“Wow. That’s a cool job. Does Tyler get discounts for friends and family? If so, I might be willing to skirt the rules and give you Sadie’s number right now.”

We all laughed. It was our fifth date of the night, and Devin had gotten really into her role of vetting prospective dates. Though the fun of the evening had nothing to do with any of the men, because let’s face it, I had no interest in any of them. The fun was the outlandish shit that came out of Devin’s mouth. Maybe if I’d been more into the night, I’d have noticed how cute Tyler was.

“Does your friend have any nicknames?” Devin asked.

Tyler flashed Ethan a menacing warning look.

“Oh no you don’t,” she said. “Spit it out. Now we need to know.”

Ethan grinned. “His nickname is Tink.”

“Tink? Like in Tinker Bell?”

Ethan shook his head. “No, Tink because the first time he ever got drunk, we were about thirteen, and he got so shit-faced that he wet the bed after he passed out.”

We all laughed while Tyler punched his friend’s arm. “You’re supposed to be helping me find a date, not scaring them away, jackass.”

“What show does your friend watch that he wouldn’t want you to tell me about right now?”

Ethan’s smile grew wide again. Tyler just shut his eyes. This was going to be good.

“He watches that show Something and the Restless.”

My eyes widened. “The Young and the Restless. The soap opera?”

Ethan cracked up. “We had a roommate in college who watched it. Tyler here was madly in love, but she had a boyfriend. He started to watch it just to spend time with her. For Christmas he even got her tickets to one of those fan meet and greets where you meet a celebrity at a bookstore.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Devin said. “What happened with her?”

Tyler groaned and mock banged his head on the table before Ethan answered. “She hooked up with the dude from the show after the meet and greet. The next day, she dumped the boyfriend and started to go out with the actor. Last I heard, they have two kids.”

“Oh my God.” I laughed. “Is he kidding?”

Poor Tyler just shook his head. “I wish he were.”

His smile was lopsided and modest but adorable and seemingly genuine. I smiled back, and we shared a connection for a brief moment. A minute later, the host yelled that time was up and instructed the women to move one table to the right. Tyler and I shook hands, and he caught my eye. “It was really nice sharing six incredibly embarrassing moments with you.”

I laughed. “You too.”

Shuffling to the next table, Devin bumped her shoulder with mine. “He was really cute. I hope we match with him.”

The next three speed dates were on the painful side. One guy slurred his words, and the other two definitely didn’t get Devin’s sense of humor. I was thrilled to be done. Devin took out the match cards they’d given us when we walked in.

“I vote for one, three, and five,” she said.

“I don’t think the man you live with is going to be happy with three dates. Maybe you should cut it down to one.”

She frowned. “I’m serious.”

I sighed. “I don’t want to go out with any of these guys, Dev.”

“I know, honey. But you said yourself that you didn’t know where things stood between you and Sebastian. So why not give some of these guys a chance? At least number five. He was adorable.”

“I don’t think so.”

The host came around to collect the card that I was supposed to list my dates on. I handed it to him.

“You didn’t fill it out yet.”

I smiled. “Yes, I did. Thanks for a fun evening.”

Outside, I hugged Devin goodbye and thanked her for coming with me.

“At least I can write a good article about it. This was actually fun. The other time I did speed dating, it was so awkward. But having your friend there keeps things so much more relaxed.”

“It wasn’t having me here that made it relaxed. You had no intention of going out with anyone before you even stepped foot in the place. So there was no pressure for you.”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

“You know I was Team Sebastian from the very first day.”

“I know. What happened? You went from encouraging me to go after him to wanting me to go out and date.”

She squeezed my arm. “I don’t want a heart that isn’t available to love you to keep you from finding one that is.”

I frowned. “I won’t let that happen. I promise.”

While I meant the words when I said them, the problem was, falling in love wasn’t something I actually had any control over.

“Can I try one more time?” Birdie jumped up and down.

I looked at Magdalene, who had been a good sport all night, and she nodded. Birdie clicked the clicker twice then yelled, “Speak! Marmaduke. Gib laut!”

The overgrown puppy began to bark nonstop. Tonight we’d started to train him to bark on command. Since the doorbell was something that always made him yap anyway, we incorporated it into the training. Magdalene would go outside, and on the count of ten, she’d ring the bell and I’d click the clicker and tell him to speak. When he barked, I’d scratch behind his ears while telling him he was a good boy and rewarding him with a treat. After doing that five times, I could just click the clicker and yell for him to speak, and Marmaduke would start barking, even without the doorbell. The only problem was, sometimes we couldn’t get him to stop. He’d take the biscuit, practically swallow it whole, and then go right back to barking again.

Which was exactly what had happened again this time. While the loud bark didn’t bother Birdie at all, it was starting to drive me nuts, and poor Magdalene sat at the dining room table rubbing her temples again. Desperate to stop the piercing sound, I opened the end-table drawer, where we’d hidden the stuffed toys he had taken a shine to, and tossed a stuffed unicorn at him. He stopped barking but only because he was now too busy humping. I sighed. Note to self: This week watch YouTube videos on how to stop barking once you get it started.

Magdalene’s phone started to ring, and she laughed answering it.

“Oh, hi, Mr. Maxwell.”

My ears perked up more than Marmaduke’s did when he saw the shell of a tortoise.

“Yes, sure. She’s still here.” She paused and then: “Hold on a second.” I tried to look busy when Magdalene called to me. “Sadie, Mr. Maxwell would like to speak to you.”

“Oh. Okay.” My heart started to flutter as she walked over the phone.

“Hello.”

“Hey.”

His voice sounded tense. “Is everything okay?”

“I was trying to reach you, but you weren’t answering your phone.”

“Oh. It was . . . in my bag, I guess. I probably didn’t hear it because of the barking.”

“Barking?”

“We were teaching Marmaduke how to speak.”

I heard Sebastian blow out a deep breath through the phone. “Listen. I was trying to get out of here by eight thirty so I could make it home before you leave. But that’s obviously not happening. I could probably get out in an hour or two. Do you think you could . . . hang around until I get home? We need to talk.”