Somewhere on Maui (an Accidental Matchmaker Novel) by Toby Neal Read Free Book Online Page B

draped a length of silky turquoise shawl around her shoulders. She touched up her makeup, put on her good sandals, and gave Sylvester final pets as she left, plastic bag for trash stowed in her crocheted black bag.
    Paia was still warm, busy with traffic backed up with commuters from Kahului heading home as she walked along the colorful storefronts. She navigated the buckling sidewalk and other pedestrians moving at rubbernecking speed, picking up bits of trash along the way and trying to keep the wind from blowing dust up her skirt from below. Charley’s was only a few blocks away, but as she stepped into the cool, dim interior of the rustic, Western-themed bar and restaurant, she already needed to freshen up.
    Zoe headed straight to the restroom and finger-combed her hair back into cooperative, redraped the shawl into modest, and patted down her skirt. She enjoyed the swish of it over her freshly shaved legs as she headed to the bar, and as she sat on one of the plastic-topped, padded stools, Zoe remembered she was supposed to bring a rose.
    Dammit.
    But this was better, actually. She just had to spot some random dude coming in, acting like he was looking for someone—and if he was interesting, she could say hi. If he wasn’t, she could pretend a no-show and slink out the back.
    No rose was genius, actually.
    The bartender was a grizzled escapee from the sixties whose red-rimmed pot smoker’s eyes brightened at the sight of her. “What can I get you, pretty lady?”
    “A mai tai, thanks.” She still loved the pineapple wedge and little umbrella that said “ Hawaii” like nothing else. Fiddling with her napkin, she turned partway so she could see the two entrances. One was almost directly behind her. Its flapping Western half doors evoked the sound of jingling spurs. The other was a broader opening into the main area of the restaurant.
    She turned back as the bartender slid the mai tai in front of her.
    “Thanks.”
    “You from around here?” the bartender asked.
    Zoe stirred the drink so that the drizzle of rum on top melted into the bright yellow pineapple juice. “I live here in Paia.”
    “Nice to know.” A man slipped onto the stool beside her without her seeing him come in. “My name is Philip.”
    Zoe turned. “Hi, Philip. I’m Zoe.”
    Philip was short. Even on the stool beside her, he was short, shorter than her five foot six, and balding. His beard was trimmed into a fleur-de-lis on his cheek.
    She had to peek at it twice as he ordered a beer.
    “So, do you come here often?”
    “No.” Her stomach curdled with disappointment. She used the stir stick straw to inhale a good portion of the drink. Now was not the time for restraint. A fleur-de-lis in his beard? Really? Another ridiculous date for her research, and in that moment, she realized she really had been hoping to meet someone she liked.
    “Well, I come here often. And if you did, I would have noticed you, Zoe.” Philip grinned. Yikes. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted someone. A man with his hands on his hips, glancing around the bar. He was backlit, but she could already tell he was an improvement over Philip, and it suddenly occurred to her that Philip might not be her date.
    “Are you on a Crazy Blind Date?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at her companion.
    Philip grinned again. There was indeed a gap in his yellowing bicuspids. “If that’s what you want to call it.”
    The man in the doorway had advanced to the bar, sat three stools down. “Hey, Manny. Heineken,” he said to the bartender. He seemed a tiny bit familiar—something about the dark hair waving back from his forehead, the way the silky aloha shirt he wore hung from tanned, muscled arms.
    Philip leaned forward to block her view. “I’d like to think fate’s a little crazy, and if you want this to be our first date, I’m game.”
    Zoe went panicky—this definitely wasn’t the right guy. Where was the damn rose when you needed one! “I’m meeting