three
KENNEDY LOOKED UP as her two friends and business partners rushed into her office. “What’s up? Did the quarterly profit statements come in?”
Kate looked about to burst with excitement. “Better.”
“Did Arilyn finally sleep with the FedEx guy?”
Arilyn shook her strawberry hip-length hair in mock seriousness. “His package is much smaller than that of the man I’m currently seeing, thank you very much.”
Kennedy laughed. “Spill.”
Kate clapped her hands together. “Jane and Tim are getting married!”
Kennedy jumped from the chair and shared in a screaming group hug. Jane was a client of Kinnections who’d struggled to meet the right man. They all had worked with her to increase her confidence, tweak her appearance, and find her a match. Of course, when Jane’s older brother, Slade, threatened to expose the company as a fraud in an effort to protect his sister, Kate took him on as a client, ready to prove the agency’s validity.
She did. And they fell in love with each other in the process, and were now engaged to be married. Now that his sister was also happy, it only made the upcoming wedding that much sweeter. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Kate, the main owner and founder of Kinnections, possessed a special “touch” that allowed her to sense when a true soul connection existed between two people—her unique ability had allowed her to truly believe that Slade was the right one and had helped to set up Jane and Tim as well.
Ken paused in the middle of the hug. “Can we use this in our advertising? It’s brilliant. Brother and sister matched by Kinnections—double wedding. Get your match on!”
Kate and Arilyn looked at her. Then shook their heads. “No way. This celebration is private,” Kate said. “Of course, it’ll go into the statistics, which means two more weddings. We’re coming close to stellar numbers now, so that should make you happy.”
Ken stuck out her bottom lip. The pout always worked with men. They told her it was sexy and irresistible. “I won’t use names. We’d be missing out on a fortune and the chance to blow that ridiculous Bravo show away. Who needs a millionaire when you can find love with the boy next door?”
Arilyn gave a delicate snort. “Not gonna happen. And you may need another move. The sulky-lip thing is way overdone. Maybe bite it? That’s in all the erotic romance novels.”
Ken rolled her eyes. “I’m not a cliché, A, and it hasn’t failed me yet. Oh, fine, forget the advertising. I’m still thrilled for you and Jane.”
Kate grinned. “Girls’ night out? Mugs?”
“Absolutely. How about Friday night? Tear Genevieve away from her man, and we’ll make it a celebration. I can’t believe we have three engagements in our group.” An odd emotion clawed at her gut, but she smothered it. She wasn’t interested in marriage anyway. She bored quickly, and as far as she could tell, no man would be able to tie her down. But her friends deserved every ounce of happiness, and damned if she wasn’t going to support them.
“Done.” Kate took in Kennedy’s no-nonsense black Chanel suit. “Do you have a client?”
A twinge of excitement coursed through her. “Yes, he should be here soon. This one’s a true challenge. I’m taking him on.”
Kate cocked her head. “Hmm, you haven’t worked with a new client in a while, especially a male. Is he hot?”
She grinned. “Nope. He’s a wreck. Isn’t it great?”
Arilyn sighed. She was the resident counselor and computer programmer for Kinnections. “I’ll clear my schedule.”
“I’m going to recruit all of you for this one.”
“What’s he like?”
Kennedy almost bounced up and down with sheer excitement. “Three words. My. Fair. Lady.”
Kate gasped. “No way!”
Even Arilyn looked a bit buzzed instead of meditative. “How bad? Like guttersnipe bad?”
“Yes. Picture this. Nerd heaven. Big bulky glasses. Shaggy dog hair. Walmart clothes. And orange skin from a botched self-tanner.”
Kate seemed to calculate the items on the list with glee. “Appearance only?”
“Much worse. He told Bernadette at the speed-dating event that she was nearing thirty and her eggs were getting old. Then asked her on a date.”
Arilyn winced. “Poor Bernadette. Did she cry?”
“Almost, but I saved the whole thing. Took Mr. Geek to the diner to whip his ass, then discovered he had no clue what was going on. He wants to find a wife and has no idea how to do it. I absolutely had to have him.”
“What are you going to do first?” Kate asked. “Hair, right? A good haircut fixes everything.”
Arilyn shook her head. “Can’t do a thing if his skin is orange. Are we talking peach tinted?”
The bell on the door tinkled. They all turned and looked.
Ned stood in the doorway. He wore his lab coat, baggy tweed pants, and his trusty pocket protector. His shoes looked almost orthopedic, with a thick sole. He’d also done something strange with his hair. Instead of hanging in his face, he’d slicked back the edges with a pound of hair gel until he was sporting a kind of half-assed psycho Mohawk. She wondered if a category five hurricane could move a strand.
“Hey.” He paused, waiting for them to speak, but it took them a minute to get over the hairstyle. “I’m Ned.”
Kate broke the dead silence and launched into hostess mode. “Welcome to Kinnections, Ned. We’re so happy to have you here. I’m Kate, Kennedy’s partner.”
Arilyn shook her head and came out of her trance. “I’m Arilyn; I do the therapy and computer programming. It’s nice to meet you.”
His hand went to check on his hair, which of course hadn’t budged an inch. “Thanks.”
Kennedy cleared her throat. “New hairstyle?”
He gave a half grin. “Yeah, you said it looked disheveled, so I figured I’d neaten it up. Do you like it?”
She shared a look with her friends. “No. But we’ll fix it.”
Kate kept a smile pasted on her face and whispered under her breath. “The hair should be first.”
Arilyn leaned into the tight circle. “Are you kidding me? He’s completely orange. You have to take him to Ming.”
Kate shuddered. “God, are you sure? Is he that far gone? He may never come back if we sic Ming on him.”