goal needs help honing her strategy. I’m in the business of making women’s lives better by introducing them to their soul mates.”
“Why not pay for them to go to college and let them find their own dates?” Dax countered swiftly.
The onlookers shifted and murmured but neither Dax nor Elise so much as glanced away from their staring contest. An indefinable crackle sliced through the air between them. It was going to be beautiful on camera.
“There are scholarship opportunities out there already. I’m filling another niche, helping people connect. I’m good at what I do. You of all people should know that.”
Oh, she had not just gone there. Nearly nose to nose now, he smiled, the best method to keep ’em guessing. “Why would I know that? Because you single-handedly ruined both a business venture and a long-standing friendship when you introduced Leo to his gold digger?”
So, apparently that wound was still raw.
College roommates who’d seen the world through the same lens, he and Leo believed wholeheartedly in the power of success and brotherhood. Females were to be appreciated until they outlived their usefulness. Until Daniella, who somehow got Leo to fall in love with her and then she’d brainwashed his oldest friend into losing his ruthless business edge.
Not that he believed Daniella was 100 percent at fault. She’d been the instigator but Leo had pulled the plug on the deal with Dax. Both he and Leo had suffered a seven-figure loss. Then Leo ended their friendship for no reason.
The pain of his friend’s betrayal still had the power to punch quite a hole through his stomach. That was why it never paid to trust people. Anyone you let in eventually stomped all over you.
“No!” She huffed a sigh of frustration and shut her eyes for a beat, clearly trying to come up with a snappy response. Good luck with that. There wasn’t one.
But she tried anyway. “Because I single-handedly helped two people find each other and fall in love. Something real and lasting happened before your eyes and you had a front-row seat. Leo and Dannie are remarkably compatible and share values. That’s what my computer does. Matches people according to who they are.”
“The magic you alluded to earlier,” Dax commented with raised eyebrows. “Right? It’s all smoke and mirrors, though. You tell these people they’re compatible and they fall for it. The power of suggestion. Quite brilliant, actually.”
And he meant it. If anyone knew the benefit of smoke and mirrors, he did. It kept everyone distracted from what was really going on behind the curtain, where the mess was.
A red stain spilled across Elise’s cheeks, but she didn’t back down. “You’re a cynical man, Dax Wakefield. Just because you don’t believe in happily ever after doesn’t mean it can’t happen.”
“True.” He conceded the point with a nod. “And false. I readily admit to being cynical but happily ever after is a myth. Long-term relationships consist of two people who’ve agreed to put up with each other. No ridiculous lies about loving each other forever required.”
“That’s...” Apparently she couldn’t come up with a word to describe it. So he helped her out.
“Reality?”
His mother had proven it by walking out on his father when Dax was seven. His father had never recovered from the hope she’d eventually come back. Poor sap.
“Sad,” she corrected with a brittle smile. “You must be so lonely.”
He blinked. “That’s one I’ve never been called before. I could have five different dates lined up for tonight in about thirty seconds.”
“Oh, you’re in worse shape than I thought.” With another slide of her legs that Dax couldn’t quite ignore, she leaned toward him. “You need to meet the love of your life. Immediately. I can help you.”
His own bark of laughter startled him. Because it wasn’t funny. “Which part wasn’t clear? The part where I said you were a phony or the part where I don’t believe in love?”
“It was all very clear,” she said quietly. “You’re trying to prove my business, my life’s work, is a sham. You can’t, because I can find the darkest of hearts a match. Even yours. You want to prove something? Put your name in my computer.”
Double ouch. He’d been bamboozled. And he’d never seen it coming.
Against all odds, he dredged up a healthy amount of respect for Elise Arundel.
Hell. He actually kind of liked her style.
* * *
Elise wiped her clammy hands on her skirt and prayed the pompous Mr. Wakefield didn’t notice. This was not the scripted, safe interview she’d been promised or she never would have agreed to sit on this stage under all these burning hot lights, with what felt like a million pairs of eyes boring a hole through her.
Thinking on her feet was not her strong suit.
Neither was dealing with wealthy, spoiled, too-handsome, arrogant playboys who despised everything she believed in.
And she’d just invited him to test her skills. Had she accidentally inhaled paint thinner?
It hardly mattered. He’d never take her up on it. Guys like Dax didn’t darken the door of a matchmaker. Shallow, unemotional relationships were a snap to find, especially for someone who clearly had a lot of practice enticing women into bed. And was likely an ace at keeping them there.
Dax stroked his jaw absently and contemplated her. “Are you offering to find me a match?”
“Not just a match,” she corrected immediately and tore her gaze from the thumb running under his chiseled cheekbone. “True love. My gig is happily ever after.”
Yes. It was, and she hadn’t failed one single couple yet. She wasn’t about to start today.
Matching hearts fulfilled her in so many ways. It almost made up for not finding her own match. But hope sprang eternal. If her mother’s five marriages and dozens of affairs hadn’t squeezed optimism and a belief in the power of love out of her, Dax Wakefield couldn’t kill them either.
“So tell me about your own happily ever after. Is Mr. Arundel your one true love?”
“I’m single,” she admitted readily. It was a common question from clients who wanted her credentials and the standard answer came easily now. “But it’s not a commentary on my services. You don’t decide against using a travel agent just because she hasn’t been to the resort you’re booking, right?”
“Right. But I would wonder why she became a travel agent if she doesn’t ever get on a plane.”
The crowd snickered and the muscles in her legs tensed. Oh, spotlight how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways...
She’d be happy to get on a plane if the right man came along. But clients were always right for someone else, not her, and well...she wasn’t the best at walking up to interesting men in public and introducing herself. Friday nights with a chick flick always seemed safer than battling the doubts that she wasn’t quite good enough, successful
