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I turn lead into gold. He calculates insurance risk.

Not the same thing.

Dora means well. I know she does. But she doesn't get it.

I don't want perfectly nice.

I don't want reasonable.

And I definitely don't want to spend the rest of my life making polite conversation with a man who gets more excited talking about mortality tables than he does looking at me.

I want a real mate.

The kind of man who makes my knees weak when he walks into a room.

Someone who looks at me and knows.

Someone who makes my magic spark and my heart pound and every curvy inch of me feel like I'm exactly the woman he's been waiting his whole life to find.

Maybe that's asking too much. Maybe I've read too many romance novels.

But I've seen what Dora has with Wulfy.

I know that kind of love exists.

So, why the hell should I settle for less?

Unfortunately, there’s one small problem with my dating strategy.

I hate confrontation.

And when I say hate, I mean hate.

Raised voices make my stomach hurt. Arguments make me want to crawl under the nearest table. And saying no to someone?

Especially someone older than me?

Someone in a position of authority?

Someone who smiles while saying, Aggie, darling, would you mind...

Apparently impossible.

It’s a character flaw.

I’m aware of it. I’m working on it.

Not very successfully, but personal growth takes time.

Unfortunately, the senior faculty at the Royal Academy figured out this particular weakness approximately five minutes after I started working here.

Which means I get volunteered for everything.

Student outings?

Aggie can do it.

Field trips?