Worst Date Ever (Scandals #3) Read Online Free

them well…and there’s profit sharing.  They wouldn’t screw that up.  I’d bet on it.”
    If not his employees and not someone from outside…that left just Michael himself, I thought, but I didn’t voice my opinion.  Christopher seemed to really like the guy, and Christopher wasn’t easily fooled, so I had to trust his opinion.
    “How about your competition?  Did you have a bad relationship with anyone else in the business?” Dallas asked.
    Michael sucked in a shallow breath.  “I guess that’s a possibility, but I don’t think so.  The market is booming right now, so there are plenty of singles to go around.  We do have the best record of making matches, which is good news and bad news.  Good news because happy customers give good word of mouth.  Bad news because if we make a successful match, clients get married or move in together and we lose at least two members.  It’s kind of a screwed-up business model.”
    “So you’re constantly replacing members…high customer churn?”  Dallas prompted.
    “Yes…exactly.  More hooking up means more churn which means more organic growth.”
    “I’m not really into dating and dating sites,” I told him.  “What motivates people…?”
    “To join?” he finished for me.
    “Well, I mean to voluntarily put themselves and their photographs out there… a constant supply of hopefully compelling content…maybe even bait, for strangers to see…and criticize?”
    “We try to educate our clients so they don’t take not being chosen as rejection.  Not everyone likes apple pie,” Michael explained, “which is a good thing because there wouldn’t be enough to go around.”
    “So some people like peach or lemon meringue,” Liberty jumped in.
    “Exactly.  It doesn’t mean one is better than the other…just personal preference.” Michael managed a smile.  I could tell that while he was proud of the success of his business, he genuinely enjoyed the challenge of making good matches.  “We tell people,” he continued, “not to focus on evaluating a person but ask themselves Can you laugh with that person?  Do you want to hang out with them even when you’re not feeling great?  To wake up next to them, morning breath and all?  To celebrate a promotion or a sale or share a pet?   A poorly designed dating website that relies on profiles can be easily manipulated by people giving the perfect answers or to describe who they wish they were rather than the truth about who they really are.  Our site is designed to avoid that pitfall.  Does that answer your question…uh…?”
    “Tulsa,” I told him.
    “Oh, sorry about that,” Christopher spoke up.  “In all the excitement, I didn’t introduce you to everyone.  Michael, these are Roger’s kids who are now working with me here at Scandals.”  Starting to his left, he glanced at us as he spoke our names.  “This is Killeen, Liberty, Dallas, Tulsa and Reno.”
    Michael nodded and smiled at each of us.  “Nice to meet you all. I barely knew your father, but he seemed like a nice guy.”  He glanced nervously at the clock on the wall.  “Well Christopher?  Can you help me?”
    “How about it, Tulsa?”  Christopher turned to me.  “You’re our resident tech expert.”
    I recognized it as a rhetorical question because, of course, he was going to help Michael.  But I was flattered that he made it sound like I was an important part of the decision.  “I’d be glad to work on this.  Cyber security is my specialty.”
    The man groaned and hugged his ribs.
    Christopher noticed and said, “You need to go to the emergency room and get fixed up.  We’ll put together a plan and get back to you with it.  Okay?”
    Michael appeared physically defeated.  He hung his head and closed his eyes.  “I can’t afford to miss any time from the agency with all this bad PR.  This could ruin me.”
    “You need medical attention first,” Christopher insisted.
    “But they’ll arrest