Page 151 of Failure to Match

“I’m Mallory.” She shook my hand, a secretive smile tugging at her lips.

“Mallory the dentist.” He was still speaking to the hedgehog. The man was gone.

“Studying to be a dentist,” Mallory corrected. She didn’t sound nearly as annoyed about his state as the hostess. “Not quite there yet.”

Okay, well, the hedgehog and dentist emojis were starting to make a little more sense.

Mallory nudged her head in Jackson’s direction. “You might wanna get your man out of here before his date arrives.”

My cheeks flamed. “He’s not my man.”

Wrong thing to focus on but her misunderstanding required correction. It was very important.

She grinned. “I hate to break it to you, Jamie Paquin, the prettiest little matchmaker with the prettiest smile and the prettiest heart he’s ever seen, but this idiot is your man.”

I didn’t have time to argue with her so I just placed a hand on Jackson’s shoulder and kept my voice as soothing as I could manage. “Jackson? We gotta go. Are you able to stand up for me?”

With a low, frustrated sigh, he shoved upward and twisted around.

His cheeks were pink.

His eyes were glazed.

And he was pouting. Full. On.Pouting.

“Hey,” I said. Could he see me? His eyes were pinned to the middle of my chest, but they were so heavy and glazed, I couldn’t be sure. “It’s Jamie.”

His blinks were slow and incomplete, and it took a handful of seconds for him to respond. “Jamie,” he whispered. Then, just as I was about to ask him to stand up again, he looped an arm around my waist, pulled me to him, and pressed his cheek to my chest.

Mallory quirked a brow at me.I told you so.

“Don’t you guys cut people off after a certain point?” I asked her. And wasn’t that point well before conversations with inanimate objects were being had?

“Not if their last name is Sinclair. We’re not allowed to say noto his tax bracket—” She straightened very suddenly, her gaze darting to my left as she cleared her throat.

No. Nononono.

I ripped out of Jackson’s sticky embrace and tripped back at least five steps before my hand flew out to grip the bar. Ignoring his confused scowl, I twisted on my heel, pushed back my shoulders, and plastered on the most convincing smile I could manage.

It faltered when I saw her.

She floated into the room…floated. I’d never seen someone walk with such elegant confidence. Everything about the way she held herself demanded attention.

She was mesmerizing.

I gulped lightly as the hostess led her straight to us. I needed an excuse for Jackson’s state, and I needed one fast. If I let him go on the date like this, Vivian would have my head. More importantly, I didn’t want him doing or saying anything he’d regret tomorrow.

I braved a step forward and shot out my hand, hoping to keep as much of Miray’s attention on me as possible. I had no idea what Jackson was doing but if I looked at him now, so would she. Fingers crossed he was at least still upright.

“Hi, you must be Miray. I’m Jamie.”Please don’t look behind me.

“Hello.” She grinned as she shook my hand, and damn it. Babies—literalbabies—didn’t have skin as soft as hers. “It’s nice to meet you, Jamie. Your team mentioned that you’d be... monitoring our date this evening. Is that correct?”

Her tone insinuated that she found the idea more than a little silly, and I couldn’t exactly blame her.

“I promise it’s not as invasive as it sounds.” The other women had forgotten about my existence in minutes. I didn’t think she’d be any different. “But I’m afraid we’ll have to reschedule. Jackson isn’t feeling well, and I don’t think?—”

“I’m fine.”

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