Page 73 of No Match Found
I stared at him, half-amused, half-exasperated. Ofcoursehe already thought Matchify would fail. He’d wowed Jill on their date, flirted away the morning with Jenna…why not slide into third by beating Matchify and sweeping me off my feet? Easy peasy, according to him.
The sheer arrogance of it was astounding.
Did he really think I was so easy to manipulate?
Katie had said it a few minutes ago: I was a seasoned professional. This was my company, and this was my chance to stand behind it and prove it worked.
And to serve a healthy portion of humble pie to Grant Wilder.
I reached over and unmuted the phone. “I’m in.”
TWENTY-TWO
Grant couldn’t have looked moresurprised if I’d thrown rotten fruit in his face.
He barely spoke for the last couple minutes of the call, and that alone was enough to make me glad I’d said yes. Would I evernotfind joy in taking Grant Wilder by surprise?
On some level, I was aware that this was getting out of hand. What I’d originally thought was an hour-long interview with him had morphed into turning my dating life into a spectator sport. Now, I’d agreed to go out with the man I was trying to fight feelings for as some sort of twisted experiment to save my company.
But I was going to win that experiment. Grant and I were going head-to-head at the science fair, and I was taking home the gold medal.
When the line clicked off, Grant slowly reached for his phone, a furrow between his brows. He held it in his hand for a second, staring at it, then looked up at me.
I met his gaze, unflinching.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked.
I raised a brow. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Was he genuinely worried I wouldn’t be able to handle one measly date with him? That I’d be so overwhelmed by his charm that I’d throw my hands in the air and admit Matchify was a scam?
“I’m just not sure you had time to think it through properly.”
I stood and rolled my chair so that the seat was under the desk. “What’s there to think through? It’s a date, Grant. Not a career change.” I grabbed my mouse and leaned forward, pullingup my calendar. “When works for you? I’ve got something tomorrow night, but I could do?—”
“Vivian.”
I jumped. He was standing right next to me. I hadn’t even noticed him get up from his chair.
I stood straight to face him. “What?” The quickness of my heartbeat was because he’d surprised me. That was all.
His eyes searched mine. They were more serious than usual. Not dark and dangerous like they’d been at the club, but there was none of the usual twinkling behind the frames.
I adjusted my glasses and waited for him to talk.
“If we go on a date, it won’t bejust a date.” He said the words slowly, deliberately, and there was a keenness in his eyes, like he needed me to understand this.
My pulse fluttered. “Meaning?”
“I’ll be pulling out all the stops. Testing Matchify’s algorithm.” There was a pause as his eyes searched mine. “I won’t be going easy on you.”
My breath hitched, but I smiled patronizingly and patted his shoulder. “Noted. So…Wednesday?”
He watched me for a second, then gave a nod and stepped back. “Wednesday.”
Only once he’d turned away did I let out a long, slow sigh and start to question what I’d gotten myself into.
“I saidto let the forbidden fruit go bad, Viv—not stuff your face with it.” Katie flipped through the pieces of clothing in my closet. “Maybe I should be coming with you on this date—make sure you don’t do anything self-destructive.”
I pulled out a linen blazer, then hung it up again. “I’m notstuffing my facewith forbidden fruit. I’m…” I struggled with how to continue the metaphor, then let out a gush of frustration. “Look. You’re the one who said I’m a professional, right? This isn’t a pleasure date. It’s a business date. It’s a professional date.”
