Take a Chance on Me (2 page)

“It’s not me who’s done the matching. I signed you
up at Perfect
Pairingi
.”

Mitchell pulled the phone away from his ear,
looked at it and knitted his eyebrows together. The real Ryan
Farraday
must have been abducted by aliens, because who the
hell was this guy? Ryan just wouldn’t pull this sort of crap, especially on a
family member.

“So you’re telling me you’ve signed me up for an
escort service?”

 
“No, no, absolutely not.
It’s not like that at all. I was
listening to a show…well, Julie listens to this radio sex show, and the host
was interviewing this lady named Sadie Sutton who runs a matchmaking service.”

“I’m not thinking of dating or being matched
right now.”

“Will you just hear me out? She said she’s had
great success with pairing up couples who are perfect for one another, but the
likelihood of them finding each other is zilch, so she brings them together.”

“I can find my own dates…when I’m ready.”

“I’m sure you can, but I thought if I signed you
up you might get your confidence back in a safe environment.”

Mitchell took a deep breath. He had other things
to think about now besides women, dating and sex. And just what the hell had
his brother meant by “safe” environment?

“You know I’ve never liked going on dates with
women that someone else has picked for me, especially some matchmaking service.
I mean, what if she’s a psychopath or something?”

“I looked into that for you. I’ve got your best
interest at heart, and believe
me,
this lady does an
in-depth check on everyone. You’ve already been screened thoroughly.”

Shit, he’d been what?
Without
his permission?

 
“Look,
Ryan, I don’t care if the woman’s been screened by the FBI or Homeland
Security. I don’t do this sort of thing, and shame on you for thinking I’d say
yes.”

“Too late, because I’ve
already paid for it and it’s non-refundable.
And
what I haven’t told you is
,
the service comes with
limo to a hotel, where you’ll spend the night getting to know your dream
girl.
 
Just think of it as your welcome
home gift from me.”

“Don’t think I don’t appreciate it, but the
answer is still no.”

 
“You’re
not getting off this easy,” continued Ryan.
 
“When’s the last time you had sex?”

They’d shared all sorts of secrets, but Mitchell
didn’t feel comfortable answering for one simple reason. He hadn’t had sex
since…

He squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to go
there. No, he wouldn’t go there again. Truth was the last time he’d made love
was when Debbie had seen his leg for the first time and abruptly called off
their engagement.

“It’s been a while.”

He’d leave it at that.

“Define a while.”

“You know, little brother, you’ve become a major
pain in
the you
-know-what since I’ve been gone. I
think we need to sit down and have a good talk.”

Ryan laughed.
 
“It’s been more than six months, hasn’t it?”

“If you don’t quit this third-degree shit, I’m
putting the phone down.”

“It’s when you and Debbie…”

“That’s
enough
.”

Mitchell scooted down the bed. He hadn’t meant
to shout at his brother, but right now all he really wanted to do was hang up.
However, he enjoyed hearing Ryan’s voice. It felt so good to be less than an
hour’s drive from the only family member he had left.

“Wouldn’t you prefer having sex with a woman
rather than resorting to self-satisfaction?” Ryan pressed.

“Who says I jerk off?”

“Mitchell, you’re a guy and it’s perfectly
normal.”

Mitchell glanced at his face in the mirror.
Shit, he’d turned deeper red than a beet.

Okay, it was true he had been pleasuring himself
more than normal since he’d been
back
home. He’d just
put it down to nerves and the frustration of adjusting to civilian life again.
However, resorting to daily masturbation wasn’t a valid enough reason to sign
up with a matchmaking service.

If he was supposed to meet another woman, fate
would step in, not his brother and this crazy
sounding
matchmaking service. But, knowing Ryan like he did, he knew he wouldn’t let the
subject die. Mitchell might as well agree to it and get the night over and done
with, matter closed. He’d just have to make sure it would be on his terms.

“Okay, you win. I’ll go meet this perfectly
screened woman, but I can assure you I won’t like her. And if you think I’m
having sex with her, well, you’ll wait a long time to hear I’ve done that.”

Chapter Two

Rachel put both palms over her crotch and
pressed down, hoping that would take the edge off the burning sensation flowing
through her groin. Crap, it had hurt like hell. And she’d been through five
operations, so it wasn’t as if she had a low pain tolerance. The beautician
slapped her hands away and air suddenly hit the rawness of her skin.

“I haven’t finished with you yet,” the woman
said.

“Oh, I think you’re done.” Rachel tried to get
off the table but was pushed her back down and had more hot wax on her bikini
area before she could protest again.

“Ouch––shit, it’s getting worse. And that stuff
is really scalding hot,” Rachel agonized as the girl ripped away even more
hair.

Her mother chose that moment to step into the
room.

“I can hear you squealing and complaining all
the way down the hall.”

“This is one of the most painful things I’ve
ever gone through.”

“You won’t say that after you’ve had a baby,”
said her mother.

“Am I done here?” asked Rachel, attempting to
get up again.

“Just two more sections,” said the beautician.

This time around, Rachel braced herself by
gripping the sheet she was lying on. When she looked up most of what was left
of her pubic hair clung to the white muslin strip in the beautician’s hand.

“I still think you should get a Brazilian. Men
like the bare look.
Makes you more accessible for their
fingers to do the walking.
And they can see exactly where to head.”

Rachel closed her eyes. She loved her mother,
but as a well-known sex therapist, who had her own radio show, she didn’t hold
anything back when it came to love, sex, orgasms, sex toys, you name it. She
never seemed to mind talking about those topics in public or with complete
strangers. Rachel, however, did.

