“Is that so?” Dillon grinned. “Then I might just do that. I know some fences that need mending.”
“That’s not what I meant. Take some time off. Go see a movie, take a lady out to dinner, go enjoy a day at the lake. Destress.”
Dillon frowned. “You’re the second person in less than twenty-four hours who has urged me to destress.”
“Seriously, you need to. You’re wound tight.” Pat’s lip lifted up on one corner. “My wife’s been teaching me yoga. We do it in the evening. It helps me shake off the tension.”
Dillon looked at his foreman, seeing him as if for the first time. “Yoga?”
Pat frowned. “Yes. Don’t knock it until you try it. It’s harder than you think but helps you regain balance.” Pat nodded. “Now, if you’re done with me, I think I’ll go clean up and take my wife to that home and garden show she was wanting to go to this weekend.”
After Pat left, Dillon walked around the site with a notepad and pen, with the intention of marking all the things that still needed to be fixed. He ended up shoving the pad and pen into his pocket and leaving without make a single note.
If his employees could see how stressed he’d become, he wasn’t doing a good job of hiding it. Maybe his redheaded stairwell buddy and his foreman were right. He needed to relax and take some time for himself.
It was close to noon by the time he climbed into his truck and looked down at his cellphone.
A text had come through from his BODS match, Ariana.
His heartbeat quickened as he opened his text messages and read her response.
Hideout Coffee House on Congress at 2:00?
He knew the coffee house. He’d met clients there on a number of occasions. And it wasn’t far from the BODS office.
He squared his shoulders and texted back.
See you at 2:00.
There. That should make Emma happy. And coffee was perfect. All he had to do was spend a maximum of thirty minutes sitting with a stranger he knew nothing about, except for what was in her profile, and then he could head to the ranch for a relaxing time mending fences or mucking stalls. Nothing like getting dirty to make things real.
In the meantime, he could visit one of his other sites, wash his truck and get a bite to eat. He was glad he’d let the guys go home early. They’d been working hard. Maybe they could make up the time by working longer days the next few weeks. He’d figure something out, even if he had to get in and do some of the work himself.
Dillon drove by one of his favorite sandwich shops only to discover a line longer than he wanted to stand in. He switched gears and went to the car wash where he cleaned his truck thoroughly and vacuumed the interior. By the time he was finished, he was sweaty. He had just enough time to go to his condo, shower and change into clean jeans and a blue chambray shirt he could wear mucking stalls later. He slipped one of his straw cowboy hats on his head and pulled on work boots.
He figured there was no use setting Ariana’s expectations any higher. The match was from a computer software program. Computers couldn’t match living, breathing humans who had complex emotions and desires. He spent a lot of his time in similar clothing, though he had a whole wardrobe of nice clothes he wore when he worked with clients. He preferred a good pair of jeans and a T-shirt for most days of the week.
As he climbed into his truck to head to the coffee shop, his cellphone rang. He didn’t recognize the phone number, but he answered anyway. “Hello.”
“Dillon,” a female voice said. “It’s Leslie Lamb.”
“Hi, Leslie. What can I do for you?”
“I called to apologize.”
“For what.”
“The electrical outage last night did something to BODS. It’s been glitchy all day. That’s why it hasn’t found your perfect match yet.”
He slowed at a red light. “What do you mean it hasn’t found my match? I got a text last night from BODS with a name and the profile of a woman. We’ve arranged a date at a coffee shop.”
“Oh, dear,” Leslie said. “I’d hoped to catch you before BODS sent out anything. I’m sure your date will be just fine, but don’t be discouraged if it isn’t. I can’t be sure the system functioned properly. Last night’s storm did a number on it. I’m going to reload the program from a backup and run it again. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy your date.”
“Thank you for letting me know,” Dillon said.
“Sorry to inconvenience you. I know how busy you are.”
After Leslie ended the call, Dillon sat with his hand on the steering wheel, wondering if he should text Ariana and tell her what had happened and cancel their date. Then again, Leslie was likely calling her now to tell her what she’d just told him. He glanced at the clock on his dash. Five minutes until 2:00. He’d be a jerk to cancel now. She might actually be punctual and already be sitting there, waiting for him to show.
Dillon wasn’t keen on the idea of online dating, but if a woman put herself out there, he’d be damned if he stood her up. It took a lot of courage to go on a blind date.
A car honked behind him. The light had turned green.
He pulled forward, still on course for the coffee shop.
Emma didn’t have to know about the glitch. He could get the one date he’d promised her out of the way, glitch or no glitch, and she’d get off his back. Thirty minutes. He could do that.
Chapter 5
Ariana had planned on being at the coffee shop fifteen minutes early. She’d left her house in plenty of time, but the traffic had played against her. Someone had had a wreck at a major intersection, blocking
