"What?" Jenna couldn't believe it. "That wasn't a part of what I agreed to."

"Happy Birthday!" they all cheered.

"No way. That has bad idea all over it. What if he's hideous, or a jerk, or boring? Or worse, he thinks I'm all those things."

The last blind date the girls had set her up on had turned out to be a disaster. She swore then she'd never do it again. Dating had never been a priority for her. Well, not until the last month. Once again the idea of growing old alone tugged at the back of her brain. It was the reason she'd agreed to come on this little excursion in the first place.

Being thirty and single on a space colony, even one as prosperous as Mars, wasn't a pleasant experience.

Rhonda knew her dilemma. Growing up together they used to feel sorry for the colonists who would come into her father's store to check the singles ads. Some had even gone the route of mail-order spouses from Earth-sight unseen. She never understood how desperate someone had to be to do something like that-until recently.

Ruby patted Jenna's hand, interrupting her thoughts. "Too bad, Professor. The lucky man behind this screen is the winner of a date with you for at least thirty minutes."

"Push it," Michelle said.

Rhonda clicked the screen. The header screen blinked away to reveal the name of her date.

Ben Hawthorn.

"Is he famous? Shit, I was hoping for someone famous," Michelle sighed.

Jenna froze. No, my luck can't be this bad.

"Pictures, we need pictures," Rhonda muttered and began to click different links.

"There won't be any," Jenna said, her voice barely a whisper.

12.

Within a few seconds Rhonda managed to pull up an image. The quality was poor but that didn't matter. Jenna's world bottomed out when she saw him. The blurry image showed a man in his late thirties. He had dark hair, and from the picture she couldn't tell the color of his eyes, but knew full well they were hazel. Jenna shivered. He wasn't smiling, but it looked like he had that same small smirk he got whenever he thought he was right. There was something in the way he held his body that caught her attention-while still the same overconfident Ben, there was something different, changed. Not that any of that mattered because he was the last man on Mars who she wanted fulfilling her fantasies.

"He doesn't look too bad, but this picture does suck. If nothing else you'll have a good story to tell us when you get back," said Ruby.

"Press yes if you are interested in arranging a date with this person. Press next if you would like to make another match," the computer spoke smoothly.

Rhonda laughed and clicked yes.

"Oh shit, wait!" Jenna tried to stop her, but couldn't reach her.

"Too late," Ruby laughed.

"What's wrong, Jen?"

Jenna groaned. "Gods, why did it have to be Ben?"

The three women looked at each other, and then Jenna.

Michelle spoke first, "I'm sorry, I'm obviously missing something. Who is this guy?"

She knew her friends weren't going to care once she told them. But it was worth a shot.

"Mr. Hawthorn is the CEO of CalCorp, the company that has just partnered with the university for the Rebuild project."

"That's the new committee they stuck you on?" Ruby asked.

This wasn't going to work. "Yes. Mr. Hawthorn is the financial backer and the university is supposed to conduct the research to determine if old Mars is able to be reconstructed."

"So why the bad picture if he's rich? Is he hideous or something?" Michelle poked the vid screen with her finger.

Jenna shook her head, "No, Ben's quite good-looking." Unbelievably fucking hot to be precise. But with his good looks came a stubborn, uncompromising streak that made her life a living hell seven years ago. He was oil to her water in every way. "He is, for the most part, a total recluse. And one of the biggest assholes on the planet."

"Ben? You sound like you really do know him," Michelle said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Is this cheating? It feels like cheating."

"Wait a minute, I remember him," Rhonda smiled. "He was the one who wouldn't let you continue your research or something."

13.

Jenna crossed her arms across her chest. "Seven years ago. The impact of transplanting genetically modified food from Earth onto Mars soil."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Riveting."

"If memory serves you liked him quite a bit, up until he squashed your project. I believe you even thought he was hot. Correct?" asked Rhonda, a smirk playing on her lips.

Jenna ground her teeth, knowing there was no point in denying what Rhonda knew as truth. "So?"

"So...I think you need to relax. Assume what he did was for business reasons and let it go. Face the facts. You, my dear, are going on a date with Mr. Ben Hawthorn,"

Rhonda said and leaned back into the seat with a smug smile on her face.

The crack and fizz of the holographic proprietor popped into view.

"Ah, I see my favorite ladies have finally made a match."

Jenna's mouth went dry. "It seems that way."

"Well, I hope the lucky man can handle such a large group."

Rhonda shot him a look that normally quelled her most annoying students. "My friend here is very pleased with her choice. What do you do now?"

