Page 72 of Love & Heart Braking

“I guess so,” the man said. “It’s just crazy to think that this could be happening. And if two or three of the twelve are doing this, then they must all be doing illegal stuff. I just can’t understand why.”

I could. They were greedy bastards. “Strange times, I know. Hey, listen. Are you single?”

He very abruptly looked at me in an apprising way.

Devereaux might have something to say about that look. “I have a friend, and I think you’d be right up her alley.”

He pursed his lips. “What’s she like?”

I couldn’t just waltz back into Yearning Hearts with him. Mesmeralda may not like what she saw, and that would put her on the spot. “She is a client of mine—at Yearning Hearts—and a charity.”

He’d closed down at the mention of the dating agency, but a new light sparked in his eyes at her type. “A charity?”

“Yep. I know it’s strange for me to just come up and ask, but I’m a cupid and I have a really good feeling about a match between the two of you. If I grabbed your number, would you mind if I called and took you through our questionnaire over the phone? We have to do that before presenting her with a match. I just know you two are meant to be.”

“You do? How?”

I winked. “Trade secret.”

The guy considered me for a leaden beat, then grinned. “Heck, why not? It’s good to be spontaneous every now and again.”

Uh-huh. And her being a charity hadn’t convinced him whatsoever.

He jotted the number on a corner of the newspaper, then tore it off, handing it to me.

I beamed at him. “Thanks. I’ll be in touch.”

“Consider me curious.”

Hurrying back to Yearning Hearts, I barged in on Austin trying to smooth things over with Mesmeralda. The phoenix had only been back for a day when I was sleeping off Vera’s loosening, and after a sound threatening by Soleil. No one was more surprised than I that she’d accepted his help. Living with him must be convincing her that he was truly sorry.

“I apologize,” I panted.

The charity glared. “Is that how you treat your clients?”

Yeah, yeah. “Your match was close by.”

Her glare dropped, and she sank back into her seat. Austin cast me a look of relief and retreated to his desk beside Sol’s empty one. She was training the Pick Up staff today.

The charity’s face worked. “You felt him walk past?”

I wasn’t sure how much I wanted her to know about this newest Venus gift. The threads were still flying through the room, visible out the window too. Now I had an inkling of what they were for, I could see that each thread was attached to a person. Multiple threads came out of everyone. They only had one pink thread, the others were shades of purple, and some were white. The thickness of the threads seemed to vary too.

Yet another thing to figure out along with the ancient arrow in my wardrobe.

I dragged my focus from the surrounding waving ribbons. “I got his number for you. But I’d like to go through our questionnaire with him first and get him into our system. That way I can ensure he’s an epic match.”

The charity blinked. “S-Sure. That’s fine by me.” She glanced over her shoulder. “How did you feel that though?”

My mysterious wink was always at the ready. I used it again. “Trade secret. Don’t tell anyone?”

She flashed me a conspiratorial grin.

She’d tell everyone. “I’d like for you to speak with Austin about our service for now, and I’ll get in touch with—” I checked the name. “—Methvin as soon as possible and one of our team will be in touch.”

The awed charity walked to Austin’s desk.

She wasn’t alone in that awe.

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