Page 13 of Miss Matched

“The opposite, actually.” I face him now, and I’m pleased to see his face flushing with anger. He grits his teeth but doesn’t say anything.

“They think I’m a playboy; I’m going to prove them wrong.”

Samson coughs. “You’ve got to be kidding. You are a playboy. You’ve slept with half the city.”

“And you’ve slept with the other half. What’s your point?” I shrug one shoulder, and it sets him off.

Samson stands so fast he almost knocks over his chair. “This is a waste of time. If you cared about the company, you’d do the right thing and step away.”

I smack my hand on the desk before pointing a finger at him. “In case you forgot, my name is on this fucking building. I built this company. No one—not you, not the board, not Stacia, no one—is going to take that away from me.”

Samson’s eyebrows relax, and he lets out a chuckle under his breath, as if my anger was what he was looking for all along.

“Understood,” he says, walking toward my office door. He stops before closing it behind him. “Oh, and Zac? Don’t worry. When you fuck this all up—and you will, because I know the kind of person you really are—I’ll be here, ready and able to take your place, friend.”

He leaves, his words weighing down the air in my office. Of course he doesn’t believe I can fix this. Just like the board. And, if I’m being honest, myself.

But I’m not about to let Samson know how close they were to doing just what he hoped they would do. When I walked in last night, they were ready to send me on an indefinite sabbatical. It didn’t matter whose name was on the side of the building. This was about money.

I might have bought time, but I’m not sure how much.

I’m good at playing the role of Zac Vincent, CEO, serial dater. Mr. Noncommitment. But the clean-cut family man the board wants to see to smooth out my image? That’s trickier.

After all, I’m the guy who didn’t know better than to walk out of a sex club in the middle of the night with his girlfriend on his arm. The guy who thought that even if it set off a spark, I was experienced enough to know how to play with fire. Now here I am, in the middle of the blaze, trying not to get burned.

Luckily, I know just the woman who can turn this around.

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