Johan's Joy (Heroes for Hire #22) - Dale Mayer Page 0,52

what it’ll be like for a lot of people.”

“Kind of depressing though,” she said. “Since I’ve come here, it’s been very hard to meet people.”

“And that’s to be expected in some ways,” he said. “I think it’s much harder nowadays to meet people, especially if you’re not online all the time. Instead people tend to choose one of the many dating apps to hook up.”

“I guess I’m a little old-fashioned that way. I’d prefer to like the guy and to know something about him before I go to bed with him,” she said with a smile.

“Good,” he said, laughing. “Ditto for me.”

“Have you ever used the dating apps?”

“No, I haven’t,” he said. “I’m so busy with work and traveling, it’s never been my thing.”

“And yet it would be easy,” she said. “While you’re in town, you could find somebody to spend time with, whether it becomes an in-bed hookup or not. Seems at least fifty, sixty, or one hundred people—all signed up to these apps—are within a few blocks.”

“You’ve checked them out?”

“I did,” she said. “I tried a couple dates with those online apps back in Boston. You know how they say they use computer algorithms to make a good match? I didn’t find that to be true, at least not in my case.”

“So you didn’t pursue any of them?”

“No. I had coffee with one, lunch with another, and met in the park with the third. But, in all three instances, I didn’t want to see any of them a second time.”

“Interesting,” he said. “Billions of dollars go into sorting out those algorithms too.”

“I know, right?” Rolling her eyes, she said, “I figured it had to be my answers to the questions on the survey.”

“If you were truthful,” he said, “then the answers should have helped.”

“I was as truthful as I could be, I thought,” she said. “It’s always a weird feeling though, filling those things out, because there’s no real way to explain anything.”

“I haven’t filled one out,” he said, “so I’m not sure how it works.”

“It is completely computerized, and isn’t that sad? It’s like we’ve lost the human element,” she said.

“Yet I think it’s meant to put the human element back into our lives,” he said.

They came up to yet another red light, and she stared at it, wondering where the other vehicle went. “I guess so, but it seems sad that we can’t meet people through the old methods anymore.”

“When was the last time you went to a coffee shop and sat alone? Or went to the library? Or volunteered with a large group someplace where you could have met somebody? Or even gone to a bar and just sat there alone?”

“Never, never, never, and never,” she said with a laugh. “Good point. And, if I’m not meeting people at work, then what am I doing to meet people? Nothing.”

“Exactly. Whereas online, you can input your answers, meet up with all kinds of people, and choose to follow through to meet them in person. For an awful lot of people, it seems to be working out.”

“Maybe so,” she said. “For me, it just seems like something’s missing.”

“Well, obviously something was missing in those hookups that you’ve made,” he said gently. “That doesn’t mean the next one won’t be great though.”

“I deleted my profile before I moved here,” she said abruptly.

He shot her a surprised look. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “It just didn’t feel right for me.”

“And I think that’s important too,” he said. “You have to do what’s right for you.”

She settled into her seat, feeling better. “When are you guys going out tonight?”

“I don’t know for sure,” he said. “We’ll make that decision when we get back from dinner.” He took the truck around several corners, then pulled into a large parking lot.

As they pulled in, she was surprised to see Tyson’s SUV already parked there. “I wondered where they’d gotten to,” she said in surprise. “They beat us.”

“We weren’t far behind them,” he said, pulling into a larger spot a little farther down from Tyson’s vehicle and parked.

She hopped out, waited for him to come around the back of the truck, and together they walked over to join the other couple. “I couldn’t see you,” Joy said to Kai. “I figured you were lost.”

“Well, we were a little bit ahead,” she said, smiling.

“Interesting. I’ve never been to this restaurant,” she said, looking up at the massive building.

“It’s known for its ribs,” Tyson said. “And we all figured we could do with a good