Page 69 of Perfect (mis)Match

“I’m great!” I replied quickly. “Just a little overwhelmed, you know? I never thought this day would come.”

Vincent started to say something but stopped to clock another guest coming toward us. “That’s Carrie Rutherford from theTimes,” he said in a low voice. “She did my profile.”

The attractive woman in black-rimmed glasses swooped closer. “Vincent, you did it! You made good on that promise to distill heliotrope. Not that I ever doubted you.”

He chuckled good naturedly. “Oh, I can’t take all the credit. My R&D team did the hands-on work. And my creative director Piper Doyle was also instrumental in so many ways.”

And there it was again. My official title and nothing more.

“I’d love to get a photo of you for our social media accounts, then we can link back to my story for even more views,” Carrie said. “Can I get you in front of the flower wall?”

“Sure, happy to,” Vincent said.

He walked away without saying a word to me.

I started for the bar to stress-drink but was intercepted by Darcy, who looked radiant in a striped maxi dress.

She grabbed my arm. “Mercedes wants to chat.”

My stomach bottomed out. “Why do you look so nervous?”

She leaned closer to me. “Because this could beit! We’ve crunched the numbers, talked about our projections, her team has researched the leatherworkers…all that’s left is to make it official. I think this is our final test.”

“Test?” I sputtered. “What kind?”

“Chemistry,” Darcy replied. She gripped my arm and started walking me through the crowd. “She probably wants to know if the three of us vibe.”

I glanced over to where Vincent was posing in front of the flower wall with none other than Maya, and my heart hollowed out.

No, it was fine. This was business. I knew how he really felt about her.

Right?

I gave them one last look and noticed that his arm was draped casually over her shoulder. He’d barely touched me tonight.

I needed to focus. I’d helped Summit achieve victory in every way I’d promised, but now it was time to concentrate on my own dreams. I needed to be prepared for my future.

And Mercedes was the key.

“Ready?” Darcy met my eyes.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Let’s do this.”

We found Mercedes listening to what had to be a tech bro droning on about how his new app was going to make the world a better place. All he needed was about five million in seed money. When she spotted us, her face lit up.

“Can you excuse me, Chad? I see some VIPs I need to chat with.”

Mercedes rolled her eyes as she walked away from him. She was dressed to attract attention, as usual, in a neon pink pantsuit and gigantic heels that didn’t give her that much of a boost.

“Ladies, hello,” she said warmly as she shook our hands. “Are we having fun yet?”

Darcy laughed. “I know I am! I just got a retinol serum hookup from Denny Jones.”

Mercedes craned her neck to look around. “Point me in her direction, this old face needs all the help it can get.”

“Please, you look amazing,” I said.

She wagged her finger at me. “Don’t you dare say ‘for your age.’”

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