pierre, this is Ally.”

If it wasn’t so terribly typical of most of her dating efforts, it would have been comical. Ally realised at just the right moment that her date’s name was Pierre, too. The only one who didn’t look confused was Pierre. Sweat was pouring off him as he looked from one woman to the other and meekly held out his hand.

Jordan couldn’t let him suffer for too long, especially since she felt no spark between them. “Relax, Pierre, I’m onto you. Ally, I have to go, but I’d love to catch up some other time. Can I get your number?” Her friend stared at the man, her lips compressing, as she gave Jordan her phone number.  “Thanks, lovie.” She leaned in to whisper in Ally’s ear, “Give him a chance. He’s a lovely guy, just not for me.”

She waved as she headed across the bar and out into the hotel reception. Another woman blocked her exit as she waved to get the maître d’s attention, and Jordan cackled as she heard her say, “Excuse me, sir, I’m here for a date and I’m early. Would you mind keeping an eye out for Mr Pierre DuPont when he arrives? I’m going to take a seat at the bar.”

Poor Pierre—he was in for a rough night.

 

***

 

“It’s completely my fault.”

“What do you mean? How do you blame yourself for a situation like this?”

“This is exactly what I did in January with the guys from Tinder. I lined them up one by one, an hour of my precious time allocated to each. That’s exactly what Pierre did, except he got caught out. This is karma—nothing more and nothing less. I can hardly be annoyed about it, now that the shoe is on the other foot.”

“I guess.” Andrea sounded like she still needed convincing. “I’m going to kick his ass when I see him at work.”

Jordan laughed as she thought of the expression on his face when he’d heard her say Ally’s name. She still wished she’d thought of a way to hang around and see what happened with the third woman. “Hey, maybe you can ask him how it went. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Ally knew the third woman?”

“It would be karma for him. I can’t believe he would be so stupid.”

“I’m chalking it up to the crazy dating life of Jordan Parker. He just got caught up in my wash.” She pushed her food around on her plate as Andrea glared at her bowl of soup.

“I’m still going tokill him. Anyway, we’re not here to talk about him. It’s your birthday tomorrow, what are we doing?”

“Something with no men anywhere close by please. Maybe dinner? Why don’t we ask Shannon and Sarah to come too?” She picked up her phone to scroll through the contacts. “What’s Sarah’s last name again?”

“Flannery. And Shannon’s is Molloy in case you’ve forgotten that too.”

“I know, I know. I have their numbers. You ask the girls and I’ll get Shannon and Sarah to come. We’ll have a girl’s night out. If we could refrain from talking about dating that would be awesome. I don’t want anyone else to know about my pathetic need to get married.”

“It’s not pathetic, it’s fun. So far I’m enjoying your year of dating disasters and it’s only March. Imagine what fun there is still to come.”

“Stop! You’ll curse me. I’m putting good vibes out into the universe. A great man is going to take me out next and you’ll be picking out your next bridesmaid dress before you can blink.”