Patrick’s last comment bothered Alex, too, more than he wanted to admit. He wondered sometimes how the fact that he rarely dated impacted his reputation. Every once in a while, he considered opening up MatchupNow and looking for his own perfect match, but he never did. Part of him didn’t think that there was anyone out there who really could be a long-term match for him—he was too much of a perfectionist, too busy with work, and too distant for most people.
Another part of him knew that even if he met the most wonderful woman in the world, he wouldn’t have time to date her, marry her, or start a family. Even with Grace…
Alex cut himself off before he could get any further with that thought. It wasn’t as though Grace was his perfect match. She was his employee. A great employee. Maybe even a friend. But nothing more.
Trying to banish all thoughts of dating and money and entitled billionaires from his mind, Alex headed back to work. He stopped on the way to pick up some takeout, since he hadn’t eaten at the event, and went straight up to his office. He expected to be at work alone. It was a Sunday evening, after all, and people should be home with friends and family or pursuing their hobbies.
To his surprise, though, a light was on down the hall from his office. He stopped by to tell whoever it was to go home and found Grace sitting at her desk, alone, looking at her computer. She was biting her lip, and her brow was furrowed as if in concentration. As he watched her, she twirled a strand of her hair and let out a sigh.
Despite himself, Alex was very glad she was there. It was nice to see her, especially after the frustrating interaction with Patrick.
He didn’t go into her office. Instead, he walked quietly down the hall toward his own office, smiling to himself.
CHAPTER 6
GRACE
“Come on,” Grace muttered. Then she quickly closed her mouth and looked around to make sure no one had heard her. No one had, because she was alone in the MatchupNow offices late on a Sunday evening. Any reasonable person would be at home spending time with their loved ones or relaxing before a busy week.
Someday, Grace might try to learn to relax. She’d heard it was good for people. But for now, she was close, so close, to solving a bug that had taken up all her thoughts since going home yesterday. Alex had told her not to come in, but she hadn’t been able to help herself. She’d gone into the office, checked out the master laptop, and dived into the code.
If Alex didn’t keep such close control of the work, she could have done this from the comfort of her couch at home, wearing pajamas and holding a cup of tea, but here she was instead, in the office, alone.
She tried not to think about what Alex had said about ghosts. He’d been joking.
Grace tapped a line of code into the screen, then backspaced it all away with a sigh. Just then, she heard something behind her and turned, her heart racing. The door to her office was open, and a figure stood outlined in the hall lights.
“Who…” The question petered out in Grace’s throat as the figure stepped closer. She stood, ready to try to fight back, when the figure revealed itself to be Alex. Grace let out her breath in a whoosh as relief overtook her.
“Hey,” Alex said. He held out a coffee cup. “I brought you some coffee. With vanilla creamer, just like you like it.”
“Thanks.” Grace crossed to him and accepted the coffee with a smile. “I thought you were a ghost.”
“Sorry to disappoint.” Alex winked, and Grace shuddered.
“No, thank you. I would much rather see you than a ghost.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“If you’d like.” Grace smiled and sipped her coffee. It was perfectly balanced, as if she’d made it herself. Alex must have paid attention to the coffee she drank.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” Grace asked. “I thought you were at some fancy networking event.”
“I was, but I left,” Alex admitted. “Those guys annoy me.”
“Those guys?”
“The rich, powerful San Valentinos who think they can have anything and everything because of their families,” Alex said. He sighed. “There’s a new guy, Patrick Hale, who just started a dating app, and he’s the worst kind. So entitled. Such a jerk.”
“Aren’tyouone of San Valentino’s rich and powerful?” Grace asked.
“Yes, but it’s different,” Alex said. “At least I worked for what I have.” He shook his head. “Anyway, no point in dwelling on it. There will always be people like that in this city. Please, distract me. What are you working on?”
“The ordering algorithm,” Grace said. “You know, the one that determines the order in which new profiles are shown to the user?”
“I’m familiar,” Alex said with a nod. He was all business again. “What’s going wrong?”
“Well, it works for the most part,” Grace explained, returning to her desk and sitting down. “But I’m having trouble ranking which features should get highest priority in determining the order. What do you think I should do?”
