Never Is A Very Long Time: A Romantic Comedy With Attitude (The Perfect Date Book 1) Read online

  Never Is A Very Long Time

  A Romantic Comedy With Attitude

  Donna McDonald

  THE PERFECT DATE, Book 1

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  The Perfect Date Series

  Book Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

  Note From The Author

  Excerpt: Never Say Never

  Book Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Special Look At Book 3

  Other Books By This Author

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2017 by Donna McDonald

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is coincidental.

  This book contains content that may not be suitable for young readers 17 and under.

  Cover by MYST Partners

  Edited by AJ at Blackraven’s Designs

  Created with Vellum

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks to my partners in writing crime, J.M. Madden and Robyn Peterman. You keep me honest and make me better at my craft. My writing journey would not be the same without you. Thank you!

  Thanks to AJ for the edit and the advice on my fade-to-black approach. You are appreciated. Thank you!

  Thanks to my readers for always giving my new work a chance. You really are the reason I write. Thank you!

  Dedication

  This book is for my readers.

  The Perfect Date Series

  The essence of all romantic comedy is that falling in love and navigating an unexpected romance is never easy or simple. Instead, it’s messy and emotional, and if you’re lucky, it’s also sexy and fun.

  Some relationship professionals, like my character of Dr. Mariah Bates in this series, sincerely want to help people find their perfect love match. For the feisty heroines I’ve created, many of whom are older, Mariah’s going to need all the help she can get. Or maybe she just needs to step out of the way. You can be the judge.

  NOTE ABOUT THE HEAT LEVEL: Not being a fan of the word “clean” when applied to romance, I will instead say the heat level in this new series is in the 1-2 range, rather than 3-4 like some of my others. The focus is on sensuality and I’ve packed a lot into these stories.

  Book Description

  Cupid she’s not—but she’s pretty darn close.

  Nothing in the world feels better than finding her clients the perfect date. Of course finding one for herself might be nice, but creative bill paying is for college students—not for accomplished doctors in their forties. Satisfied customers keep the electricity on.

  But wait, according to all the magazines the forties are the new twenties. Now if only she felt twenty… Everything in Dr. Mariah Bates’ life was perfectly fine until the moment she quit her celebrity radio job to start a dating business. Two years, a cheating ex, and a very ugly divorce later, she’s suddenly homeless and living with her mother. Not exactly how she’d envisioned her life working out. Not that her mom isn’t great, but come on. With her cop ex-husband doing everything he can to ruin her business, she’s at her wit's end. Throw in another cop who makes her believe in love at first sight—or at least lust—and life is a mess. Interesting, fun and tummy tingling, but a mess. Especially since another cop is the last thing she needs. Despite a very persistent, want-to-be beau who insists he's protecting her, it’s time for Mariah to take control of the game her ex has been playing. Punt or pass, she’s due for a touchdown.

  Everyone deserves the perfect date—even her.

  Chapter One

  Mariah flinched as the wooden gavel hit the block in front of the judge.

  “I’ll hear from the defendant’s attorney now.”

  Beside her, Bill rose and nodded once to recognize the judge’s request.

  “Your Honor—not to denigrate the fine work done by most detectives in our local police precincts, but the charges brought by my client’s ex-husband, Detective Luray, are not backed by anything of substance. Dating services are a dime a dozen these days… no offense to my own client… but I’m having a hard time figuring out the grounds for the illegal solicitation charge the Prosecuting Attorney’s office is attempting to press.”

  Mariah saw the judge look past her attorney to her. She was frowning and all but glaring. Dan wanted her to suffer for divorcing him and it looked as if he was actually going to get his way.

  “Thank you, Counselor. Now I believe I’d like to hear your client’s own defense of the charges against her,” the judge declared.

  “Yes, Your Honor.” Bill leaned in. “Tell her your story, Mariah.”

  Mariah stood. “Your Honor, my name is Dr. Mariah Bates. I have a PhD in Psychology from Johns Hopkins. I am a licensed and certified marriage and relationship therapist. For over twenty years, I did a call-in radio show that helped people with their relationship issues. Now my primary business is an elite, professional dating service that is really more like a matchmaking service for busy professionals. We’re a bit like Kellerher International, which is widely known, and as far as I know, quite well respected.”

  “If I might interject…” the prosecutor said loudly. “Dr. Bates’s business does not offer access to a dating database of potential matches nor does she offer anyone a phone app as do most services of her kind. Nothing discovered in her business model indicates she is offering any ongoing match service, but rather she is selling individual time spent with a client to yet another client. It is reasonable to conclude that her business model is a potential cover for nefarious escort activities.”

