Someone Like You (2 page)

The
salesperson had told her it would run on page four which was a great spot
because that’s where they placed their gardening advice column.

Without
perusing the rest of the paper, she turned straight to page four, but the ad
she saw wasn’t hers. This one was for a matchmaking service that had just
opened in
Idaho Falls
called Perfect Pairing. It contained a coupon for a free membership.

Something
wasn’t right here. Hers must have been bumped to another page. She flicked
through it, scanning each ad and article on every single page, but none was for
Thompson Landscapes.

Can’t people get anything right these days?

Gen looked at
her watch. The newspaper office wouldn’t be open for another thirty minutes.
When they did, she’d give them a piece of her mind because she’d paid $100 for
that ad.

The oatmeal
was just about to boil over, but she caught it in time. She turned off the heat
when a rustling noise caught her attention. It was the newspaper. There was no
wind, no draft, but it was opening all by itself. She walked over to it. It had
opened to page four. The Perfect Pairing ad glared back at her again.

Okay, you want to rub it in some more that your
ad’s been placed in the prime spot instead of mine. Okay, okay, I get it,
she thought,
looking up in the air.
I so totally get
it.

****

Sadie ran her
index finger around the globe on her desk. Gen Thompson hopefully had the sudden
urge to use the coupon because she had Jake Harris waiting for her. Yes, she
might have to do a little more hocus pocus in his house to convince him to use
the gift certificate, but these two potential lovebirds would soon be coming
together.

Chapter Two

“Ms. Thompson,
I’m telling you for the third time that it was your ad that ran on page four of
our paper this morning. I’m looking at it as we speak.”

“I’m also
looking at page four, and it’s an ad for a matching service with a coupon for a
free membership.”

She glanced
toward the hall and saw Nicky picking up his backpack from the chair by the
front door.

“Have a good
day,” she said.

He gave a
half-hearted wave and was out the door in seconds.

“What was
that you said?”

“Sorry, I was
just saying goodbye to my son.”

“What was the
name of the matchmaking service? Maybe they’re one of our other clients.”

“It’s Perfect
Pairing,” said Gen, fingering the ad.

Sounds romantic if
nothing else.

She glanced
out of the window as she heard the rep typing on her keyboard.

The newlyweds
across the street were leaving for the day. She was standing on tip-toe and
kissing him goodbye. He was pinching and slapping her butt.

Gen took a
deep breath. How she wished she had someone to do that to her. Not just the
kissing bit, but giving her a playful pinch on her bottom too. She sat down,
trying to block out the image of the happy pair AKA her neighbors.

“Ms.
Thompson, no, Perfect Pairing isn’t and never has been an ad client of ours. I
just don’t know what to tell you. Maybe if you’re passing by the offices you
can bring it in to show me. We’d be happy to give you a refund if that’s what
you want. However, I can assure you all the papers here have your ad in them.
In fact, if you go online you’ll see it.”

“Okay, I
will, and thank you for your time.”

Putting the
phone down, Gen stood up, grabbed the paper, and walked to her home office.
After sitting, she clicked on the Internet icon, and waited to get on line. Once
done typing in the newspaper’s URL, the website flashed up on the screen. She
scanned through the ads and saw hers, as the rep had assured her, on page four.
Gen glanced at the paper that sat next to her monitor. If this wasn’t the
weirdest thing she’d ever seen.

Maybe it was
a one of a kind. Maybe she should hang on to it just in case it became a
collector’s item. Perhaps it would even pay for Nicky’s college education.

Yeah, in your dreams.

She jumped
when she heard the phone ringing.

“Hello.
Thompson Landscapes.”

“Good
morning, I saw your ad and wondered if you could drop by and give me an
estimate for some work I need done.”

“Absolutely.
I have an
opening this morning if you’d like to give me an address.”

Gen scribbled
it down on her notepad and then put the phone down.

Looked
like the ad was already paying off.

****

Jake could
have sworn he’d put that gift certificate in the garbage can in the kitchen. So
how come it was now pinned to the notice board by the fridge?

He lived
alone, didn’t have a cleaning lady, no one had come into the house, well, not
that he was aware of. Was he going crazy? Had he been doing things without
knowing it?

He leaned up
against the wall. Didn’t they say if you spent too much time by yourself you
eventually went crazy?

Maybe he had
pinned it there. But that meant…it meant he was thinking about accepting and
using the gift.

Walking to
the fridge, he shook his head. He should think about getting a dog. After all,
he trained bomb stiffing dogs in the Army. It would offer him companionship and
something to do everyday when they went for a walk. He took a deep breath. But
what would happen to it when he went out to work all day?

Work.

I haven’t thought about what I want to do with
the rest of my life.
Before he’d enlisted in the Army, he’d worked in
sales for a security company. They’d probably have an opening for him, but
doing the same job as he’d been doing while he’d been married to Katie would
probably stir up more sad emotions. A new venture was what he needed.

He opened up
the fridge, looking at the sparse contents. He’d never been much of a grocery
shopper, which was obvious by the meager offerings on hand. Jake pulled out a
loaf of bread, a jar of mayonnaise, and some cold cuts. He made himself a
sandwich and went into the living room to eat it.

He glanced up
at Katie’s photo.

