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CHAPTER ONE

I spot Dr. Ben Loving the moment I step through the door of Two Hearts Café. I'm late, but I don't bother apologizing as I slide into the seat across from him, shooing him back into his own chair when he tries to stand to greet me. He's not bad looking, if you're into the boy-next-door vibe. He's white with thick brown hair and deep brown eyes, plus a wide smile that's a little too friendly and charming. Amazing bone structure, I will give him that. 

"Campbell, I presume?" There's no hint of annoyance with me in his tone; it might even be tinged with a hint of humor, but I'm sure it won't take long for the lightness to slip away and the irritation to take hold.

"Cam. Nobody calls me by my full name except for my grandmother." Campbell was my grandmother's mom's last name. It never sat right with her that her mom gave up her name when she got married, and so Grandmother insisted I carry the name in her honor. Agreeing to bestow me with the moniker is one of the few things my mother did right before she left, according to Grandmother.

Now I am the one forced to obey Grandmother's whims. Like go on this date, even though we both know my time would be better served working on my latest acquisitions deal or washing my hair.

"Got it. I'm Ben—"

"Loving. I know." I flip open the menu, my eyes quickly scanning the offerings and landing on something suitable. Normally when Grandmother forces me to go on one of these tedious missions, I at least get a nice meal out of it. But this supposedly charming café was Ben's choice and I didn't have the energy to push back. I gesture to a woman standing nearby, wearing an apron and holding a notepad. "Hi, can we order?"

The woman rushes over to the table. She looks to be well into her sixties, the kind of woman who is wearing her age like no woman in my family would, not a lick of Botox to be found on her pale, wrinkled face. Her face is kind, though, her hair a mass of gray curls, and she smiles as she reaches our table. "Good evening, lovebirds. My name is Mimi, and I have the pleasure of taking care of you tonight."

I flash her a tight smile, deciding it's not worth it to correct her assumptions about me and this man I just met, a man who I will never see again once I walk out the door in approximately thirty-eight minutes, give or take. "Thanks, Mimi. I'll have the Cobb salad, no bleu cheese, dressing on the side, and a glass of chardonnay." I hand her my menu and pull my phone from my bag so I can check my emails while Ben orders.

"Oh, um, I hadn't quite decided yet, actually," Ben stammers when it's his turn. "But I guess I'll just have the spaghetti. And a glass of red."

"Fantastic! I'll be right back with your drinks." Mimi looks between the two of us as if she's missing something before toddling away.

"So..."

I sigh, setting down my phone and turning my attention to my so-called date. "Look, Ben, I'm sure you're a very nice guy, obviously smart given the whole doctor thing, and relatively handsome, but let me just be up-front with you here. I'm only on this date to appease my grandmother so she doesn't write me out of the will and leave our flourishing law firm in the hands of my incompetent asshat of a cousin. I'm not sure how you got roped into this blind date, but I can guarantee you my grandmother only cares about your good genes, which are only important if I were to plan on having kids, which I'm definitely not. So, we don't really need to do the whole getting to know you song and dance. Let's just eat our meals in peace and be on our way."

Ben blinks at me for a second, before the corner of his mouth tilts up in a smile. "Wow. Can't say I've ever been rejected before drinks have even arrived."

I shrug, itching to turn back to my phone and respond to the messages overflowing my inbox. I have a huge meeting tomorrow morning, one that could secure the firm a billionaire client, so it's not like these responses can wait long. "I just see no point in wasting either of our time."

He folds his arms, leaning on the table. "We do have to eat. Is it such a terrible prospect to have a conversation while we share a meal?"

"Or, alternate plan, we can both eat, and I can answer emails while you do whatever it is you need to do for your job."

His eyebrows raise. "I'm a pediatric surgeon."