“Have you started reading Nico’s secrets?”

“It’s Marco, and yes, I did.”

“Well…how was it?”

Stella sighed. “I read almost half the diary in one night.”

I laughed. “That good, huh?”

She held her hand to her chest. “He’s in love with an older woman. Amalia is nineteen years his senior and the librarian for the small village they live in. He’s a grape farmer. She thinks it’s just infatuation and will pass, but he sounds like he’s head over heels for her. He’s thinking about bringing another woman around, hoping to spark some jealousy to make her admit she has feelings for him, too. But I’m worried it’s going to backfire and push her further away.”

“I think Amelia, or whatever her name is, is probably right. Marco is just a horny kid. It’ll pass. Every young guy’s fantasized about a hot librarian at some point. He’s not in love with her. He’s in lust.”

“You didn’t even read the diary. How can you know how he feels?”

I shrugged. “Most relationships end up in the same place anyway.”

“Someone’s extremely cynical…”

“I’m not cynical; I’m a realist. Even if they get together, what do you think the chances are that a guy at forty isn’t going to be looking elsewhere when his librarian bride is sixty?”

“Not when he loves her as much as Marco loves Amalia.”

I scoffed. “It all starts out as fun and games…”

“Whatever.”

“You said your ex was sleeping with someone else. And yet you still believe in fairytales?”

“Just because I’ve been burned doesn’t mean I don’t believe in love. I was devastated when Aiden and I broke up. It took me a long time to move on and find happiness again. Heck, I’m still working on finding my happiness. But one of the things that keeps my spirits up is to believe we’re all meant to have a happily ever after. Mine just wasn’t supposed to be with Aiden.”

My eyes flashed to hers and then back to the road. “Whatever you say…”

“If you’re so bitter about relationships, why did you ask me out?”

“Do I have to stay celibate just because I don’t think everything ends in hearts and roses?”

“Oh.” She rolled her eyes. “So you just wanted to get laid. I’m glad we cleared that up. I actually prefer to get to know someone and spend time with him, in addition to physical intimacy.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth. I enjoy spending time with a woman, too. Sometimes we just have different expectations of where things will end up.”

Stella shook her head. “You know what you need? To try my happiness system.”

“Your happiness system?”

Stella nodded. “I know—it needs a better name.”

I grumbled. “I can think of a few.”

“I heard that, but I’m choosing to ignore it. Anyway, when I was struggling and feeling grumpy all the time, I made a list of things that make me happy. Small things—not things that were out of my reach and difficult to accomplish. For example, I try to give someone a compliment every day. That might not seem like much, but it causes you to find something good in at least one person each day. After a while, it helps change your mindset. Another thing I do is set aside ten minutes to meditate each morning. I also watch the sunrise or sunset at least once a week. And I try to do something I’ve never done before every single weekend.”

I smirked. “If you need help doing someone you’ve never done this weekend, just let me know.”

She rolled her eyes. “Something, not someone.”

I chuckled. “Our happiness systems must work a little differently.”

Traffic had lightened up, and we were already halfway to the restaurant. “As riveting as this conversation is, why don’t I fill you in on the network before we get to lunch? We’re going to be at the restaurant soon.”

“I already read up.”

“Okay, then. Tell me what you know.”

Stella proceeded to rattle off facts about the ownership of the network, statistics on the types of products they sold, which were their best- and worst-performing items, and the qualities they looked for in partners. Then she detailed personal and professional information on both the host and co-host. She’d done more homework than I had.

“You’re thorough,” I said.

“Thank you.”

We stopped at a red light, and Stella shifted in her seat. She uncrossed her legs and re-crossed them in the opposite direction. It had been innocent enough, likely done in an effort to get more comfortable since we’d been sitting in the car for a while now, but the way my eyes ogled her bit of exposed thigh was anything but innocent.

Happiness system. A little leg worked for me. Why did women always have to overcomplicate shit?

 

***

 

Who was the woman I’d sat next to at lunch?

The same woman who’d spent fifteen minutes telling me all the details of a garage sale she went to at age twelve when all I’d asked was how she’d gotten into reading used diaries, the same woman who’d been sniffing barrels just a few hours ago, had morphed into an astute businesswoman. Rather than ramble on with stories, she listened—really listened—and quickly found the hot button for each of the key players at lunch. Then she subtly steered the conversation to those areas when she spoke. She’d had the network bigwigs eating out of the palm of her hand. Robyn Quinn even invited her to a woman’s leadership luncheon to talk about how she took an idea and made it into an innovative business.

The valet brought my car around first, so I shook hands with the group. Stella got hugs from the women. Once we were back on the road, she looked over at me.

“So…go ahead. Tell me what I did wrong.”

I glanced at her and back to the traffic ahead of me. “Wrong? What makes you think you did something wrong?”

“You’re quiet.”

“So?”

“You usually get all quiet and do this staring-at-me thing before you say something snarky. But you’re driving, so your eyes are stuck on the road.”

“Actually, I was thinking about how well lunch went. You did a great job. I might’ve made the introduction, but you sealed the deal.”

From my peripheral vision, I saw Stella blink a few times.

“Was that…a compliment? Are you giving my happiness system a test run?”

We stopped at a light, so I looked over at her. “Definitely not. Though I am capable of giving them when due.”

Her lips curved to an adorable smile. “I was good, wasn’t I?”

“I already gave you one compliment, let’s not go fishing for another so soon.”

She laughed. “Alright. I guess I’ll take what I can get.”

 

***

 

Three days later, my assistant buzzed in to my office. “Jack Sullivan is on the line for you.”

“Thanks, Helena.”

I leaned back in my chair and picked up the phone. “I know I still owe you a beer, but it’s only eight in the morning.”

Jack laughed. “Like we haven’t had beer for breakfast before.”