"Well, it appears that your match is one of our special clients. Congratulations, my dear."

"Thanks," Jenna said with fake enthusiasm.

"You need to wait to see if your perfect match is interested in meeting up with you.

If he is, he'll call you to arrange everything. Then you're all set for a date. If he doesn't, you can give me a call."

Jenna cringed. "When should I expect to hear?"

"He has twenty-four hours to make up his mind. Stay by the communicator."

The need for air became overwhelming. She nodded, and stepped around her friends and out into the hallway so she could breathe. This was such a bad idea. She hated smugness and Ben was the epitome of smug.

I'm sorry things had to end this way, Miss Robins. But it's for the best.

She came awfully damn close to ending up in jail that day. Assault and bodily harm. She knew, just knew it would be worse if they actually went on a date. Whenever she didn't listen to her gut, bad things always followed.

Ben Hawthorn was going to prove to be very bad news.

"You okay?" Ruby was the first to come out.

"I'll be fine. Was getting hot in there."

"I wonder how long it will take for you to find out if he wants to meet with you?"

Rhonda asked as she emerged.

"I wouldn't count on a date, ladies. Ben and I are oil and water. I doubt he wants to see me any more than I want to see him." Jenna could only hope.

14.

The women talked for several more minutes before Jenna waved and got in the public transportation shuttle. She needed to get home and rest. With all of the problems on the new project, and now this whole dating issue with Ben, she was exhausted. Her body fell heavily into the compartment chair and the shuttle began to move on to the next station. The red Mars landscape outside the dome glass whizzed by, and slowly helped melt the tension from her shoulders.

Looking at the beauty of her home always set her at ease. This planet was her whole life, just as it had been her parents. And what most people didn't realize was that it was in serious danger. In enough danger that she'd neglected her own love life since she'd begun her research ten years ago. If she could figure out what had killed the terraformed soil in sections of old Mars, she'd be able to save their current dome.

Her PCD buzzed on her hip. She withdrew the device to check the message. One of her preliminary experiments regarding the viability of the soil in that area of the planet should be finishing up any time now. She didn't recognize the email address of the new message. Opening the note, there were only a few words contained in the message. She read them over and over, not quite believing it.

Yes. Tomorrow 8 p.m.

15.

Chapter Two.

Jenna paced back and forth in front of her condo window. He wasn't coming. He couldn't be coming. This was Ben after all. He probably wanted to play a cruel trick on her by agreeing to the date and then not showing up. Why would he want to date someone like her anyway? She paused once more and peeked outside to see if a transportation shuttle had arrived. Nothing.

Her pacing route ended at the mirror that took up half the wall of her living room.

Another quick inspection of her hair and the dress Rhonda had helped her buy didn't increase her confidence. She tugged at the low neckline, but it didn't help. Too much cleavage for her liking.

"It's not your liking you need to worry about. It's Mr. Ben who needs to approve,"

Rhonda had teased her at the store.

Why the hell would she care one ion for what he thought anyway?

She spun around, the maroon and blues of the dress blending together in the swirl of fabric. She had to admit, it did make her look good. And the sexy black lace bra and panties she wore underneath gave her an added feeling of wickedness. Not that Ben was going to get a chance to see them. That was her little secret.

Jenna sighed as she plopped down on her chair. She hadn't given Ben any thought for the last few years. He'd aggravated her to no end when they'd worked on her project. The fact that he was domineering and always thought he knew what was best didn't help the fact she'd been hot for him from their first meeting. Only a dead woman wouldn't gush at the sight of his perfect body and handsome face. Gods knew every female on the project did nothing but moon over him every time he walked into the room. Back then, Ben didn't pay anyone any attention-except her. Of course she was only the object of his teasing and rebukes regarding what she wanted to accomplish.

Not the kind of behavior to base a relationship on.

What the hell was she doing? She doubted he was really interested in her. He hadn't been seven years ago, why would he be now? Knowing Ben, he probably wanted to preemptively woo her over to his side of the Rebuild project. Now wasn't that a charming thought?

Two men laughed as they walked by on the street below. Jenna jumped up to peek out to see who it was, her nerves starting to get the better of her. It was then she saw a long black car slowly move down her street and pull up in front of her condo. Who the hell drives in a personal vehicle anymore? It took her a second to will her hands to let go of the curtain and make her body move when she realized it was Ben. Oh gods, he's actually here for me. In a dash, she grabbed her shawl and purse and headed for the door.

Not too quickly though. She didn't want him to think she was too anxious for this date.

16.

Anxious to see if the spark that had been there seven years ago still existed. She wasn't...not really.