Match Made In Paradise by Barbara Dunlop (black female authors TXT) 📕

be jerks and bombard her all at once.”

“So, you made her a prize? That was your solution?”

“She’s not a prize. You don’t win her. You just get first crack at asking her out.”

“That’s splitting hairs. Does Brodie know about this?”

Xavier shrugged. “I didn’t tell him. But it’s not a secret.”

Silas polished off the water and abandoned his pizza, his appetite gone.

“You going to tell him?” Xavier asked.

Silas shot back a look that said it was none of Xavier’s business. Then he left the cafeteria, fired up his pickup and headed out of town.

He was at Raven’s in under ten minutes, slamming his truck door behind him. He heard their voices on the screened porch, so he cut around to the side of the cabin.

“Hey, Silas,” Raven called out from a chair facing his way, giving him a smile.

Mia twisted in her seat to look at him, her expression staying neutral.

Silas slowed himself down and tamped down his anger since Raven and Mia had nothing to do with the absurd poker game. Well, Mia did, he supposed. But all she’d done was exist around lonely men. He couldn’t fault her for that.

“Hi,” he said, keeping his voice calm and easy.

The outside entrance to the screened porch was around the back, and he went that way.

“Wine?” Raven asked as he came up the steps and opened the rickety screen door.

“I’m good.”

“Not a social call?” Mia asked, tipping her head, looking like she saw through his façade.

“On second thought, wine sounds good,” he said to Raven. He made a move for the kitchen, but Raven was already on her feet.

“Pull up a chair,” she said as she headed inside.

He moved a third wooden chair from the far corner, parking it next to Mia.

Raven came back. “I hope you don’t mind.” She handed him a clear acrylic glass decorated with colored umbrellas. “We got the last of the clean wineglasses.”

Raven and Mia had proper wineglasses, although they didn’t match.

“No problem,” he said, accepting the drink. He wasn’t fussy.

“Something going on?” Raven asked, looking expectantly from him to Mia and back again.

Clearly, she thought he was here on some pretext to cozy up to Mia. She thought he was just like the rest of the yahoos. He wasn’t.

“I wanted to warn Mia,” he said, deciding to come right out with it. The last thing he wanted was for Raven to sit there waiting for him to make a pass at her cousin.

Mia’s expression paled, and she quickly set down her wine, coming to attention. “Did someone show up in town? Did they find me?”

Too late, he remembered what Brodie had told him about her being harassed back home.

“Nobody’s here,” he quickly said, regretting that he’d made her worry. “It’s not that bad. I mean, it’s not dangerous in any way. It’s . . .” He wanted to call it insulting but decided the best route was to go with the facts, awkward as it was to broach this topic. He rubbed the back of his neck, before coming out with it. “It won’t surprise you to know that most of the guys here in town want to date you.”

“What makes you think that won’t surprise me?”

He wanted to call her on the false modesty. It had to have happened before, because she was the kind of woman all guys wanted to date wherever she showed up.

“Because you’re new in town,” Raven put in before Silas could say anything more.

It looked like they were all going to pretend here. Whatever.

“They couldn’t decide who should ask you first,” he said. “So, somebody came up with the brilliant idea to have a poker game.” He waited for the revelation to sink in.

Mia and Raven both looked confused.

“To decide,” he added.

Nothing.

“By who won.” It looked like he was going to have to spell it out completely. “The winner gets you—well, the chance to be the first to ask you on a date.”

Mia surprised him by laughing.

Raven didn’t seem to see the amusement, but she didn’t look angry either.

“You think it’s funny?” he asked Mia in astonishment.

She picked up her wineglass again. “Hey, I’ve been a prize before.”

“In a poker game?” He tried not to sound horrified. What kind of a woman allowed for that?

“No,” she said. “It was more of an auction.”

Silas sat back dumbfounded by her blasé attitude.

“Really?” she asked him, taking in his expression. “Your brain went there?”

“My brain didn’t go anywhere.” But it had. He’d immediately picture a raunchy auction with scantily-clad women and leering men.

“For charity,” she enunciated like he was daft. Then she included Raven in her answer. “People bid on lunch with a Lafayette model. A bunch of us did it. We made a lot of money for the local hospital.” She slid her gaze back to Silas. “Pervert.”

Raven laughed.

“I’m—” He realized that protesting would only make it worse. He took a swallow of the wine. “I just thought you should know,” he said.

“Thank you,” Raven said.

“I’ll play along,” Mia said.

“You don’t have to,” Raven told her, and Silas thought he was finally hearing a voice of reason.

Mia shrugged. “No big deal. I’m assuming you’ll know the winner.”

“For sure,” Raven said.

Mia looked to Silas with a challenge in her eyes. “I take it you’re not playing?”

“No.”

Mia shrugged. “Just asking.”

“I can’t believe you’re going to encourage them.”

“I can’t believe you’re such a stick in the mud.”

“So, you think I should gamble for you?” Exactly how much adoration did this woman need?

“I think you should chill.”

“I am—” Silas gave up. He’d done his duty. He polished off the wine and came to his feet. “Thanks for the drink,” he said to Raven.

“Thanks for the warning,” Raven said.

“Yes,” Mia put in belatedly, as if it had only just occurred to her. “Thanks for letting me know.”

“Sure,” Silas said without looking back at her. He headed out the screen door. He might have banged it shut, but it was rickety enough already, and he didn’t want to do damage. Raven had enough of challenge keeping this old place up without