Page 16 of Unlikely Match

Her eyes are wide and innocent.This girl.I shouldn't even be doing this much, yet she's begging for more. "Because you've known me for less than twenty-four hours. Because I can tell you're a virgin. Because?—"

Jewel's phone rings, and she scrambles to grab it. I can see the name Nick on the screen. I hear every word as her brother explains that his wife has another one of her severe migraines and he needs to run her to the hospital. Which means he needs Jewel to look after Noah.

I'm already on my feet, grabbing her purse as she yanks on her leggings. "I'll drive you."

Luckily, there's little traffic at one in the morning as I run her across town. After driving in silence for a few minutes, I reach over to squeeze her knee. "Maybe it's for the best, sweetheart. Once your sister-in-law is better, I'll take you on a proper date. Dinner, dancing, the whole nine yards."

She gives me a sad sideways glance. "Really?"

Jewel doesn't actually think that this is a one-time thing, does she?

She pulls out her phone as I turn toward her neighborhood, then gasps. "Holy crap. We're in the lead!"

"You mentioned that before."

"That was by a smidge, practically a tie. This is by a lot. I mean…a lot. People are talking about the fact that we ended up going home together."

A warning bell starts going off in my mind. Will people judge us for getting so intimate so soon?

"The stupid site is slow as molasses again." She taps the screen. "It's loading now. Wait. Our profile is gone."

"Is everyone's?"

"No. Just ours. Weird."

We're almost at Jewel's house when we hit one of the longest stop lights on the planet. My phone rings through the carspeakers, and I answer it by tapping the steering wheel before finally getting the green light to turn left. "What's up, Dora?"

"I'm sorry to call so late, Alex. But I thought you should hear the bad news from me."

"You're on speakerphone in the car, and Jewel is with me. Go ahead."

Dora sighs. "I was worried that someone wouldn't like that we're practically family. But I have to disqualify you for another reason."

"Disqualify?" Jewel mutters, glancing at the speakers.

"Yes," Dora says. "I'm afraid there were lots of complaints that you broke the rules."

"What rules?" It's hard to keep the anger from my voice.

"You were under the honor system to not do anything dangerous, or anything that might reflect badly upon LoveDates Inc." Dora hesitates. "Apparently, people were upset that technically you trespassed in the liquor storage room of that club."

"The door wasn't latched, and swung open when I rested my hand on it," I say. "Then something caught my eye and I went in to look at it, and the door closed behind us, locking us in. Honestly, it's a safety hazard on their part."

"I'm so sorry," Dora says sadly. "When the club found out, they were furious. And several of the other teams have expressed concern that you two pulled that stunt simply to get more engagement."

"That's crap." Jewel's eyes are steely. "Sure, we made the most of it, but it was a complete accident. And that other couple made a huge deal of it to make us look bad."

"I'm sorry. My hands are tied," Dora says. "For what it's worth, everyone here at LoveDates had you as their favorite team."

"Thanks. Talk to you tomorrow." I end the call just before pulling into Jewel's driveway. I run around to help her out of the car, but she won't let me hug her.

"Thanks for a great night," she says flatly.

"I have to see you again. Just let me know when?—"

"I really have to hurry. Brandy needs to get to the hospital."

"Right, sorry. Good night."

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