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“As if there was any doubt,” Sophie said with confidence. “Is this to taunt Oliver or to make him submit?”
“Neither. It’s a new dress and I wanted to wear it, what’s the big damn deal?”
Kendra chose that moment to buzz, and I had a feeling she was about to tell me that I wouldn’t get a moment to myself before my four o’clock appointment arrived. “Eva, Mr. March is here.”
Of course he is. “Thank you. I’ll be out in a moment.” He was five minutes early, which I decided to take as a good sign. “All right, you troublemakers, get out of here.”
Sophie stepped toward me and fluffed my hair, pulling a few strands around my shoulder with a smile. “Your boobs look great in this dress.”
I smacked her hands away. “Stop fussing!”
Olive laughed and took a step toward the door. “Good luck.”
I glared at my friends and business partners. “I hate you both.”
Their laughter rang down the hall and I shook my head, allowing a moment to just enjoy a hint of fun. I savored it for as long as I could and when my phone buzzed at four on the nose, I stood and made my way to the front of Time For Love offices with a professional smile on my face.
“Oliver. Ready to get started on day two?”
His smile spread slowly, almost simmering, as he unfolded his long body from the sofa, highlighting the physical differences between us. Where I was shorter with too many curves, Oliver was long with lean muscles everywhere. Today, he wore jeans and a plain gray T-shirt with some retro-style sneakers that gave him a boyish appeal that I found damned annoying. “Ready as I can be. You look nice today. Very nice.”
“Uh, thanks. And we haven’t even gotten to the appropriate compliment part of the lesson plan yet.” His deep chuckle sounded at my joke and I keep my head forward as I guided him to my office. “Did you finish the questionnaire?”
“I did.” Oliver held up a folder with a proud smile.
I frowned at the thick folder. “Pretty sure you didn’t have to answer the questions that thoroughly.” Still, I held my hand out to see why the file had almost quadrupled in size.
If I hadn’t seen it for myself, I never would have believed a man like Oliver March capable of blushing, but the pink stain on his cheeks was unmistakable. “This questionnaire was missing all the important questions so I added them. Just in case.”
I arched a brow at this man and his gall. “And your expertise on this matter is, what, tricking women into sleeping with you for a night or two? Thanks, but I think we’ll stick with our own questionnaire.”
“Suit yourself, but I never have a problem finding a date.”
“And this isn’t about finding a date, Oliver, it’s about finding a partner to spend your life with. Why is that such a difficult concept for you to understand?” I sucked in a deep breath until my ears started to ring, berating myself internally for letting Oliver get to me when I’d promised myself I wouldn’t. “Look, you know why this business exists, even if you don’t personally agree with it. Either trust me to do my job or admit that you never intended to give this a real shot.”
I watched the expressions on Oliver’s face go from shocked to angry and then confused before he settled on a charm offensive. “Why so serious, Ms. Vargas?”
“You’re not the only one with passion for your work, Mr. March.” His wince at my use of his formal name felt like a victory. “So, what’s it gonna be? Are we doing this, or are we done?” Honestly, it might be easier to just end the bet now.
“Fine, we’ll do it your way, but I still think my questions have merit.” He released the folder to me and I took my time looking over his answers. They were just as I had expected: charming and shallow, with just enough truth to be within the spirit of the bet.
I let that comment go because a girl had to pick her battles, and this one wasn’t worth the headache it would cause. “The next step on our end will be to use these answers to find the most compatible matches. The next step for you is to create a Time For Love profile, which we are doing today.”
“A profile? I thought you punched in a bunch of numbers and, bam, the perfect match pops up.”
I had to remind myself of the promise to stay calm, no matter how much Oliver tried to get a rise out of me. “That is the most common way that matches are made here, yes. But sometimes, our clients will request a meeting based on the profile when the compatibility score falls below what we recommend.”
