Matched to Her Rival

By nine forty-seven, he’d participated in three conference calls, signed a contract for the purchase of a regional newspaper, read and replied to an in-box full of emails, and drunk two cups of coffee. Dax lived for Wakefield Media.

And now he’d have to sacrifice some of his day to the Fairy Godmother. Because he said he would.

Dax’s mother was a coldhearted, untrustworthy woman, but in leaving, had taught him the importance of living up to your word. That was why he rarely promised anything.

EA International resided in a tasteful two-story office building in Uptown. The clean, low-key logo on the door spoke of elegance and sophistication, exactly the right tone to strike when your clients were high-powered executives and entrepreneurs.

The receptionist took his name. Dax proceeded to wait until finally she showed him to a room with two leather chairs and a low table strewn with picture books, one sporting a blue-and-gold fish on the cover and another, a waterfall.

Boring. Did Ms. Arundel hope to lull her clients into a semi-stupor while she let them cool their heels? Looked as though he was about to find out.

Elise clacked into the room, high heels against the hardwood floor announcing her presence. He glanced up slowly, taking in her heels, those well-built legs, her form-fitting scarlet skirt and jacket. Normally he liked taller women, but couldn’t remember why just then. He kept going, thoroughly enjoying the trip to her face, which he’d forgotten was so arresting.

Her energy swept across him and prickled his skin, unnerving him for a moment. “You’re late.”

Her composed expression didn’t waver. “You were late first.”

Not that late. Ten minutes. Maybe. Regardless, she’d made him wait in this pseudo dentist’s office on purpose. Score one for the matchmaker. “Trying to teach me a lesson?”

“I assumed you weren’t going to show and took a call. I am running a business here.” She settled into the second chair and her knee grazed his.

She didn’t even seem to notice. His knee tingled but she simply crossed her legs and bounced one siren-red pump casually.

Just as casually, Dax tossed the fish book back on the table. “Busy day. The show does not go on without a lot of hands-on from yours truly.”

But that didn’t really excuse his tardiness. They were both business owners and he’d disrespected her. Unintentionally, but point taken.

“You committed to this. The profile session takes several hours. Put up or shut up.”

Hours? He nearly groaned. How could it possibly take that long to find out he liked football, hated the Dallas Cowboys, drank beer but only dark and imported, and preferred the beach to the mountains?

Dax drew out his phone. “Give me your cell phone number.” One of her eyebrows lowered and it was so cute, he laughed. “I’m not going to prank call you. If this is going to take hours, we’ll have to split up the sessions. Then I can text you if I’m going to be late to the next one.”

“Really?”

He shrugged, not certain why the derision in her tone raised his hackles. “Most women think it’s considerate to let them know if you’re held up. My apologies for assuming you fell into the category of females who appreciate a considerate man.”

“Apology accepted. Now you know I’m in the category of woman who thinks texting is a cop-out. Try an actual phone call sometime.” She smiled, baring her teeth, which softened the message not at all. “Better yet, just be punctual. Period.”

She’d accepted his quasi-apology, as if he’d meant to really convey regret instead of sarcasm.

“Personal questions and punctuality?” He tsked to cover what he suspected might be another laugh trying to get out. When was the last time he’d been taken to task so expertly? Like never. “You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Arundel.”

And she’d managed to evade giving out her digits. Slick. Not that he really wanted to call her. But still. It was kind of an amusing turnabout to be refused an attractive woman’s phone number.

“You can call me Elise.”

“Really?” It was petty repetition of her earlier succinct response. But in his shock, he’d let it slip.

“We’re going to be working together. I’d like it if you were more comfortable with me. Hopefully it’ll help you be more honest when answering the profile questions.”

What was it about her and the truth? Did he look that much like a guy who skated the edge between black and white? “I told you I’m not a liar, whether I call you Elise, Ms. Arundel or sweetheart.”

The hardness in her gaze melted, turning her irises a gooey shade of chocolate, and she sighed. “My turn to apologize. I can tell you don’t want to be here and I’m a little touchy about it.”

It was a rare woman who saw something other than what he meant for her to, and he did not want Elise to know anything about him, let alone against his will. Time for a little damage control.

“My turn to be confused. I do want to be here or I wouldn’t have agreed to our deal. Why would you think otherwise?”

She evaluated his expression for a moment and tucked the straight fall of dark hair behind her ear, revealing a pale column of neck he had an unexplainable urge to explore. See if he could melt those hard eyes a little more. Unadulterated need coiled in his belly.

Down, boy.

Elise hated him. He didn’t like her or anything she stood for. He was here to be matched with a woman who would be the next in a long line of ex-girlfriends and then declare EA International fraudulent. Because there was no way he’d lose this wager.

“Usually when someone is late, it’s psychological,” she said with a small tilt of her head, as if she’d found a puzzle to solve but couldn’t quite get the right angle to view it.

“Are you trying to analyze me?”

She scowled. “It’s not bargain-basement analysis. I have a degree in psychology.”

“Yeah? Me, too.”

They stared at each other for a moment, long enough for the intense spike in his abdomen to kick-start his perverse gene.

What was it about a smart woman that never failed to intrigue the hell out of him?

She broke eye contact and scribbled furiously in her notebook, color in her cheeks heightened.

She’d been affected by the heat, too.

He wanted to know more about Elise Arundel without divulging anything about himself that wasn’t surface-level inanity.

“The information about my major was a freebie,” he said. “Anything else personal you want to know is going to cost you.”

If they were talking about Elise—and didn’t every woman on the planet prefer to talk about herself?—Dax wouldn’t inadvertently reveal privileged information. That curtain was closed, and no one got to see backstage.

* * *

Elise was almost afraid to ask. “Cost me what?”

When Dax’s smoke-colored eyes zeroed in on her, she was positive she should be both afraid and sorry. His irises weren’t the black smoke of an angry forest fire, but the wispy gray of a late November hearth fire that had just begun to blaze. The kind of fire that promised many delicious, warm things to come. And could easily burn down the entire block if left unchecked.

“It’ll cost you a response in kind. Whatever you ask me, you have to answer, too.”

“That’s not how this works. I’m not trying to match myself.”

Though she’d been in the system for seven years.