She slumped back on the table and gave in to the
inevitable. When it came to love, her mother always had the last say. Just how
did her mother always seem to win? First she’d signed Rachel up with a
matchmaking service to celebrate her turning the big 3-0. Next, she’d booked
her into full services at the spa, bikini wax included, so she looked perfect
for the man in question.

“Ouch,” said Rachel as the girl pulled the hair
closest to her thigh.

“All done,” said the girl, picking up the bowl
of wax.

What a relief.

Rachel sat up and swung her legs around, placing
her feet on the floor. Next up was her manicure and pedicure. At least no pain
was involved. Well, hopefully she wouldn’t endure more torture.

“I think you should get your eyebrows plucked
too while you’re here,” said her mother.

“No, absolutely not.
I can do that myself,” said Rachel.

“Isn’t this exciting? Soon you’ll be heading to
the hotel to meet this mystery man.”

“I still don’t think I can go through with
this,” said Rachel.

She stood and wrapped the white toweling robe
tightly around her.

“Nonsense, it’s my birthday gift to you. And you
see if I’m not right about this being a big confidence booster for you. Not all
men are like Jon. And I have a feeling this one will want to see you again
after your evening together.”

Jon…she didn’t want to think about him. She
thought he’d been different. Rachel had pegged him as empathetic and an
all-around nice guy, but he’d left her stranded in that hotel room, and––

She didn’t want to relieve the awful moment: the
look of horror on his face when he’d started to undress her. And she certainly
didn’t want to think about dating again, because obviously she wasn’t supposed
to ever find Mr. Right.

Her mother was still talking, but Rachel had
tuned out.

“And believe me, should things progress, as I
think they will, there’s nothing quite like having sex with a complete stranger
to bring about an off-the-charts orgasm.”

The beautician dropped the bowl of wax she’d
been carrying. A big gooey mess now sat in the middle of the ceramic tiles.
Lucky Rachel didn’t have to scrape that up and wash the floor.

Rachel glanced in the mirror. Her face was now
scarlet and not because of any facial she’d been given.
 

She should be used to it by now, but knew she
somehow never would be. For her eighteenth birthday, her mother had bought
Rachel a stack of sex books, showing everything you needed to know about being
pleasured and also pleasuring a man. For her twenty-fifth as she was still
single, her mother’s gift had been a vibrator she’d helped design with a sex
advice Web site.

A month ago, her mother had interviewed a lady
named Sadie Sutton who ran a matchmaking service, and been so impressed that
she’d immediately signed Rachel up.

“Maybe you should get your nipples plucked, just
in case. There’s nothing worse than a guy getting hair in his mouth.”

That was it. Her mother had said and done
enough.
At least for today.

She was getting out of this place. And as for
this blind date…well, this would be the first time her mother wouldn’t come out
a winner.
 
Rachel stood.

“I don’t want to seem ungrateful, so I will go
along with this lavish matchmaking scheme because you’ve already paid and it’s
for my birthday. However, I can assure you that even if this guy looks like
George Clooney, I’m not interested in dating him and I’m definitely not having
sex with him.”

Chapter Three

Mitchell paced up and down in his driveway,
looking at his watch. If being in the Army had taught him one thing, it was:
always be punctual. After all, you couldn’t be late for a battle, could you?
What had happened to the good old days when people were punctual? Even if they
weren’t, they had the decency to call to let you know they were on their way…

 
The limo
driver was at this very moment seventeen minutes and twenty six seconds late.
Maybe he shouldn’t be angry. Maybe this was a sign that he shouldn’t be going
to the hotel to meet with this stranger. Yeah, that’s what it was, an omen
telling him to go back into the house. Open a beer, sit in front of the TV and
watch a good movie. He’d tell Ryan he went along, thought she was okay but
nothing special. Oh, and he’d even throw in that they’d had sex and he’d
enjoyed the orgasm of a lifetime. That should keep his brother quiet for a
while.

He turned around, digging out the key from his
pants pocket, and was just about to slip it into the lock when a car horn
sounded behind him. Mitchell glanced over his shoulder. Damn, too late––the
limo had finally arrived.

The driver got out and held the back door open
for him.

“So sorry I’m late, sir. Traffic was backed up
on the freeway. Had I known, I would have left earlier.”

“No problem.”

Mitchell slid into the back seat and placed his overnight bag beside
him. The driver closed the door swiftly, shutting out the last of the day’s
sunlight. Besides the few twinkling lights on the floor and top of the car,
Mitchell now sat in almost total darkness. He had to admit it was relaxing.

The limo pulled out of his driveway. So this was
how the rich and famous travelled every day. And this was all part of the
matchmaking service? He could get used to this sort of pampering. Mitchell
unzipped his bag, seeing the packet of Trojans his brother had thrown in there
when he’d stopped by to wish him luck.

“I told you I’m not having sex with her,” said
Mitchell.

“I’m betting once you see her you’ll change your
mind, so you’ll definitely be needing protection.”

Mitchell rested his head back and laughed.

Persistent
little devil.

Ryan had been so, ever since he was a kid.
However, Mitchell would get the last laugh because what his brother didn’t know
was he’d packed a game of Scrabble and a pack of cards to pass the time. No
matter what this stranger tried to do to entice him into having sex––hell, even
if she paraded her pussy around in front of him, he wasn’t going for it. She’d
play poker and like it, or she could just go home, leaving him to sleep the
night away alone.