Page 98 of The Accidental Dating Experiment
I run my finger along the house charm, feeling the full weight of its meaning as Monroe drapes an arm around me and squeezes possessively. “I know and I will. I promise.”
Vikas wiggles his eyebrows my way. “Like I said, yesss and please and sir.”
That night as we dance under the Darling Springs stars,I can see our future clearly. It feels like today, and tomorrow, and the next day.
Monroe
A few weeks later, when we’re back in the city, I get up early on a Sunday, the sun streaking through the bedroom window. Juliet’s sound asleep, looking peaceful and happy. Even in her sleep. That’s how she’s appeared lately, and I’m damn glad I put that look on her beautiful face. Once I’m ready, I give her a soft kiss, then turn to leave.
She grabs my wrist and blinks her eyes open. “Hey.”
“Didn’t realize you were up,” I say.
“I’m not but I need you to find out something when you play golf today with Wilder Blaine.”
He’s the owner of both a football team and the golf course in the city where I like to hit the links. Sometimes he’s my golf partner, like this morning. “Okay. What are you angling for?”
She smiles. “I had this feeling he was into Fable.”
I roll my eyes. “Juliet.”
She sighs, like she’s exasperated with me. “I’m a matchmaker. I can’t help it.”
“I promise nothing,” I say.
But when I arrive I know I’ll do everything I can to find out — for her. Love just has that effect on you.
And a funny thing happens when I play a round with the dark-haired, sarcastic, inked billionaire who owns the joint. I ask him a few questions about work, and before I know it, he’s mentioned how brilliant the team’s head designer is. How talented. “She’s fantastic. I’m so lucky to have Fable Calloway working with me,” he says.
The way he says her name makes me think Juliet is right.
When I return home I tell her everything, finishing with, “And I didn’t even have to ask.”
Her eyes pop and she throws her arms around me. “You’re brilliant. And I just have a feeling.”
I have a feeling too. As I nuzzle my face into her chestnut locks, I have a feeling I’m going to be happy for the rest of my life.
EPILOGUE: SOME KIND OF FULL CIRCLE
Juliet
Next Year
“Now, listen. You better have fun exploring the Galápagos,” I tell Eleanor, who called into Heartbreakers and Matchmakers to celebrate the first anniversary of her honeymoon.
“Don’t you worry. I am always having fun,” our biggest fan tells us. “We have a snorkel lesson in an hour.”
It’s been almost a year since she gifted us that house. But really, she gifted us an opportunity to come together in ways I don’t think either of us could have anticipated when we drove to Darling Springs that Sunday nearly twelve months ago.
We’re in the studio for another episode of our show, which has grown tremendously since then. Sadie’s in the booth with us today as always. She’s become our full-time producer, and she’s helped us as we’ve inked partnerships with dating coaches and experts, collaborated with Date Night, and interviewed romance experts from around the world on global dating trends. I even expanded into that line of champagne like I’d planned, thanks to my friend Aubrey. It’s a fun tie-in to my breakup parties, which have grown too. Some of my clients want more therapeutic parties, so I’ve paired up with a shrink—not Monroe, but a woman I know—to offer those fetes to my party repertoire.
So much of the podcast’s success, though, is due to Eleanor. She’s a fairy godmother of sorts. “Before you go, I’ve always been meaning to ask you a question,” I say.
“Of course darling,” she says.
“It’s something we’ve been debating over the last year,” Monroe puts in.
“Is this going to be another bet?” Eleanor asks. “Because I do love your bets.”