“Why don’t you choose, I’m good with anything.” Harriet tossed the menu back on the table, forcing a smile, while her body language said quite the opposite.
“How about I leave you two to decide while I fetch those drinks?” Logan could hardly contain his satisfaction that this dude was seriously ruining his chances with Harriet. If there was one thing that irritated her it was people who proclaimed to have every ‘allergy’ known to man.
When Logan came back with their drinks, the couple had decided to skip food. Harriet looked at Logan, and her eyes rolled quickly upwards. He saw her jaw set, and didn’t miss the pulse in the vein in her neck. Logan sucked his cheeks in, not daring to let a smile appear on his face. “Here you go, just give me a shout if you need anything else.”
For the next seventeen minutes, Logan and Lori watched Harriet and Reece stare in opposite directions.
“I wish I’d brought popcorn.” Lori giggled.
Logan glanced at his watch, he had twenty more minutes before he lost his bet. “She’s going to walk.”
Lori nodded her head. “Yep, I think you’re right. Katie is going to be pissed.”
“Why?”
“Because it means she failed. It will be RoryLynn’s turn to find someone for Harriet.”
“What are you girls up to?”
“Nothing.”
“Spit it out, Lori.”
“Honestly, we just want to help her.”
“And?”
“And, um, there may be some incentive for the winner.”
“Winner? Are you girls taking bets?”
“No. We would never do that to Harriet. But... whoever finds her a guy, wins a new Kate Spade purse bought for them by the others.”
Logan shook his head. “Does Harriet know about this?”
“Of course not! And if you know what is good for you, Logan Jackson, you will keep your mouth shut.”
“Mum’s the word. So, what does RoryLynn have planned for Harriet.”
Lori grinned. “MatchMate dot com!”
Before he could reply, Harriet looked at her watch, and said something to the guy. Logan nudged Lori. “I reckon this is it.”
A few seconds later, Harriet left. Logan suspected she was now making her way around the back of his bar, to sneak in through the kitchen.
Her date summoned Logan for the check and, feeling a little sorry for the guy, Logan ‘forgot’ to add one of the drinks as he rang it up. He carried the tab to the table, and handed it to Reece. “Here you go.”
The guy pulled out some dollars and dropped them on the table.
“Did your date leave?” Logan tried not to look too gleeful about it.
“Yeah, sometimes you have to cut them off when you know you don’t fancy them.”
Yeah, right. “Win some, lose some, eh?”
“Huh, you know any good strip joints around here?” Reece picked up his jacket. “Night’s still young, could do with some fun, if you know what I mean.” He winked at Logan.
“Sorry, not my scene.”
The guy looked at him with an expression that clearly said, What are you? Gay? then shrugged his shoulders and left.
Logan scooped up the money and cleared the table. After adding the cash to the till and putting the glasses through the rinser, he leaned back on the bar next to Lori. “Total prick. He just asked me where the nearest strip club was.”
Lori finished the last of her beer. “Ew. Oh, well, I should get going. I have to report this disaster to the others. Will you check on Harriet for me?”
“Yeah, I reckon she is in the kitchen waiting for him to leave. Night, Lori.”
After Lori left, Logan headed into the kitchen and found Harriet on a stool by the counter. She was talking to Logan’s chef, and munching on mozzarella sticks and coconut shrimp.
“Did he leave?” She looked hopefully at Logan.
“Yeah, he’s gone to find a strip club.”
She shook her head. “Jesus, the guy’s a hypochondriac and a sleaze ball! Huh, and do you know he has an ex-wife?”
“Well, not everyone whose marriage fails is bad.” Logan popped one of her coconut shrimp into his mouth, he could be magnanimous now that he knew the guy was history.
“Ah, but Reece still lives in his ex-wife’s basement because he doesn’t have his own place, and so he can babysit his son when she goes out on dates!”
Logan scratched his head. “Seriously? Sounds like you need another drink.”
Harriet picked up her food and followed Logan back into the bar. She sat on one of the stools so she could eat and talk to him while he worked.
“Malbec?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Although Harriet was chatty, he sensed she seemed down, and when the crowd finally thinned a little, Logan asked Sarah if she could handle things while he took a break.
“Sure, Logan,” Sarah said breezily.
That woman was becoming indispensable. Logan went back to Harriet. “Let’s get a table so we can talk properly?”
“That would be nice.”
Logan held a chair out for her while she sat.
“Honestly, Logan, I don’t know how he ended up getting through my rigorous screening. I thought so long and hard about each of the guys, did my research, stalked all their social media… though admittedly not well enough, as I never spotted he lived with his ex-wife!”
“Maybe Tinder isn’t for you. Perhaps you’re trying to force this. You have this great circle of friends, who knows, maybe you already know your future man, perhaps he works with you, is at your favorite coffee store… or bar.” Subtle, Logan. “I remember when you were at college, whenever you were here, there were men queueing up to buy you drinks.”
Harriet’s eyes swept the room, then drifted back to Logan. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. But I’m not at college, anymore, and it seems like all the rules changed now that I’m a grown-up. I have no idea how anyone finds love any more. I mean, look at everyone in here. No one hardly looks up from their phones. I bet they are all on apps searching for casual hookups. Ugh, but you’re right. I don’t think Tinder is right for me. Maybe I should try something else.” She finished
