One

Harlow

Two Months Earlier

“You’re not going to believe what I did.”

Wide eyes met mine in the mirror in front of me. There was a bubbling up of excitement happening inside my body at the news I couldn’t wait to share. And as I stared at my best friend’s reflection, I could see her mind working.

When Olive failed to figure out whatever I intended to reveal, she asked, “Is it bad?”

“What would make you think it’s bad?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, Harlow. I’m a bit terrified you’re going to tell me you mixed the wrong color and have already done my whole head with it.”

I smiled at her.

Olive had trusted me to cut her hair for her when we were in high school. I’d always had a natural talent for it, and she believed in me all those years ago. Now that I was officially licensed and had been a professional stylist for fourteen years, I knew she was only joking about being concerned I’d messed up the color for her hair. “Your hair is fine. There’s nothing to worry about. And the news I’ve got to share is good. Shocking, but good.”

She raised a curious brow. “Shocking? You? I’m not sure we have the same definition of that word.”

Olive made a fair point. I wasn’t exactly a daredevil. In fact, the way I’d lived my life had proven to be the opposite of bold. I’d never done anything that could have been considered extreme; I hadn’t so much as gotten a speeding or parking ticket in my life. I got up every day, came to my salon, and took care of my clients before going home each night. Sure, I had the occasional lunch or dinner out with my best friend. Sometimes, we took shopping trips together. And I visited with my family on all holidays and at random times throughout the year.

I loved my life.

Truly, I did.

But there was one part of it that was lacking, one part I could no longer ignore at the age of thirty-two. Time was passing me by, and all the other thoughts or daydreams I’d had about how my life would turn out would never come to pass if I didn’t do something about it.

So, I decided to take some action and do something crazy.

I nervously bit my lip, an indication to Olive just how excited I was. She couldn’t stand the wait and ordered, “Tell me what you did.”

Before I chickened out, I blurted, “I joined a dating app two weeks ago.”

Her mouth fell open, and she gasped, “What?”

Nodding to confirm she had heard me correctly, I added, “I’ve got my first date this Friday.”

Olive spun around in her seat, so she could look directly at me. She must have thought she was seeing and hearing things by communicating with me through the mirror and needed to be certain she wasn’t mistaken. “Are you joking?”

I had to imagine hearing this was for Olive the way it would have been for me if I’d gotten a phone call from her telling me that she’d been arrested. This wasn’t the kind of thing I did. It was so far out of character for me, so I could appreciate the shock she was feeling over it.

I looked down at her and shook my head. “No. I’m dead serious.”

For several long moments, her eyes searched my face. I had a feeling she was trying to figure out if I was telling the truth. I chose to remain quiet and give her that time. Once it became clear to her that I wasn’t making any of this up, she asked, “What’s his name?”

I grinned and jerked my head toward the back of the salon. “Let’s go get this color washed out, and I’ll tell you what I know about him.”

Olive stood and followed me to the back of the salon. As soon as I got started on her hair again, I shared, “His name is Rob, and he’s thirty-four years old. He lives here in Steel Ridge, and he’s in the automotive industry. Assuming he uploaded a real photo, he’s kind of cute, too.”

“This is so exciting,” Olive bubbled. “What else? Do you know anything about what he likes to do?”

“Well, he enjoys craft beer, a good football game, and home-cooked meals. He’s not a fan of sushi, smoking, or pop music.”

“Hmm. Well, I have to disagree with him on the sushi and the music, but that’s not necessarily a deal breaker, right?”

I laughed. “Even though I’m not one for sushi, those were my thoughts about the music.”

As I started rinsing the shampoo from her hair, my best friend said, “So, you’re going out on Friday. I assume you’re meeting him somewhere.”

“I am. We decided to keep it casual between us, so I’m going to be meeting him at The Steel Pub,” I shared. “If things go well and we decide to see each other again, we’ll plan a dinner date.”

Olive groaned. “I’m thrilled for you, Harlow. I really am. But I’m so disappointed I’m not going to be able to get all the juicy details from you until sometime early next week. I’ve got my cousin’s baby shower on Saturday, and right after it’s over, Ben’s taking me to the beach for two nights, because I’m off from work on Monday.”

I shrugged my shoulders and returned, “Okay. So, we’ll talk next week. It’s no big deal.”

“But I want to know what happened. You have to at least send me a text to let me know how it went,” she begged.

“I promise I’ll let you know by no later than Saturday afternoon,” I assured her.

Seemingly content with my promise, Olive didn’t respond. I finished washing her hair, and we returned to the chair, so I could give her a trim before drying and styling. And it was only after I’d pulled out my scissors to get that started when Olive asked, “What made you do it?”

“Do what?” I returned.