  Mariah felt her jaw tighten. There had been no discovery at all. No one had subpoenaed her records. No, Dan had given the Hamilton County prosecutor all that misinformation. But who was going to doubt one of Cincinnati’s finest?

  “We charge a flat fee per service which translates in most cases to a flat fee per date. The person we find the match for pays the fee, especially if there is a pressing need, such as a business function, wedding, or other social gathering where the client feels it would be best to have a companion at his or her side. We are not following the subscription model because of discretion. This is the same reason we don’t use anything like an app. Our clients are CEOs, local celebrities, sports figures, and have other high profile jobs. We work to protect the privacy of every client we help.”

  She turned her head to the man seated several rows behind her wearing a very expensive suit she’d bought for him five years ago. It was easier today to ignore how good Dan looked in it. Her bitterness over his actions had torn away the rose colored glasses she normally viewed
him through.

  “As I have repeatedly told my ex-husband, Detective Daniel Luray, the way I bill is not proof of solicitation. Instead, it provides me a reasonable cash flow to continue serving my clients. Fostering twenty-two weddings among clients last year could be used as proof of my matchmaking success, if such proof is necessary. My clients are business people who would not appreciate their carefully selected date being called an “escort” for no good reason other than Detective Luray’s unfounded suspicions or his desire to get back at me for having had the nerve to divorce him.”

  The judge looked at the prosecutor. “Is there any real evidence against Dr. Bates’s company? Any client claiming they paid for sex and didn’t get any? Anybody saying they’re being pimped out by Dr. Bates?”

  “Not yet, Your Honor, but…”

  She didn’t allow the prosecutor to waffle any further. The judge’s gavel hit her wooden block. “Case dismissed due to lack of evidence. Dr. Bates, we are sorry to have wasted your time this morning.”

  “Thank you, Your Honor,” Mariah said, breathing out at last.

  Bill reached over and hugged her. “You could have mentioned me and Abby, you know. We’re proof of your success and you didn’t even have the agency then.”

  Mariah shook her head. “Dan’s vendetta against me is no reason to drag my friends down into the mud. It’s bad enough he has me wrestling around with him in it.”

  She gathered up her things and moved to walk out. Bill walked closely behind. She should have guessed it wasn’t going to be that easy.

  “One day I will get what I need for evidence, Mariah. I’m going to be watching your ass very closely,” Dan warned as she walked by him.

  “Great news. Kiss my ass while you’re back there nosing around,” Mariah ordered, striding away from the man she had loved forever but now loathed.

  Behind her, she heard Bill say something to Dan, but it was probably best she not know what passed between the two men. All of her friends had taken her side in the divorce when her long time, nice husband had suddenly turned into an ass just because she quit a lucrative job to start a more risky one. Their loyalty to her had gotten even stronger after the divorce was final and Dan was seen around town with some yet to be named bleached-hair blonde on his arm.

  Mariah huffed because crying over the sad state of her love life was out of the question. She was beyond emotional hurt now. That kind of hurt had come when she went off the air and decided to do something different because she needed to feel alive and not just on autopilot. The emotional hurt had come with the thousand arguments she and Dan had frequently had about their financial inequities and her earning power—the net result being a property settlement that left her literally homeless. Dan had come out of the divorce as well as any greedy, manipulating spouse ever could have. She’d come out of it stripped of half her wealth, but missing most of her dignity.

  But the good news for Mariah was that the legal cords were finally all cut. That was what mattered to her these days. Now she could move forward the way she needed to. She’d been like a rabid, trapped wolf at the end of her divorce proceedings. She’d been willing to sacrifice an arm, a leg, and the nearly million dollar home she and Dan had bought with her celebrity earnings.

  Setting the trumped up criminal charges she’d just faced aside, Mariah actually thought she had escaped. Unfortunately, Dan continued to be there on the edges of her life—still poking and prodding at a decision he thought he had some right to have an opinion about.

  Why did he bother with trying to hurt her? She’d already given him the lion’s share of their possessions. Her mind kept churning on the issue, but the truth was unknowable. When your once loving husband became greedy and spiteful, there was no more pretending you understood him.

  When it came right down to it, there was only one thing Mariah knew for certain these days. Divorcing Dan had put her off all men for a good long while. She could only hope her own sad relationship story wasn’t going to be bad for her matchmaking business.

  Chapter Two

  “Mariah?”

  Mariah lifted her head from her laptop and the task she’d hoped would distract her from her woes. Dr. Della Livingston, her twenty-seven year old multi-tasking miracle who worked mostly in exchange for research data for her book, looked ready to have a meltdown. “What’s wrong, Della?”

