Page 19 of Miss Matched

“I’m going to be straight with you, Mr. Vincent,” she finally says, standing and walking over toward the window.

Her view captures the opposite side of the city than mine, but from the corner, you can still see the shimmer of the ocean. She positions herself where a single beam of sunshine gleams in, drawing out the amber in her honey-brown hair.

“You can call me Zac,” I tell her.

“Zac,” she repeats.

Even with passiveness in her tone, my name melts like chocolate from her lips. She starts circling the room, the slow winding of a tiger on the hunt. Her coconut scent swirls up into the air, taking all my rational thought with it.

“Regardless of whatever impression I may have given you the other night, I do, in fact, take this very seriously,” she says, her gaze edging in my direction.

“I don’t doubt it,” I assure her.

“Good. Then you should know that this isn’t an escort service.”

Okay, that stings a little.

“I don’t care if you’re the richest, smartest, or most desired man ever to walk through my door—” She holds up a finger to stop me, noticing my mouth fall open. “Not that I’m saying you are, so don’t get any ideas.”

Her tone is strict, but her eyes give her away in the slightest when they dip to my mouth.

“Yes, ma’am.” I grin and give her a playful salute.

Kennedy straightens up. “My priority is one thing, and one thing only: to help you find your perfect match. No matter the client, their backstory, their goals, or my thoughts on them, I put one hundred percent into what I do here. No less. That means compatibility tests, screenings, full transparency. Whatever your reason is for wanting to find a wife, and whether you think it’s temporary for investors or not, you’re making a conscious decision to walk into a relationship with another person for the long haul.”

She stops, this time right in front of me, sitting back against the desk and looking down. No doubt a power move to keep me on my toes. And it’s fucking hot.

“So if you want a date, I’d be happy to ask Racine to show you how to set up an online dating profile. But if you are really here because you want a wife—a life partner, someone to be with for the foreseeable future—then we can finish this conversation.”

She folds her arms over her chest and waits. The walls feel like they’re closing in. Kennedy’s coconut scent is filling every pore of the room, and I couldn’t escape her eyes if I wanted to—gray and focused, wolf eyes seeing right through me.

Calling my bluff.

“I’ll be blunt,” I say, finally finding words. I’m not sure when I became a blubbering fool, but she seems to bring it out of me.

“I’d prefer that,” she says.

“My business is my life, which I know you can relate to.”

She nods.

“Settling down and having kids isn’t something that’s factored into any plan I’ve made, past or present. But this whole mess has me rethinking things,” I say.

It’s the truth. Each hit in the media and every lonely night at home forces me to question the way I’ve lived, loved, and fucked up until this moment.

Not to mention one glimpse of Kennedy shoots a rocket straight into my chest.

“I’ve got a past,” I say. “I’m not exactly the easiest guy to be in a relationship with, I know that. But maybe it’s time I try things differently. So I promise to give this an honest effort.”

“An honest effort isn’t the same thing as being here for the right reasons,” she counters.

“And Chad is?”

That at least gets her thinking, her gray eyes working the thought around in her head. All I have to do is convince her, and I’ve got one card left.

“Besides, you scratch my back, I scratch yours.”

Her eyebrows crinkle. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

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