This was the worst she'd ever lost on a bet. There was no way she'd survive this without killing someone. Maybe even Karl. Then again, if she killed him, she'd have no friends left. It's not like people here were jumping all over themselves to befriend her.

At first, she'd just thought it was kind of funny - let Karl build her a profile on an online dating site. Then she'd seen his profile. Reasonably attractive. Fit. Blonde. "What the frak, Karl? You make me sound like someone's grandmother. How do you expect me to get dates this way?"

"Oh, ye of little faith. Just watch, Kara."

That hadn't been the last of it, though. He had to build her profile. He had to answer the emails. He had to pick the dates. She had to wear a dress. "Where do you expect me to even get a dress?"

"Oh, I'll take care of that."

"You expect me to wear whatever you pick out?"

"I promise, you'll look great every time."

And not refer to flying even once during the dates. "What the frak am I supposed to talk about, then?"

"Pyramid. Books. Vids. Actual stuff, Kara."

And she couldn't sleep with any of them. "What's the point, Helo? Isn't that what dating is, frakking them?"

"Oh, Kara."

"What? Why even go out with someone if I don't want to frak them?"

"To get to know them better."

"What for? They're either good in bed or they're not."

He'd just shaked his head.

Oh, but the worst part? He'd told her right before he shoved her out the door. She couldn't get drunk. Not if the date sucked. Not if the conversation lagged. Not at all.

So here she was, in a frakkin' dress, which she had to admit made her look pretty hot, sitting in a nice place, with money in her purse, just in case. Her purse, for frak's sake. What the frak did women carry these things for anyway? Everything fit in pockets, and if it didn't, she didn't need to carry it. Unless it was a gun, and then it strapped somewhere. And she was waiting for someone she didn't even know, so she could have dinner with him and get to know him, and then go home frustrated, because even if she wanted to, she couldn't frak him. Hmm. She could make Karl make that up to her. Could be fun.

She perked up. The guy coming toward wasn't bad. Damn. He'd turned away. She drank some more water and played with her nails - tried to, anyway. Another one of Karl's rules. She'd had to get a manicure and not chip the paint off her nails when she got bored. Hmm. Maybe it was this guy. He hadn't turned toward another table yet, but...he was checking out the guys as he passed. If this was her first blind date, she was never letting Karl live down that he'd set her up with a gay guy. Nope. He'd gone past her to another table in the corner. Wait. That guy, now...he was attractive. Nice smile. He was wearing a suit, though. How was she supposed to check out his ass when he was wearing a suit? She huffed. Guess it doesn't matter, since I can't frak him, anyway. She caught a glimpse of something behind him. What the frak is Karl doing here? Frakker. Not only had to give me all these rules, but has to come watch it be a disaster? She sighed.

The guy stopped at the table. "Are you Kara?"

Mmm. Make that very attractive. "Yeah, I'm Kara."

He took the hand she'd held out and said, "Hi Kara. I'm Sam."

She looked over at Karl while the guy - Sam - was sitting down. He had a smirk on his face, which meant there was something about this date that she wasn't going to like. Frakkin' Karl.