Chapter Two
Juliet agreed to meet Deborah for tacos and margaritas on Thursday night, ostensibly to catch up. In actuality, Juliet's plan was to sell her friend on a blind date with her partner. Granted, Deborah, who was up for anything socially, had already agreed to the date. With a twinge of guilt – and maybe a little too much influence from Shawn and Gus – Juliet felt obligated to give advanced warning to anyone intending to spend time with Lassiter.
In college, Juliet had prided herself on her matchmaking skills. Her varied interests – ranging from sports to designer clothing – led her to circulate with a broad swath of the population, which meant she could forge connections between people who otherwise might never meet. Although most of the couples she put together didn't last much beyond the house party she'd brought them both to, she could count one engagement among her accomplishments.
Okay, okay, so they did break it off later, but that had nothing to do with Juliet.
She hadn't quite expected an assignment in her professional career to call on her background playing cupid, but Juliet was not one to turn down a challenge. Initially, she'd thought the hard part would be finding a woman who might tolerate Lassiter for an evening. But as she weighed options at the station and within her social circle, she came to realize that the true difficulty would be in identifying someone interesting enough to appeal to Lassiter.
Even after hearing his stories about the women he'd gone on dates with – none of them relationships that lasted beyond a couple coffees or at best dinner – Juliet struggled to get a sense of what he found attractive. Still, she knew he suffered no fools and had little patience for small talk.
That left her with Deborah the social worker: she had that rare combination of deep empathy measured with an inherent toughness. Juliet genuinely thought they might hit it off, but Lassiter was such a wild card sometimes, she couldn't know for sure. Although she didn't consider Deborah a close friend, she'd been a comfort at a point when Juliet needed to make friends in a new town, and a useful professional contact.
The last thing she wanted, however, was for either – or both – her partner and friend to get pissed at her for a bad date. Real matchmaking, it turned out, was a more stressful endeavor than the romantic comedies made it out to be.
Juliet spotted Deborah sitting at the bar as she came in and the hostess waved her through.
"Taco Thursday!" Deborah, half-excited, half-ironic, announced to Juliet as soon as she got within shouting distance. They embraced and mutually lamented the long interval since their last outing.
Juliet eased into the bar stool next to Deborah, tucking her handbag on the hook below the bar. "You haven't been waiting long, have you? I got caught up with something at work."
"Ah, don't worry about it. As long as there's tequila in the house, I'm just fine." She picked up her glass and gave it a swirl; it was nearly empty.
When the bartender stopped by for orders, Juliet requested a margarita to join Deborah's second.
"Should we grab a table or just stay here?" Deborah asked.
Thursday marking the unofficial start of the weekend, it was getting more crowded than a typical weeknight. Juliet agreed not to waste any time waiting to move to a different spot, and they requested bar menus.
While considering their meal options, which included fancified Mexican standards in small plate format, they chatted about their respective jobs. In between stories, they ordered plates of carnitas and chicken tacos.
Eventually, the conversation drifted toward their reason for meeting. Deborah drained her glass and looked Juliet square in the eye. "All right, I've been on a few blind dates in my day, but none that required a full briefing beforehand."
Juliet bit her lip. "I know it seems weird. The stakes are little higher than usual with this one."
As if to offer a moment of reprieve before she had to delve into the story, their food arrived, the bartender setting a circle of plates in front of them.
Unsure of how to phrase it delicately, Juliet dove right in. "My partner has been having some trouble with women lately, and he's been… frustrated as a result. The Chief basically gave me orders to find him a date."
Deborah studied her for a moment, incredulous. "So, you're pimping him out so he can get laid?"
"No!" Juliet exclaimed. Then she paused, considering. "Okay, maybe that's exactly what I'm doing."
Deborah snorted. "You work in a very strange place."
"But, I mean, that's not terrible, is it? Carlton is not a bad guy – he deserves some love."
Deborah looked at her, wry. "So, what's stopping you from volunteering for this noble work?"
Juliet, in the midst of sipping from her salt-rimmed margarita, sputtered liquid back over her hand. "Oh, God, no!"
Eyebrow raised, Deborah let out a chuckle. "That's not exactly a promising sign."
Sopping up her spill with a napkin, Juliet tried to backpedal. "It's not what it sounds like… or is it?" She took a moment to compose her thoughts. "It's just – we work together too closely for that to even be an option. And he's my senior partner, so he's sort of my boss – but don't tell him I said that."
Deborah shrugged; she knew how it was.
After another hesitation, Juliet tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "The truth is, he's taken great pains to let me know that he doesn't consider me a romantic prospect, even as a remote possibility."
"What, you? What's wrong with him, then?"
Juliet took a delicate sip of her rapidly diminishing drink. A shy smile came to her lips, but she didn't answer.
"Are you sure he's worth my time?"
"Yes! He's not – it's the job." It was difficult to articulate this idea she had – both the disappointment of his rejection and relief of his certainty about avoiding the quagmire of personal involvement, probably gained at great personal expense. Lassiter held a lot of conflicting emotions simmering just below the surface, and even after spending a couple years trying to suss him out, Juliet still didn't have a total grasp on what went on inside his head.
"Relax: I'm just teasing." Deborah watched for her reaction. "But I can't help but notice that you're investing a lot of attention on a guy you're not trying to date yourself."
Juliet took a long moment to decide whether to mention this thing, which she'd already sworn to herself she wouldn't. Finally, she sighed, relying on her trust in Deborah's non-judgmental attitude. "The truth is, when I started, there was a rumor around the station that he had an affair with his last partner. We've never talked about it, and I'm still not sure whether it's true. But I think that's why he's so gun-shy around me sometimes. And about women in general."
"Nothing unusual there," Deborah said dryly.
"Oh, and did I mention he's not technically divorced yet, either?"
"You must really like this guy to push so hard for him."
Juliet rested her chin on one hand, half-covering a smile. In general, she wanted people around her to feel happy – and her optimistic nature meant that she believed this to be possible – and especially so for the man who actively recoiled from anything resembling happiness. The more difficult the task, the greater the reward. "I just think he has a lot of potential. I want him to be happy – and that can only benefit me. And who knows? Maybe you'll hit it off."
Deborah allowed this reasoning.
They dug into the tacos and ate in silence for a few moments.
"Listen," Juliet began, putting her taco down. "I know you wouldn't be a jerk, but I need to mention this. Maybe things won't go well, but if that's the case, I have a favor to ask."
Deborah shrugged. "What is it?"
"Just – please don't leave him at the table without saying something. If it doesn't work out, that's fine. But if you don't want to stay the whole night, just tell him you're not feeling it. I swear he won't freak out."
Silent for a moment, Deborah stared at her. "Juliet, you are not making a great case for this guy."
Wincing, she said, "I know, I know. But I'm making him promise not to tell the dead clown story."
"Dead clown?"
"You don't want to know."
Deborah laughed. "At least now I'll know what to ask if the conversation drags."
Juliet shook her head. If anyone was going to come out of a dinner with Lassiter intact, this would be the woman.
"So… what is going on in your dating life these days?"
Juliet rolled her eyes. "God – where do I start?"