Lunar Love (53)

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to mix nachos and ice cream.”

“What about a churro?” he offers.

I shake my head. “That might be too much greasy food for one game.”

“That could be true,” he says, seemingly disappointed.

I carry the food down to Owen, who’s in the middle of a phone call talking about grapes and corks.

“Take these,” I whisper. “I’ll be right back. I forgot something.”

I race up the stairs, foam finger slicing through the air as I run.

“Bennett! Bennett!” I yell.

He turns around, looking surprised.

“I almost forgot to tell you,” I pant. “It’s very important.”

“What is it?” he asks.

“Don’t forget the jalapenos!” I say.

A look of amusement flashes across his face.

“Got it. Jalapenos,” he says. “Anything else, my Queen?”

I tap the foam finger against my chin as I think. “Cheese. Don’t forget the cheese.”

“I get it. You want nachos. They’re pretty straightforward. Cheese, tomatoes, beans, some kind of meat. Preferably a pickled jalapeno or a red pepper. Maybe even some sour cream. Understood.”

I wiggle my giant blue finger in front of his face. “No sour cream.” I boop the tip of his nose. “I want ice cream, too.”

Bennett shrugs. “I can make this faster and mix it all together.”

“No, go to the nacho stand first, then have the ice cream guy top it all off.”

Bennett chuckles at this, and I join him. The laughter is contagious, our shoulders rippling in sync.

“Okay. Get going. I don’t want to keep you from your date,” Bennett finally says, his eyes still watery from laughter.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s down there fermenting.” I burst out in another fit of laughter.

Bennett smiles but doesn’t seem to understand the reference. “He’s what?”

I side-eye him. “You don’t get it because you don’t know anything about him! He’s in the wine business,” I explain.

“Ah, so he only gets better with age,” he says with a smirk.

Once again, I’m giddy with laughter. I head back to my seat with a stupid grin on my face.

By the top of the fourth inning, Owen and I have exhausted our small talk and have formed an understanding. We’ll leave at the top of the eighth so we can get out of the parking lot before everyone else. I say I’ll visit his winery’s tasting room, and he vows to look up Lunar Love if ZodiaCupid doesn’t work out.

A text from Alisha buzzes in my lap. Have you seen the social media numbers lately?

I pull up the Twitter app on my phone and tap the notifications bubble. 80 retweets? 200 likes? I respond.

Your moon song pairings with zodiac signs is by far the most popular strategy so far. A few people have reached out to learn about what we do, she messages.

Feeling rude, I glance up at Owen, who’s luckily busy managing his own messages. I can at least appreciate the man’s work ethic.

That’s amazing. Let’s keep going with that. See if we can double that number. If we’re attracting potential clients, it’s worth pursuing. These numbers give us a direction to move toward, I write.

Oh no. I’m starting to sound like Bennett.

I stare out over the field, mindlessly eating my licorice rope and watching the sun disappear behind the stadium lights. The fact that my first date through ZodiaCupid was not a total nightmare is slightly worrying.

But the biggest curveball of today—and perhaps the most distressing realization—is that for the rest of the inning, all I can think about is Bennett O’Brien and when I’ll get to see him next.





Chapter 14





I wait at the handoff point near the bottom of the Getty Center Tram for Bennett and Harper to arrive. The Drinking with the Stars event at the Getty Center was so perfect that I full-on squealed when I discovered it was happening. An hour of learning about the history of the Getty’s most famous paintings followed by a wine pairing under the “stars” of Los Angeles. And with the view from the top, they won’t be able to resist each other.

While I wait, I check for any new emails. The name Carol Rogers sits at the top of my inbox.

Hello Olivia,

Lovely meeting you last week! Let me know when you’re available for a coffee chat and we can nail down a time. I’ll be bringing by interested clients next week, if that’s okay? We’ll be quick and quiet. Talk soon!

Stay silver, Carol and Poppy



I sigh and close out of Carol’s email. I’ll respond later.

Bennett arrives early, looking dashing in an olive cashmere sweater and dark jeans. He smells like pine trees and shampoo, as though he just stepped out of an outdoor shower in the forest.

His face lights up as soon as he sees me. I return his smile and reach forward with the tickets.

“You look very nice. Will you be lingering again tonight?” he asks.

“Not this time. I want you two to have a real chance,” I say. “That’s probably hard with me being distracting.”

Bennett exhales a disappointed-sounding oh. “Too bad. I was hoping for a food runner,” he jokes, his mouth turned downward.