 
I know, I
know, you never liked me eating in here since I spilled the spaghetti sauce on
the new carpet. But I can’t stand sitting all alone and eating by myself at the
table, okay?

Had she
winked at him?

Jake picked
up the remote control and flicked through the channels until he found a movie.
When you were all by yourself, why did every one you stumble upon have to be
about people falling in love, and yes, let’s not forget having sex too?

The couple
was getting hot and heavy. If he was truthful, he missed getting physical with
someone. He’d hated hearing about the antics of the guys who had been home on
leave and then come back and bragged that when they’d reconnected with their
wives or girlfriends it had been the best fuck of their lives. Nothing like a
few months absence from home to get your cock super excited had been every
guy’s mantra.

He tried to
change channels, but the batteries must have been dying on the remote because
it wouldn’t budge. He was too lazy to get up and switch channels on the
console, so he suffered through the couple experiencing one rip-roaring orgasm
after another. What he wouldn’t give to enjoy one of those again.

Jake glanced
at Katie’s photo. There covering her face sat the gift certificate.

He rubbed his
eyes and shook his head. Just what the hell was going on in his house?

There was no
wind, no draft, he didn’t have the air conditioning on, or the window open, yet
the certificate flew from the photo frame and hit him smack in middle of his
chest.

He peeled it
off his shirt and studied it.

What if he
used it to find a woman who’d be willing to get together for just sex? Could he
request that? Would that appear shallow? He wouldn’t be dishonoring Katie’s
memory because the woman would never get his heart, just the use of his body for
some mutual pleasure.

He looked up
at Katie’s photo, positive he’d seen her nod and wink.

Jake reached
for the phone and punched in the numbers on the certificate.

“Good
afternoon.
Perfect Pairing.”

“Hello, can I
speak with Sadie Sutton?”

“One minute
while I put you through to her office.”

Chapter Three

Gen had grown
up here. She knew the place like the back of her hand. Or so she’d thought.
Today she was lost. The address the person on the phone had given her couldn’t
be in
Idaho Falls
.

She pulled over
and took a sip of the coffee she’d bought ten minutes ago when, for the fifth
time, she’d driven by the local hangout for caffeine addicts, hoping to locate
the address of her 10 a.m. appointment.

Was life out
to get her today or what? What with Nicky acting out, the strange ad, and now
not being able to find the location of what could be a big landscaping job.

Always ask them what town or city they’re
located in.

She heard her
father’s words ringing in her head. Thompson Landscapes had been her parents’
business before it had been hers. Now her dad was gone, and her mother not that
interested in running it without him, so she’d taken over.

Gen leaned
back, thinking about the matchmaking service. She’d cut out the ad and coupon
and placed it in her purse. Why? She had no idea. She dug it out and studied it
again.

While she’d
love to find a great guy to settle down with, she knew the chances of finding
one who’d want to take on someone with a son were slim at best. And now with
Nicky acting like the devil incarnate, the prospects looked even bleaker.

Truth was she
missed the physical side that relationships offered. There was only so much you
could do with a vibrator. Some nights she woke up not only longing to find a
man lying beside her, but a dick deep inside her, pounding away and making her
toes curl upward.

She figured
the coupon. Would it be disgusting of her if she used the free membership to
find a guy who might be interested in only having sex? No expectations from
either of them, and no broken hearts if it didn’t work out. No worry that she’d
fall for a guy who couldn’t handle Nicky.

Gen looked at
the address.

Shit, why
hadn’t she noticed it before? The address she’d been given was right near the
matchmaking company’s office.

Maybe it was
Kismet, fate, whatever, but she was going to visit the office, sign up, and
hopefully be paired with a guy who would rock not only her world, but her body
too.

****

He’d done it.
He couldn’t believe he had. He’d used Mitchell’s gift and signed up with
Perfect Pairing. He sat on the bed not believing he’d had the nerve to say that
for now he was only interested in a physical relationship and nothing more
because he was still madly in love with his late wife.

Sadie Sutton
had been more than understanding of his needs and had put him at total ease.
She’d laid her hand on his arm. The strangest thing was it had made him feel
relaxed, euphoric almost. When she’d promised to find him the perfect woman,
he’d believed her.

He lay down
flat on the bed, wondering how long it would take to match him with someone.
And when she found a woman for him, he’d insist on having sex at her place, not
here. He’d never, ever invite a woman to have sex in Katie’s home. Hell, he’d
never invite another woman into the house, period.

Sex…
condoms,
he’d need to buy a box of those. He hadn’t needed
to in years. Well not since he and Katie had gotten serious and committed
totally to one another, and she began taking the pill.

****

“I know
you’re going to think this awful of me and maybe you feel I need an escort
service more than a matchmaking one. But it’s been so long since I’ve had sex.
I mean it’s hard when you’re a single parent and…”

Gen realized
she was rambling as she always did when she was nervous.

Sadie put her
hand on her forearm and suddenly Gen felt relaxed, like a world of worries had
been lifted from her aching shoulders.

“There’s no
need to explain. I’m a woman, and I know exactly what you’re talking about.”

“You do. Oh
thank goodness for that.”

“Absolutely,
and in fact, I have a client who just signed up and is also looking more for
the physical aspects of a partnership. He’s a widower and recently returned
from active service in the Army.”