  “I know you just got back from court, but there’s a Detective Monroe here asking to see you. He says he was referred by someone.”

  “Oh, for pity’s sake. I’ve had enough of this,” Mariah said, rising from her chair.

  She straightened her unfortunately super snug pencil skirt back down over her hips. Both pieces of her favorite suit had gotten tighter in the last couple of years, but it was still the best one she owned. That was why she’d chosen it to wear to court. The light shade of rose flattered her blonde complexion without looking too feminine.

  Mariah marched to the door of her office. Taking one more deep breath, she moved by a still cringing Della, until she was standing in front of the still seated man. She glared down at him. “What can I do for you, Detective Monroe?”

  To her annoyance, the man’s face blushed crimson just at hearing her tone. His gray eyes briefly dropped down to her legs, but they didn’t linger there long, before returning to her face. Good thing too. With that much gray at his temples, the man damn well ought to know better.

  “Is that how you typically greet your prospective clients?” he managed to choke out.

  “No,” Mariah declared flatly. “It’s how I greet sleazy cop buddies of my detective ex-husband who think they’re going to come around and dig into my business for no good reason. The charges were dismissed today due to lack of evidence. You’ve got a lot of damn nerve showing up here.”

  “Uh… that’s not why I came,” he stammered out. Then his brow furrowed. “Who’s your detective ex?”

  “Don’t waste my time with inane questions,” Mariah ordered. She watched him reach up and run a nervous hand thorough his perfectly cut hair. Had the man really believed she’d accept his lame story? It would be just like Dan to plant someone as a client here to spy for him. Well, she was not buying this new detective’s innocent act.

  The man cleared his throat and stood, towering above her by a good foot or more even in her heels. Her gaze traveled up to his now pained-filled gray eyes. She glared until he finally looked away from her.

  “I believe I made a mistake in coming here. Elliston said you were… well, it doesn’t matter. Sorry to have bothered you.”

  “Elliston?”

  “McElroy,” he said tightly. “Geeky nephew of mine. Said you were fixing him up with the perfect woman.”

  Hands that had been fisted on her hips dropped to her side. “I will neither confirm nor deny to you that anyone is or is not a client of my business. Privacy is not just a buzz word I throw around. However, I appreciate all referrals. If this was an honest one, I’m sorry for jumping to wrong conclusions.”

  He studied her for a few long moments and Mariah let him get by with it. The silence helped to calm her.

  “Bad day?” he asked.

  Mariah nodded. Why not confess? If the man was lying to her, Dan had already told him anyway. “Nothing life changing, but I had to go to court this morning. The experience left me a little less trusting of anyone with the first name of Detective.”

  “I caught the gist of that in your greeting. Ex causing you problems?”

  “Let’s just say I’m not at my best at the moment, so this unfruitful conversation can end.”

  His almost bashful smile over her defensiveness did strange things to her insides. What she felt in the lower regions of her body made her mad at herself. However, if he truly was Elliston McElroy’s uncle, she needed to be polite.

  “Let’s start again.” Mariah put out her hand to shake. “I’m Dr. Mariah Bates—the owner, CEO, and general doer of every role here at The Perfect Date.”

  He stared at her
hand for a split second longer than proper, then swallowed her hand with his own extremely large one. He didn’t shake it so much as hold it for a moment. Mariah had to stop herself from wiping her hand on her skirt when he let go. “What can I do for you, Detective?”

  “First name’s actually John—not Detective,” he said, correcting her. “And I’m thinking coming here really wasn’t the best idea. Can we just pretend I wasn’t here at all?”

  Mariah rolled her eyes and drew in a breath. “Look, Detective Monroe…”

  “John…” he corrected again.

  Mariah sighed. “Look… John… normally I’d sit out here and talk you into feeling a certain comfort level before coaxing you into my office for a more private chat. Seeing as how I’ve already yelled at you and accused you of many things you profess to be innocent of…”

  “Well, I…”

  Mariah held a hand up. “No, no. That’s quite okay. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I absolutely don’t want you to dash away and tell the person who referred you that I was blatantly unkind. I normally am not unkind. I’m normally quite pleasant and supportive.”

  Mariah fought back a sigh when his grin made a single dimple on one side of his face. His gray eyes lit with amusement. All in all… he was quite handsome.

  “Unkind?” John asked. “Is that a new way of saying you tried to hand me my balls over something some other guy did to you?”

  “Yes, and you’re a very wise man for understanding. Please accept that this is a rare, rare day in my otherwise drama-free life,” Mariah answered.