Cassandra nibbled on her bottom lip as she stared at the plastic bag on her countertop. It was eight a.m., and now would be the best time, but she needed to start the workday. Maybe bad news was better saved for the weekend. So she could unwind and fret and cry into the couch, if the result turned out as she feared.

The bag held a pregnancy test. She’d bought it the night before, just as a precaution. She’d been mostly sure that her unprotected sex with Nasir more than two weeks ago had fallen outside of her fertile window, but it was better to be sure. The nausea yesterday morning was certainly new, even though that was probably just a random sensitive stomach, but still, it was better to check. Just to see.

So she could find out if that super sexy, totally not-supposed-to-happen one-night stand really was about to change her life forever.

She turned away from the island and headed for her open laptop on the coffee table. Work called. The test could wait. Besides, maybe she wasn’t quite ready to know. Maybe she should suck up her last moments as a non-mother single woman.

You’re being histrionic. You’ve probably just been stressed from work.

As soon as she sat down, her phone vibrated with a call. She picked it up, half sorry that Nasir’s messages had stopped sometime the week before. But what did she expect? A man would only try so long before he realized he was being ignored.

Guilt flashed through her but she snuffed it. Social awkwardness was not her favorite thing—she’d done a doozy with Nasir, but there was no other way. What could she tell him? Hey, I think you’re great, but I secretly saw your confidential file and know we’re woefully mismatched; also I think you used me for sex. Also, bye. No. It was easier to ignore and wait it out. She’d rejected him, he’d gotten the message. Life moved on.

Even though his memory continued to niggle at her daily.

Laura was calling. Cassandra swiped the phone on, pressing it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Girl, I need your help.”

Laura clicked through her e-mails as she listened. “What’s up?”

“I hate to do this, but…can you take over a meet-and-greet for me?” Laura’s voice betrayed her regret. “I know you passed that Lebanese client to me, but I just can’t make it today. I’ve been puking since last night, and there’s no end in sight.”

Cassandra furrowed a brow, anxiety jolting through her. Fuck fuck fuck. “Are you okay? Did you eat something…?”

“I think it’s food poisoning.” Laura sighed. “At any rate, I just can’t make it, but could you? Pretty please?”

Cassandra checked her planner, splayed open to the side of the laptop. She grimaced, shaking her head, like this might convince the universe to stop the cruel joke already. If she said no, she’d have to explain why. “Probably. What time?”

“It’s a café meet-and-greet at two p.m. I scheduled it for The Gathering Grounds, so you’ll have plenty of space to talk.”

Cassandra pinched the bridge of her nose. Meet-and-greets were her favorite part of the job. The first chance to meet the client, get a real handle on their wishes and desires, and then begin piecing together the subtle things they’d left out of their profile. But a meet-and-greet with Nasir? Pure torture.

Cassandra gnawed at the inside of her lip, willing the words to emerge. “I got you, girl.”

Laura groaned. “Thank you! I owe you so much. If he’s good, you can have him back—just take my commission.”

“Thanks.” Not.

“All his recent files are on the server—I’ll send you the link. But it shouldn’t be a big deal—I’m sure you saw the original profile anyway. Just a CEO and his overbearing mother.”

“Ah. My specialty.”

Laura laughed, and then groaned. “Oh, the stomach spams. God, let them stop.”

“Go lie down. Drink water or something.” Cassandra’s heart pounded in her ears, desperate to find some last-minute way out of this. Maybe she could come down with a stomach virus, and pass the case off to her boss. But no, that would never work. Turning down work twice would not go over well.

“If only it didn’t make me puke,” Laura said miserably. “I’ll send you these links before the next wave hits me. Thanks a ton, girl—I really do owe you.” Cassandra hung up the phone, slumping against the couch. If anything, she’d learned something new that morning: anxiety made the indigestion worse. There was no backing out of this one. She just needed to take a good long time to organize her game plan.

Cassandra dedicated her whole life to love and successful matches, which was why she knew from a mile away that she and Nasir could never succeed together. Which meant that whatever the results were of that test on the counter…they were for her eyes only.

* * *

Nasir’s mother called his cell phone just as he shut the front door of his penthouse. “Hello, Mother.”

“I’m here, son. Waiting downstairs for you.”

Of course she was—she’d been waiting for this day like a grade schooler antsy to take a trip to the moon.

“I’m coming down now, Mother. Be there in a moment.” He swiped his phone off as he stepped into the elevator, adjusting his suit jacket. Work the past couple of weeks had been hellish, but that was partially of his own doing. Certain things needed to be avoided—in particular, the incision left by Cassandra’s inglorious ghosting since their date.

