We left Parker twerking alone in the apartment and hurried down the stairs.

By the time we were at the event space, we had calmed down.

As we walked in, it was clear that this was an expensive, expensive event. I gave Tinsley a hard look.

When we were approached by a staff member, I saw a glimpse of the paper that Tinsley signed. A few thousand dollars had gone into our experience here. It included the pricey one-on-one time with the company’s owner, Wolf Saber.

“Who paid for this?” I took a glass of champagne off a tray.

Tinsley bit her lips together and shrugged.

I tilted my head to the side in disbelief.

“Fine. You know who.” She took a long sip.

“Austin paid for this? He wants me to find a match this much?” It hurt. I took a long swallow as well, until I had drained the whole glass.

“He just wants you to be happy, and this place has a great reputation.” She glanced around at all the dressed up singles. “There are a lot of hot guys here.”

“He’s Austin.” I toasted myself as I realized how futile the rest of my life would be. I was madly in love with Austin. It was part of who I was.

A staff member appeared at my elbow. “Taylor Boland? Hi, I’m Shing. You have a VIP meeting. Why don’t you bring that glass and we can get that over with before the event?”

I shot Tinsley a look, but she was already walking away. I was the only one with the VIP setup. Man, Austin really wanted to get rid of me. I was seconds from walking right out and taking a car home, but I couldn’t leave a woman by herself even if she had half-sabotaged me.

“This is where Mr. Saber is basing his office in this city, so please, make yourself comfortable.”

She indicated the red leather chair. I moved to it and sat down.

“He’ll be right in.” She was smiley, like a receptionist. The space wasn’t fancy, and it had quite a few portable filing cabinets.

I waited for a few minutes, but before I could take out my phone from my purse, a man opened the door. He had piercing blue eyes and a very dominant demeanor.

I went to stand and he put out his hand to stop me. “Please, stay seated. I have no idea how you ladies walk around in those heels all the time. Take a load off while you can.” He slid behind the desk and picked up a folder. I could see now that it had my last name on it.

“So what goes on here?” I wasn’t getting a bad feeling, but it was definitely out of my wheelhouse.