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“Asshole,” she muttered. Molly made a sound of agreement from her doggy basket. She was currently curled up with a stuffed toy that had been part of the prize, the little plush lobster firmly secured under one leg.
“Fine, I’ll go. No peeking.” He winked at her.
Yep, they were back to teasing alright. Probably for the best—the last thing she needed was Keaton looking at her like he might want round two of that kiss. Or more.
Think you won’t be able to say no?
She wasn’t confident.
Keaton disappeared into the bathroom and music blasted from his phone, then the sound of rushing water followed.
“Don’t forget the fan,” she called out, and a second later the whirring sound started up.
August smiled. She remembered Leah shouting the same thing at him when they were kids, because he’d always take hot showers without turning the fan on, leaving the girls with a fogged-up mirror. Leah had loved to stay in the bathroom for hours playing with makeup, and that was impossible when you couldn’t see your own reflection.
August plopped down onto the bed and dropped her head into her hands. The thought of him being fully naked with water streaming down his body mere feet away was doing funny things to her insides. Maybe she should just concede defeat and move to another room.
Or maybe you need to try harder to convincehimto move rooms?
It was clear she had as much willpower resisting Keaton as she did a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies. It was futile. No matter how much time passed, there would always be some part of her that yearned for him.
Before she could decide on the room situation, her phone rang. Talk about a welcome distraction! She fished the buzzing device out of her purse and blinked in surprise. It was the matchmaking agency.
She swiped her thumb across the screen. “Hello?”
“Hi, August, it’s Maxine Diamond. Is this a good time to talk?”
“Uh, sure.”
For some reason, her heart started to beat a little faster. Was something wrong? Had Asher called the agency to say he wasn’t interested in another date with her? Everythingfeltlike it had gone according to her expectations. Sure, there was no real spark, but even that was still in line with her plans. What if—
Stop spiraling.
“Great,” Maxine said. Her voice was deep for a woman, and a little gravelly, and she spoke with a warmth and confidence that made you want to listen to her. “I need to talk to you about Asher.”
“Okay.” Something about Maxine’s tone didn’t feel right, almost like she was leading up to something.
“I’ve come across the unfortunate information that he’s registered with more than one agency. I found this out by accident when talking with a former staff member of mine who now runs her own matchmaking business.”
“The implication of that is...?”
“Well, he’s been matched with different women at each agency.” She sighed. “It turns out that he was in talks with the producers for that reality TV show,The Bachelor, but they ended up going with someone else in the end. He apparently still wants to live that fantasy, however, so he approached several agencies and is making the experience for himself, all while writing an article forNew York Magazineabout running his own ‘red rose experience,’ as he called it.”
“What?” August’s stomach dropped suddenly as if she was on a theme park ride.
“I’msosorry about this. I obviously would not have paired you if I hadanyidea that this was happening. It’s a huge breach of the agreement he signed with us, and my legal team is currently looking at how we can block the publication of his article.”
August pressed her palm to her forehead.
Don’t vomit. Don’t vomit. Don’t vomit.
Keaton was going to have a field day with this. He’d warned her about Asher from the moment he found out they were dating. Well...going on dates. That felt like an important distinction. Theyweren’ttechnically in a relationship yet. But she’d hoped it was moving in that direction.
So, it still felt like a betrayal. An embarrassment. Another black mark on her disastrous dating record.
“August?” Maxine sighed. “Are you still there?”
“Yes,” she croaked in response. “I, uh... I need a moment to process this.”
