Page 8 of Romance Reset
“I am,” Izzy said, shrugging. “It’s Friday night, I have no plans,andI just got a very healthy commission from the painting I dropped off earlier. I’m due some really good seafood. I could come with. We ride there, split up once we get there, I sit at the bar and have a nice meal while flirting with the bartender, and you do your thing meeting your date. I could use a dinner out, trust me. Doritos can only so many meals make.”
“You’d do that?”
“And get to see one of Marsali’s wonderful men from afar? Absolutely. I want to know if you’re being too critical, and this is the only way I’ll be able to judge.”
“I don’t know, Iz.”
“Hey, just an offer. I’d keep my distance unless I see you head to the ladies’ room. Otherwise I’ll eat, drink, and flirt, and head out to the car after you send a text that the date is over. Or you could be nice and pick me up at the door. You’ll never hear a peep from me, but I’ll keep a discreet eye on you. Sound like a plan?”
“Yeah, it does, actually.” Amelia hesitated at the thought of taking someone else on her date but gave in to the lure of security. A girl couldn’t be too careful these days. And a background check wouldn’t necessarily vet out crazy. Had they done this the first time, maybe Amelia wouldn’t have been so nervous? Why were these setups so… difficult?Maybe because you didn’t instigate them?But it would make her feel good to have a friend nearby. “Fine. I guess that means you’re my incognito plus one.”
“Yay! I need five minutes,” Izzy said, grabbing her large purse. “Oh, and to raid your closet. Hey, if I’m going to sit at the bar, I might as well look good. Maybe I’ll find a lonely Mr. Right.”
“Maybe you should’ve hired Marsali to matchyouinstead ofme,” Amelia said, her tone grumbling while Izzy proceeded to strip.
Amelia vacated the bathroom and pulled on the clothes she’d picked out earlier before taking Izzy’s place on the bed. Izzy might be an artist and free spirit in some ways, but in others she was always prepared. That magical bag of hers held everything from makeup and sketchpads to a bikini and all the odds and bits Izzy might need to hop a flight or solve whatever problem might come up. Izzy had amazed at times, from producing whatever was needed for a wardrobe malfunction or a bad hair day to being passport ready on a whim.
“Oh, no,” Izzy said, bringing Amelia’s attention back to the present. “This is alllll you. I’m not the one Googling sperm banks. But just think, you still have four whole weeks left if you change your mind about your three-matchup rule. You know Marsali wants to help you, and she’d be happy to continue matching you until you find the one.”
“You mean the one I don’t believe actually exists?” Amelia pulled a throw pillow from the bed to hug and dug her toes into the carpet beneath her feet.
“Really? Are we going back to that again?” Izzy asked with the snap of her eye shadow palette.
Izzy turned and leaned a shoulder against the doorframe of the bathroom, her gaze so uncomfortably direct Amelia squirmed. “Why not?” Amelia said. “Izzy, that’s why picking someone out at the sperm clinic might work for me. I mean, what are the odds that there is a perfect person out there for everyone? Or the odds that I’ll actually find mine?”
“If you think of it that way, it is depressing, butI think there area lotof someones out there we would be happy with, and the key is finding one of them. Those odds are better and it takes the pressure off, right? Because we’re not searching for that perfect someone. We’re going for someone we can be happy with.”
“Isn’t that settling?” It sure sounded like settling to her. Because even if there were multiple someones out there, finding one was still an issue. After all, there was a big, wide world out there with billions of people.
But, again, what if her high school boyfriend was herone? What if she’d walked away and, in doing so, set the course to be alone her entire life? Could she bring herself to settle for something less than what she’d had in the past? Because no one had ever compared to—
“No, it’s not settling,” Izzy argued. “Happiness is just… It’s being content with what you have, including the person you’ve fallen in love with, who loves your good and bad, just like you love theirs, and focusing on making that relationship the best it can be. You work together, you’re not at odds.”
“Look at you getting all philosophical and romantic.”
“Hey, I have my moments,” Izzy said with a toss of her short hair. “All I’m saying is that we aren’t fourteen-year-olds with our heads in the clouds dreaming of romance-novel romance. We’ve both seen the real world. Lived, loved, andlearned. It’s unrealistic to think it’s gonna be sunshine and roses springing up out of the cesspit that is dating. But wecanfind love. Don’t doubt that.”
Amelia hated that Izzy made so much sense, but she couldn’t deny the truth of her bestie’s words. Itwouldbe a lot easier raising a child in a family atmosphere. Maybe she should stop being so negative toward the process and take it one date at a time? Heaven knew that would help, but it would also be so much easier if her biological clock wasn’t ticking away like a finely tuned race car whipping around the track. “Fine. I’ll try.”
“Yay. I knew I’d win. Wait, you’re wearing that?” Izzy narrowed her gaze and shook her head. “No.”
“What? What’s wrong?” Amelia asked, staring down at her clothes.
“You’re too professional. Meli, this is a date. You want to be casual. Fun and flirty,” Izzy stated, shoving herself off the wooden frame. “I’m going closet diving. Do you still have that skirt I gave you?”
“Yeah. But it’s awfully short. You should’ve kept it and had it hemmed up for you.” Izzy was about four inches shorter than Amelia’s five eight, but they were the same size otherwise.
Izzy began digging and searching.
“Ah! Here it is. Put this on,” Izzy said, shoving it at Amelia.
Amelia eyed the patterned beach-themed skirt and sighed. “I’m not going to win with this, either, am I?”
“Nope,” Izzy said, her voice muffled by the closet as she dug for a blouse.
Amelia unzipped and shrugged out of the palazzo pants she had on and carefully laid them across the bed before pulling on the skirt. Thanks to the height difference, it landed a hair above mid-thigh. “Are you sure it’s not too short?”
A blouse hit her chest and Amelia scrambled to catch it before it fell to the floor. Interesting. Not something she would’ve chosen to wear with the skirt, but the color combination totally worked. She’d have to remember this in the future.