“Of all the things I could dream up to have you break out of your shell a bit, joining a dating app would not have even made it into the top ten,” she explained.

A wave of melancholy had washed over me. “I want more, Olive,” I finally confessed. “I’ve spent so much time in my life not going out or doing anything, because I’ve always been that good girl. The one who follows the rules. For so long, I had believed my guy was going to just find me. But I’m thirty-two years old now, and there’s no man in sight.”

“You don’t need a man to be happy, Harlow,” Olive noted.

I nodded. “I know. Trust me, I’m well aware I don’t need a man. It doesn’t mean that I don’t want someone, that I don’t want other things in my life. I just feel like I’m going through the motions every day. And even though I’m happy doing what I do, I still want some excitement in my life. I need a little bit of adventure. That’s mostly what I want, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t also want to experience intimacy, too.”

“In that case, I fully support you doing this. I wanted to be sure you were doing this for the right reasons.”

Smiling at her, loving that she always had my best interests at heart, I said, “I am. I’m doing this for me, because it’s what I want. With the exception of the time I spend with you outside of work, I don’t do much else. My life has been so focused on work and doing what I’m supposed to do that I haven’t made any time for fun. I can’t keep doing it. You know I love you. It’s not that. I want to experience real love in a romantic adult relationship. I want to find someone who shares similar interests and wants to experience life with me.”

Olive didn’t immediately respond. I’d been focused on what I was doing with her hair, that I hadn’t taken notice of what was happening. But when I dropped my hand holding the scissors down for just a moment to look at her, I could see why she’d grown quiet. Tears had filled my friend’s eyes as something warm stole over her expression. Once my eyes were locked on hers, she rasped, “Then I think this is the best thing for you, and I can’t wait to hear all about your date.”

I bit my lip. “I’m so excited about this date. I haven’t felt this way in so long.”

“I hope it works out just the way you want, and who knows? Maybe one day, you’ll convince Rob that pop music is great,” she joked.

I burst out laughing. “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with hoping, right?”

With that, I got back to working on Olive’s hair. And while we eventually shifted our conversation to other topics, my mind occasionally drifted back to what was about to happen in my life.

I could only hope Olive was right, and that I’d be so lucky to find the perfect guy when I made my first real attempt to put myself out there.

Only time would tell.

This was a disaster.

I was fifteen minutes into this date with Rob, and it wasn’t going anything like I had planned.

I’d arrived as scheduled, looking forward to having a good time. Only after I’d gotten here had I received a message from Rob telling me that he was running behind. I’d waited twenty minutes for him to show up.

I hadn’t wanted to start things off on the wrong foot and hold a grudge about him being late, but when he didn’t even apologize, it was difficult to be understanding.

He’d already had one strike against him, and yet, I let it go in hopes that we could still have a nice time.

So, having chosen to take this avenue in my life, I didn’t wait around for things to happen. I wanted to get to know the guy and see if there was a connection.

“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you in person,” I told him.

Nodding, Rob replied, “Yeah. Yeah, same here. I saw your picture and read your bio, and I just knew I had to take a chance. You’re gorgeous.”

My face flushed. “Thank you. Your bio mentioned you were in the automotive industry. Are you a mechanic?”

Rob shook his head. “No, I’m a used car salesman.”

The minute the words were out of his mouth, my body tensed. I didn’t have a problem with someone being a car salesman, but why wouldn’t he have listed that as his occupation in his bio? Was he being intentionally deceitful, or was I reading too much into it?

“Oh, okay. Do you have your own place, or do you work for someone?”

“I’m working for a guy right now,” he answered. “The plan is to open my own spot soon. I’ve got to find the right location first. What about you?”

Ambition. I could get behind that. “Well, I’m a hair stylist, and I’ve got my own salon here in Steel Ridge.”

“That’s cool.”

I nodded, feeling a bit unsure of how to proceed. Then I thought it was possible Rob was feeling some of the same as I was, so maybe it would be wise to attempt to put us both at ease. “I’ve got to tell you, I’m a little nervous about this.”

“This?”

“Yeah, I joined the dating app only two weeks ago, and this date is my first,” I confessed. “And it’s been a very long time since I’ve gone on any dates. I’m a bit unsure of myself.”

Rob sent me a reassuring smile. “I wouldn’t worry about it. You’re doing fantastic.”

That made me feel better. “Thank you.”

Things might have started off shaky, but maybe we were really going to turn them around.

As soon as I had that thought, though, things started to spiral downward. “Maybe I missed it on the app, or perhaps it’s not even there at all, but what exactly are you looking for?” I questioned him.

“Unlike you, I’ve been doing this dating app for a while, and it’s been great,” he shared. “I’ve met a lot of cool women.”

“How long have you been on the app?” I wondered.

