Page 111 of An Enchanted Spring

Colin laughed. “Check out the file, it’s all in there. It’s myonly copy, though; it’s been wiped from the servers. You can do with it what you want when you’re through.”

“I’m sure there’s a technical reason for wiping it from the servers,” Emma replied, her brow furrowing. “Right?”

Colin waved over his shoulder. “Just remember to stress that 100% rate. See you guys in a few weeks. I’m heading home.”

Emma turnedthe envelope over in her hands and raised her eyes to meet Aidan’s. “Should we open it now?”

He shrugged, then hooked a chair over to him and sat down. “Why not?”

Carefully, she opened it and pulled out the sheaf of papers. Her eyes widened. “It’s…”

Aidan took them and scanned the first few lines. “Me.”

“It’s us!” She flipped through the pages.

Aidan nodded decisively. “A wise decision on the part of my cousin.”

“Nephew,” she corrected.

“Clansman.”

She crossed her arms. “Fair enough.”

His eyes didn’t leave the paper in front of him. “He had you earmarked.”

Emma frowned. “Earmarked? What does that even mean?”

Aidan shook his head. “He marked you as unavailable. That arse,” he murmured. “That conniving, out-of-his-bloody-mind, brilliant arse.”

Emma nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah.” She paused. “Wait, though. I’m having a hard time following you here. I love that you’re upset on my behalf —”

“Oh, I’m not upset.”

Emma didn’t hear him, as she was ticking off her finger. “First, he earmarks me as unavailable, which is ridiculous,because I was totally available when I signed up. I guess this explains why I was never contacted for a date —”

“Seven years. You were in the system for seven years.”

Defensive, she snapped, “Ben and I broke up early in our relationship, and I applied then. I forgot about it when we got back together.”

Aidan shook his head. “I cannot believe it. He was waiting for me to pull my head out of my own arse.”

Emma paused in her agitation. “What has this to do with you?”

Aidan carefully placed the papers onto the desk. “Before I met you, I was hell bent on returning to the past, to my brother. I refused to allow for the possibility of staying here, in the future.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Emmaline, he matched usseven years ago. It’s why you were never contacted for a date.”

“How…how could he have known that then? He didn’t have any software to help match up candidates and clients.”

“He did not.”

“I just filled out a questionnaire online, then had a phone call to follow up…” She gasped. “I had a phone call withColin!”

“I suspect you did.”

She traced his hand holding hers and after a moment, she swallowed hard. “So he matched us based on the information I gave him. What if it was wrong? What if I lied on my application?”

Aidan shrugged his shoulders. “If he matched you with me, I can guarantee that he had you fully vetted, my love. He never matches without a full background check, and that’s just to start the process.”

“I am…” she trailed off, trying to find the right word.

---