Kickstart

I am a man destined to be in love.

I have a whole lot of it to give and yet, no one to give it to.

That is, until I set my eyes on a hazel-eyed beauty sipping a beer at a bar named Dick’s.



Her entire being says don’t come near me with her wild sexy hair, her mud splattered riding gear and her invisible but very prominent middle finger.



But as I said, I am a man destined to be in love.



And I just set my sights on the one.

“CHAPTER ONE
 
 
PART OF THE THRILL OF ONLINE DATING
IS NOT KNOWING IF YOU’LL MEET YOUR FUTURE SPOUSE,
OR IF YOU’LL END UP MURDERED AND WORN AS A SKIN SUIT.
-ANONYMOUS
 
 
 
 
 
CHET
 
“WHAT ARE YOU doing?” The voice behind me makes me jump out of my skin. I turn to see my manager slash best friend, Cam, glaring at the screen over my shoulder, I quickly slam it shut and wince. I hope I didn’t just crack the screen.
“Nothing,” I squeak out before clearing my throat. “Just checking some of the weather… and stuff.”
“That wasn’t weather. That was a dating site.” She raises an amused brow. “Like an actual website. Don’t you know they have apps for that now?”
“You couldn’t have possibly seen what was on the screen that fast.”
She shrugs. “It’s my laptop, I’ll just see what it is when I open it.”
I knew I shouldn’t have used her office for this. I sigh, rubbing a hand over my face.
“What are you doing on a dating site anyway, Chet? There’s no way you need something like that. I’ve seen the women who throw themselves all over you.” She leans against her desk, eyeing me like she can peer inside my brain. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised at this point.
“Nothing, I was just, ya know, doing some research or whatever.” I whisk my hand through the air, hoping she’ll drop it.
“Chet, seriously.”
She doesn’t buy it. Truthfully, that’s why I haven’t said anything. Cam has been on a never-ending quest to try to hook me up with someone. She tried with her roommate first, and while she was gorgeous and almost too nice, our relationship quickly got friend-zoned before we could progress to anything else.
Since Cam had gotten engaged to my half-brother slash agent, Wyatt last year, it’s like her mission to make everyone around her part of a couple. She succeeded with my chief, Jared, and he and Amy have been together steadily for the last five months.
It was sickening.
And well, kind of hard to watch.

Okay, fine, I was jealous. I was jealous as shit. I couldn’t hold that in even if I tried.
I wasn’t jealous of my friends’ spouses. I loved Cam like a sister (I mean, technically she will legally be that someday), but I was just so damn tired of being alone. Admitting to anyone that I was lonely felt like punching myself in the balls and pushing the metaphorical “Set Me Up” button, and I wasn’t ready for that shitshow.
So obviously, I turned to my best option.
My shoulders fall. “I’m just trying something out.”
Her eyes search my face, for what, I don’t know. But I squirm under her intense gaze. “Okay… just be careful.”
“I will.” The promise falls off my tongue easily. What could possibly happen?