It still smarted, actually—maybe that’s what he got for taking a first date into territory like that. She’d burned him because he’d allowed himself to be burnt. He’d already been falling for her after seeing her twice. What sort of madness was that? Her ignoring his phone calls and texts—that had to be for the best. Work was priority, and she would have only been a distraction. That’s what he continued to tell himself, at least.

The elevator doors whooshed open on the main floor of his building, and he strode out, nodding at the receptionist. The lobby of the apartment building was a clean, simple transition between home and the real world, and he couldn’t help but be thankful to the architects who designed it. Only a little bit of the Los Angeles beyond was visible through the front lobby, like the building shielded its residents from seeing too much, from leaping too quickly. Beyond the front doors, his car idled at the curb, his mother no doubt behind the tinted back window.

The front doors slid open as he approached, and he hurried to the back seat. At the other side of the car, his mother sat primly, smiling like a minx.

“There you are. Looking handsome as always.” She leaned forward to kiss his cheek as he settled in. “My eldest son. My pride and joy.”

He couldn’t help the grin that crossed his face as the car rolled into motion. “Now, now, Mother.”

“This is a big day for you.” She patted his arm. “I’m very hopeful this will go well.”

He adjusted the watch on his left wrist, watching the passing traffic with distant awareness. “Yes, well, if it doesn’t, we should demand our money back. I’ve filled out enough questionnaires and quizzes to find at least three soul mates.”

Safiya tutted. “Come, now. That’s important information. They use it to match you well.”

“I guess I’ll be the judge of that.” Cassandra crossed his mind, like a meteor streaking across the night sky. Almost three weeks later and she wasn’t gone from his memory yet. Maybe she’d never fully disappear.

“Yes.” Something in her tone told him that Safiya thought maybe she’d be the judge of that too. “I’m sure they’ll have lovely selections. I bet your wife is waiting for you!”

“We’re not meeting the actual women today, remember. Just looking at their profiles. Making the selection.”

Safiya waved him off, like he was being irrational. “Yes, I know. But they might have found her already. She could be looking at your profile across town tonight, as well.”

Nasir shook his head. “When did you become such a romantic?”

“I’m not.” Safiya’s ruby red lips thinned into a line.

Their destination was a hip café known for its ample gathering space and out-of-this-world lattes. The matchmaker had suggested it as a low-key, late-lunch option, which of course reminded him of Cassandra again, and the precious quirk in her lips when she was about to make a joke or the way she’d responded to his restaurant selection.

After a few moments of silence, Safiya turned to him again. “Did you disclose the family business in the profile?”

He swallowed an annoyed sigh. “I filled everything out exactly as we discussed. Don’t worry.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I just don’t want anyone trying to take advantage of you.”

Safiya had personally reviewed all the interview and profile questions prior to him receiving them, so she’d had plenty of suggestions as to how to fill out each section. And in the wake of Cassandra’s ghosting, her direction seemed wisest: find somebody who could match him in business. It seemed terribly sterile and boring, like the safest sort of stock trade. Somewhere down the road it would pay off. Surely, he could come to love someone after enough years, and maybe even children, together. Even if it didn’t include the magnetic tug surrounding Cassandra.

The car slowed near a trendy patio trimmed with wrought iron and paper lanterns. The café name matched their destination. “Here we are. Let’s go.”

He pushed the car door open and stepped out, holding the door for his mother. She lowered her sunglasses, sniffing. “Shall we?”

He gestured for her to lead the way and followed her inside the brick building. Notes of hazelnut and coffee blasted him as they stepped inside; soft jazz meandered through the mostly open floor plan of the café. A cash register sat next to a long display case of baked goods, but tables and chairs took up the rest of the space.

“Who are we looking for?” Nasir smoothed down the front of his shirt, anxiety licking through him.

“Laura was the original one,” Safiya said, pushing her sunglasses back on her head. “But I got an e-mail last minute that Laura couldn’t be here, so her colleague is meeting us.” Safiya’s hawkish eyes scanned the room. “Her name is Cassandra; she’s a blonde lady. She said she’d find us.”

The name sizzled through him like a lightning strike, and hope sparked inside his chest. Could it be? But no—that was just his hopefulness again. Ruining his life on a daily basis.

His gaze swung around the room until he saw her: the blonde heading straight toward them, glossy hair pulled back into a smart bun, black pencil skirt hugging curves he’d known for only a night.

Her face bore confusion and forced friendliness. Nasir felt rooted to his spot, voice sticking to his throat as he struggled to find one single emotion to settle on among the tumult within.

Cassandra came to a stop in front of them, hands clasped together. “You must be Nasir and Safiya.”