Page 12 of Failure to Match

My mouth stuttered open like it wanted to respond even though my mind was blank. When I didn’t answer, Jackson rolled his eyes, turned around, and stomped away.

I had to jog awkwardly to keep up with him, my ankles bending and twisting on every third step. His legs were so long.

Six-foot-six was taller than I’d realized. His minimum height requirement kind of made sense. I wasn’t justifying his behavior or anything, but I could see how this onerequirement was maybe not as unreasonable as some of his others.

That and the age thing. He was thirty-five, so I guess it also made sense that he wouldn’t want to date someone who was still in their twenties.

But the rest of his list was unreasonable and ridiculous.

He led us around a hidden corner tucked behind an exceptionally large set of ferns, where two uniformed mengreeted us with synchronized dips of their chins and polite half-smiles before opening the double doors.

I chewed the inside of my cheek as we made our way down a sleek hallway, desperately trying to come up with an excuse for my hair.

“I collect them,” I eventually said. “Wigs, I mean. I collect them, wear them everywhere.”

He didn’t respond.

Just continued stomping.

“I realize it’s kind of auniquehobby to have, but everyone has something they’re into that’s a little weird. Some people like collecting dead animals and stuffing them, I like collecting dead hairs and… wearing them.”

Nope. I should not have put it like that. The choice made my throat curdle like it wanted to regurgitate the words in a different order. I could still fix this. I could?—

Jackson stopped so abruptly that I almost walked into him nose-first, which would have been unfortunate since the man had the cushioning of a brick wall.

Five quickbeeps later, a solid mahogany door was thrown open with dramatic force and Jackson stormed inside, immediately disappearing around the corner like he couldn’t waitto get away from me.

Yeah, well, it wasn’t like I adoredhiscompany. Just because he’d saved my life a little bit didn’t mean I’d forgiven him for ruining it.

Jackson grumbled something unintelligible from the depths of his lair, and before I could change my mind and decide to walk home half-naked, two identically stout women with identical faces, identical cotton hair, and identical black uniforms with identical white aprons had rounded the corner. Their eyes widened when they took in my appearance.

“Oh dear. Oh no no no nono,” the one on the left insisted, shaking her head disapprovingly.

“Honestly, child. You’re going to catch a cold,” her twin chided with a deep frown. A warm, soft hand was wrapped around my arm in an instant, pulling me inside before I could manage so much as a quick hello.

These must have been the housekeepers Bensen had mentioned.

“I knew this would happen,” Ms. Harrison huffed as she guided me through the sleek apartment. It was very grey in here. Very expensive-looking and very,verygrey.

“We have told that boy—we have told himmany a time—how dangerous that pool is,” the other Ms. Harrison claimed.

“It’s the damn curves. The least he could do is cover it while he’s entertaining. Not one for listening, though, is he?”

“Incessantly hard of hearing the things he does not want to, Young Master Sinclair. Always has been. Even as a wee little thing.”

“Though we shouldn’t saywee, should we? He’s been taller than us since before he lost his last milk tooth. Mind you it did take a while. Just did not want to fall out. Stubborn to the teeth, Young Master Sinclair.”

“I don’t think that’s the expression, Mabel.”

“Is it not?”

“It is not.”

“She knew what I meant, though, didn’t she? Even his teeth are stubborn, dear. That’s all I’m trying to say.”

I wasn’t given a chance to respond.

“We finally had to give it a little tug ourselves.”

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