“About a year.”

My eyes widened in surprised. “And you haven’t found anyone you’ve wanted to get serious with yet?”

Rob shook his head. “No. Some women don’t have the same views that I do on certain things I refuse to negotiate on, so that always sends me back to keep looking.”

If nothing else, I was intrigued. I thought it was good to be a person with strong convictions, so I couldn’t say it felt like a red flag. “What things have you not seen eye to eye with people on?”

“Fucking.”

My body went solid again, and my stomach dropped. Apparently, I was wrong about the red flag. I had to have heard him wrong. “I’m sorry?”

Rob let out a laugh. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this, Harlow. I’m looking to have a good time with someone. Yeah, I want to find a woman I want to spend my life with, but I’m not going to entertain dinners and dates with someone beyond this if she’s not interested in fucking.”

“Are you serious?”

He didn’t hesitate to confirm I hadn’t mistaken his words. “Listen, chemistry is important. Attraction is everything. There’s no denying you’re a beautiful woman, but if we don’t hit it off in the bedroom, we’re both wasting our time. I understand a lot of women want to spend time getting to know someone, and maybe you expect to be wined and dined before taking that step, but I’m not putting that much effort into this until I know we’re compatible.”

I didn’t know what to say.

Everything I thought about how this night was going to go had flown out the window. This was the worst experience I’d ever had with a guy. Had so many years of keeping to myself blinded me to how things really were?

“I… I?—”

“Look, it’s not a big deal if you’re not into it, Harlow. I’m happy to have a couple of drinks tonight, and we can go our separate ways afterward. But if you want me to do all the extra dinners and dates, I need to know there’s something worth doing that for,” Rob informed me.

I didn’t know why we should torture ourselves at all by continuing to stay here, if that was the case.

“Harlow?”

At the sound of my name being called from beside me, I looked up to see a man I didn’t recognize. “Yeah?”

The man stared at me a moment, realized I didn’t recognize him, and said, “It’s Blaze. I don’t mean to interrupt your date or anything, but I saw you here, and I’m heading out of town in two days. I’d love to catch up with you.”

I still had not a clue who this guy was. My eyes went to Rob, who I couldn’t get a read on, before they returned to Blaze. He hadn’t taken his eyes off me, but when I looked at him again, he kept his face pointed at me, allowed his eyes to slide to Rob, and jerked his head in the opposite direction.

Suddenly, it clicked. “Oh my God. Blaze, I’m so sorry. It took me a minute to connect the dots there.”

Relief seemed to sweep through him that I’d cottoned on to what he was trying to do. “Again, if you’re not able to grab a cup of coffee tonight, I understand. I just thought it would be nice to catch up before I have to head out of town.”

I nodded, a smile on my face. I looked at Rob and said, “I don’t think this would have worked out well between us.”

He shook his head and held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, it’s better for both of us if we figure that out now.”

“I agree.”

With that, I grabbed my purse, stood, and turned my attention to Blaze. “All set?”

I nodded.

He swept his hand out in front of him, urged me in the opposite direction, and toward the front door. Once we were there, well out of sight of Rob, I turned to look at him. Blaze didn’t give me a chance to say anything.

“I’m sorry for that. I was sitting behind you, and I was just about to leave when I overheard what was happening at your table. It wasn’t hard to figure out you were on a first date, and that guy was a big asshole. Based on your reaction to him, I could only assume you weren’t interested in what he was offering, and while he seemed to not care that you might turn him down, I didn’t think it was worth chancing it,” he explained.

“Are you kidding me? You shouldn’t be apologizing to me. That was the worst experience of my life. I should be thanking you for stepping in, because I didn’t know what to do. How can I thank you?”

“There’s really no need for thanks. I couldn’t stand by and do nothing while that was happening,” he said.

Hearing those words only made me want to do something nice for the guy that much more. He’d done what he’d done, and he wasn’t even looking for anything in return. I didn’t know what compelled me to do it, but I reached my hand out and curled my fingers around Blaze’s arm on the outer part of his elbow. With my fingers pressing in, I begged, “Please, Blaze. Let me take you for that cup of coffee. I mean, I came out tonight hoping to have a good time, and since that’s ruined, I’d really like the opportunity to salvage the night, if you’ve got the time.”

Blaze’s eyes dropped to where my hand was gripping his arm. Horrified that I’d just touch him without being asked or invited to do so, I loosened my grip on him and was about to pull my hand away when he covered it with his. He returned his attention to me, something I couldn’t explain washing over his expression, and he said, “Okay, Harlow. We can go grab a cup of coffee across the street.”

Relief swept through me as I gave him a nod in return.

And as Blaze ushered me out of the bar, I felt a renewed sense of hope about where my night was headed.