Take a Chance on Me by Vanessa Devereaux Page A

just add that here in
the love department, there is no room for cynics…”
    “I don’t know the first thing about love among
the mortals.”
    “You’re here to learn. You do know that we
arrange for couples to meet in the first place, don’t you?”
    “We make people fall in love?”
    Nadine shook her head. “Not
exactly. I mean, they’re destined for one another, but sometimes they
need a little help getting together, you know? Just a little push, and that’s
where we step in.”
    “Sort of like matchmakers?”
    “Exactly,” said Nadine, punching the air.
    “So how do we do that?”
    “That’s going to be your new job. I’m getting a
bit too old to do all the work, so you’ve come along at the right time.”
    Sadie had heard that Nadine was actually 400
years old, but lied about her age on her driver’s license.
    “Oh, and I should tell you that we’re also
responsible for mind-blowing orgasms, too. If you ever come
across a couple who need a little help in that department, that is.”
    Sadie almost choked on her own spit.
    “I have to arrange for mortals to…you know…?”
    “Well, you help them just a tad.   Most women would be very disappointed if we
didn’t enhance things a little. Yes, some mortal men have no idea how to make a
lady go cross-eyed or what to do to curl her toes. Quite sad,
really.”
    “So, what’s my first assignment?”
    Nadine snapped her fingers and her file cabinet
rolled open. A thick folder overflowing with papers flew through the air and
landed with a thump on her desk.
    She slid it across to Sadie. “Here you go: a
list of couples we need to get together. Read through them and start to make
notes of who belongs with whom.”
    Sadie was about to raise her finger in the air
and direct it at the folder when Nadine slammed her fist down on the desk,
making her pink tea cup jump so high it careened off the desk before shattering
on the floor.
    “Darn it, that was my favorite one,” said
Nadine. “You are not to use your witches’ skills for this.”
    “But I’m a witch, and this is the love
department.”
    “It’s your punishment. You will match them up
with non-witching skills.”
    Sadie looked at the folder. Shit, this would
take all of fifty years.
    “Go on, off you go. And no
getting into any trouble. You’re to report back to me in a week, at
which time I want to hear you’ve got at least one couple together.”
    Sadie grabbed the folder and headed outside. She
snapped her fingers and returned to her house to live among the mortals. She
flopped down onto the couch, glanced out the window and noticed her neighbor
outside in his yard. He still had his leg in a cast and was sitting on a chair, suntanning .
    Sadie knew she should go and apologize to him.
She realized she’d been downright mean. Howe But first, she had to find two people to pair. She opened the
folder and looked at the case histories and photos. This would take forever.
She couldn’t use her witching skills, but there had to be an easier way to do
this.
    An idea came to her.
    What better way to do the work than to get someone else––a
mortal––to do it?
    She’d open a matchmaking service. That would
narrow it down. People would sign up and she could read their profiles and pair
accordingly. Sadie closed the folder with a smile on her face. Maybe this
punishment wouldn’t be so bad after all.
     
    “You did what?”
    Mitchell ran his hand over his head, and for the first time in a decade
felt what could be considered actual hair and not the short stubble he’d grown
accustomed to. He glanced in the mirror: this new look would take some getting used to.  
    This whole
way of life will take some getting used to.
    “You still there?”
    His brother Ryan’s
voice jarred him back to more important things, like this blind date Ryan had
arranged without asking him first.   After
a bad experience, Mitchell had vowed never to try again. He’d thought he made
that more than clear to his