same way she was going to pretend her heart hadn’t broken when she’d lost the man she’d loved, her sweet little brother and her life in Delamer.
Anything was manageable if it matched her with a husband who could keep her in the States, and save her from having to watch Finn marry someone else.
With a laugh, Elise shook her head. “No, no. Don’t hold back. Tell me how you really feel. How about if I save you from further suspense and tell you I have your match?”
Juliet’s heart stuttered to a stop. This was it. The reason she’d come to America.
What would her future husband be like? Did he enjoy swimming and sailing and could she ask him to take her on trips to the beach? Would he be okay with her family coming to visit occasionally? Did he have a nice smile and laugh a lot?
Most important, would she be able to develop feelings for him that would fill the Finn-shaped hole inside?
Even though Elise guaranteed a love match, replacing Finn was probably too much to hope for.
Contentment would be enough. It had to be.
She swallowed the sudden burn in her throat. “That didn’t take long. I only finished your questions yesterday.”
Shrugging, Elise turned to face the ballroom, her shoulder bumping Juliet’s companionably. “Sometimes when I load the profile, I don’t get a match against someone already in the system and then we have to wait until new clients are entered. Yours came back immediately.”
Juliet wanted to ask for the name. And at the same time, she wanted to dive under the buffet table.
What was she doing here? This man in Elise’s system expected a certain kind of woman, one who could host his parties and mingle with his friends, smiling through boring stories of business mergers and tax breaks. And football. That was so not her.
She wanted to go home.
Then she thought about living in Delamer day in and day out and how often she saw Finn’s helicopter beating through the broad blue sky. Or how she’d stumbled over another photograph of him cutting the ribbon at the new primary school—that picture would never die.
A little girl who would attend the school had sneaked up and wrapped her arms around his thigh just before he cut the ribbon. Finn leaned down to kiss her cheek and presto. Instant immortalization via the hundreds of camera phones and paparazzi lenses in the audience.
The pictorial reminder of the prince’s sweet and charming nature stabbed her in the stomach every time. He was such a good guy, with a sense of honor she’d once loved—until realizing it was a front for his stubborn refusal to see how much he’d hurt her by taking his father’s side. There was no reasoning with Finn, and that trumped all his good qualities.
In Delamer, there were constant reminders of the void her brother Bernard’s death had created.
Any husband was better than that.
“What happens if I don’t like the man your computer picked?” Juliet asked, though surely Elise’s system had captured her exact specifications.
“There are no absolutes. If you don’t like him, we’ll find someone else, though it might take a while. However...” Elise hesitated. “I’d like you to keep an open mind about the possibilities. This man is perfect for you. I’ve never seen two more compatible people. Not even Leo and Dannie were this closely aligned, and look how well that turned out.”
Juliet nodded. Dannie and Leo Reynolds were definitely one of the most in-love couples in the history of time and had never even met each other before they signed on with EA International and got married. If Elise said this man was Juliet’s perfect match, why doubt it?
“I had an ulterior motive for inviting you to the party tonight,” Elise confessed. “Your match will be here too. Soon. I thought it would take some pressure off if you met socially.”
Her match. Already.
Juliet had hoped for some time to learn more about him before being thrown at his feet. She touched her pinned-up hair. At least she’d meet her future husband while looking the absolute best she could, a small victory in her mind.
Deep breath. Bernard would want her to be happy, to move on. The memory of her brother’s smile bolstered her.
A disturbance in the crowd caught Juliet’s attention. People craned their necks to peer over each other, whispering and nodding toward the ballroom entrance.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Elise uttered a very unladylike word.
“I was hoping for a little more time to explain. It’s your match.” Elise cleared her throat. “He’s early. I think that’s a good quality in a man. I mean, along with all of his other ones. Don’t you think so?”
Her future husband, assuming everything went according to plan, had just walked into the ballroom.
Juliet’s pulse took off, throbbing below her ears. “Sure. But why does it sound like you’re trying to talk me into it? Does he have two heads or something?”
“I did something a little unorthodox to find your match.” Elise bit her lip and put her hand on Juliet’s arm. “Something I hope you’ll appreciate. It was a test. I figured if the computer didn’t match you, I wouldn’t say anything. I’d never tell you and I’d find someone else for you both.”
“What are you talking about? What did you do?”
Elise smiled weakly as the crowd pressed closer to the entrance, blocking their view of whoever had drawn so much interest. “You talked so much about him. I heard what was still in your heart. I couldn’t call myself a matchmaker if I didn’t give you an opportunity to rediscover why you fell in love in the first place.”
The first wave of unease rolled through Juliet’s stomach. “Talked about whom?”
“Prince Alain. Finn.” Elise nodded toward the crush surrounding the entrance. “He’s your match.”
“Oh, my God. Elise!” Juliet wrapped her arms around her waist but couldn’t stop the flood inside of...everything. Hope. Disbelief. The unquenchable anger at his inability to side with her. “You contacted Finn? And didn’t tell me? Oh, my God.”
Finn was here. In the ballroom.
He was her match.
Not a quiet American businessman who watched football and would save her from the heartache Finn had caused.
“Open mind,” Elise reminded her and grasped Juliet’s hand to propel her forward, parting the crowd easily despite being half a head shorter than everyone else. “Come say hello. Give me ten minutes. Let me explain to you both what I did and then you can blast me for my tactics. Or spend a little while reacquainting yourselves. Maybe give it a chance. It’s your choice.”
Greedily, Juliet’s gaze swept the crowd, searching for a familiar face. And found a solid figure in black tie, flanked by a discreet security team, moving toward her.
Finn.
