“Cynthia, wait a moment if you would,” he called as she opened the conference room door to leave.
She paused and turned to face him. The doubt on her face was another reminder of what drew him to her last night. “What can I do for you... Murdock, was it?”
“Aaron is fine. Murdock looks impressive on the letterhead, but it’s not what my friends call me.”
“Are we friends?” The corners of her mouth twitched with an unformed smile.
“I’m hoping. I’m also hoping you have five more minutes to talk. We can go in my office or stay here.” He’d absorbed everything she had to say about the custom dating service, the hybrid technology, and the hands-on solution. As long as it worked in practice the way it did in theory, he’d found his win.
She studied him for a moment, before pulling out the chair next to him and taking a seat. “My time is yours.”
“I was impressed with what I heard. I want to work with you and fund your project, as long as you’re willing to meet my conditions.”
He swore her blue eyes lit up. Who knew that was really a thing? Her smile was hesitant but grew as the seconds passed. “Fund... me? Really? Just like that?” Her disbelief combined with excitement was attractive. Not that it mattered if she was about to become a business partner.
“It’s not quite that simple. I did say there was a condition.”
There was a long pause, and she furrowed her brows, before she said, “Draw up the paperwork. I’ll have my attorney look over it. I’m sure we can reach an arrangement we both agree on.”
“You may want to get started on this before we sign the paperwork, because my signature doesn’t go on there until it’s done.”
Her smile wavered. “All right. I’ll bite. What do I need to do?”
“I want to see your application at work.”
“That’s fine.” She pulled a folder from her bag, enthusiasm returning. “I skimmed over the details for brevity’s sake, but I have test cases, beta customers, and a slew of positive data and happy early customers. What can I show you?”
He closed the lid on her folder and slid it back toward her. “I’d like a hands-on demonstration. To experience it for myself. Test cases are fantastic, but firsthand experience trumps everything.”
“You want me to find you a date?” she asked.
“Something like that.”
She frowned. “The application isn’t for everyone. You may be one of those people the process doesn’t work for.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not for serial daters. It’s meant more for those people who are looking to settle down. Hence the three-date guarantee.”
“You wound me.” He clutched his chest with feigned pain. “To be fair, I’m guilty as charged—one point in your favor—but it’s for my boyfriend.”
She broke into laughter, then stopped when he didn’t join in. “You’re serious.”
“He and I like to experiment, and it would be wonderful if you could set us up with someone whose company we enjoyed for a night.”
She gathered her bag and stood. “I’m sorry. I think you misunderstood. This isn’t an escort service.”
“Wait.” He covered her hand, and a shock of heat raced through him. He swallowed the response. “That’s not what I’m asking for. It’s an unconventional request; I get that. But I genuinely want someone we can take out for an evening and enjoy his or her company. You don’t have to oblige, but it’s my condition.”
She shifted her weight from one foot the other and furrowed her brow. “That’s not what the software is for.”
“A relationship like ours isn’t for everyone, but we enjoy it. If you’re looking to expand your offering to a broader audience in the future, come back to me.” He wasn’t trying to be cruel. It wasn’t about teasing her and then ripping the funding away. In a case like this, he had to cover his own ass. The request served his purposes, but it also proved her product.
She took a step back and put her paperwork back in her bag, but she didn’t turn away. She chewed her bottom lip. Seconds ticked away. “All right. I’m in.”
He rose and extended his hand. “I’m happy to hear it, Cyn. Let’s talk business.”
Chapter Four
GAVIN FROWNED AT THE unknown number on his cell phone, then hit Decline. In his experience, people who blocked their numbers when they called wanted to sell him something, and he wasn’t in the mood to tell anyone he wasn’t interested. He turned back to his work, searching for the tentative focus he had before the interruption.
He hovered his fingers over the keyboard, willing them to type. Anything.
Nope. Wasn’t happening. His computer clock told him it was almost noon. Perfect time for a break. He grabbed his phone again, to send Aaron a text. Before he could, the device chimed with the same message that floated at his fingertips.
You free for lunch? Aaron asked.
Gavin liked that they were on the same wavelength. He sent back a, When and where?
Aaron replied with, The place by the office, in fifteen?
I’ll be there. Gavin needed the break. The zone he’d been in, before the unknown phone call, took him all morning to achieve. Something had him distracted, and until he either shook it off or figured out what it was, he wouldn’t get any work done. Hopefully taking an hour or two off, and Aaron’s company, would help.
There was no point in driving during the day if he wanted to get anywhere quickly. The downtown L.A. traffic would be a gridlock until late in the evening. Fortunately, they only lived about four blocks from the building Aaron shared with his investment partners.
The sun peeked through the clouds, chasing away the humid chill, but not so hot it scorched. The November rainy season in California was one of his favorite times of the year, and the walk helped him beat back his jumbled thoughts.
Gavin arrived five minutes early and wasn’t surprised he was the first there. Aaron was probably just leaving his office.
Gavin found a clear spot of sidewalk near the blank steel support of the building and pulled up his email. An unknown name in his inbox caught his attention. Ignoring calls was one thing, but over email, he could sate his curiosity and find out what a stranger wanted without having to talk to them.
Hi Gavin,
They started out friendly and pretending to know him. Points in their favor. The sarcastic thought flitted through his head.
I’ve got the opportunity of a lifetime for you, and I’m hoping you have time to meet with me and chat.
That was as generic as a message could get. But for the most part, the grammar and spelling were legible, so Gavin gave them credit for that.
A comeback career for Hollywood’s hottest child actor, fifteen years later. You’re grown up, sexier than ever,
Gavin deleted the message without finishing it. Acid churned in his stomach, fueled by irritation and bad memories. He learned a long time ago that, whether he gave the overzealous talent-agent of the week a polite no thank you or a terse fuck off, replying only confirmed they had the right guy.
It wasn’t that Gavin had vanished and started life over, with a name change and new identity, when he left acting. He didn’t have the skills to take himself that far off the grid or the inclination to hire someone who did. But by putting things in Aaron’s name—utilities, mortgage, multi-billion-dollar IPO’s—and keeping Gavin’s name off social-media accounts, made Gavin as good as invisible unless someone pried. Like an agent who decided they could use a career boost that included a comeback from the heartthrob who dominated teenage Rom Coms in the early part of the century.
Gavin couldn’t go back to that life, though. When he got into acting, it had been the only thing he wanted, and he was one of the lucky few who made it, with his killer smile, gorgeous eyes, and a decent job of delivering his lines.
And he loved the lifestyle that went with it. Not the stress so much, but the unchecked debauchery made it easy to ignore that. Until it almost cost him his sanit
y, to the point of threatening his life.
Aaron saved him back then. Gavin became quick friends with the runaway pulling card tricks behind the studio. Aaron was about the only person Gavin knew who didn’t care about the name on the marquee.
Gavin’s parents were furious when he wanted to quit acting, but he had enough money to hire a good lawyer. It was like a bad Lifetime movie, but with the implausible bits left in. Gavin got himself emancipated by age sixteen, and as he and Aaron hit their early twenties, their friendship became more.
Five years ago, Gavin thought he’d moved past the addiction problems. He could handle fame, now that he was older. More mature. Had a real support structure behind him. So he agreed to start simple, with a low budget indie film, to ease his way back into the spotlight.
Two days after the movie premiered at Sundance, Aaron found Gavin in a studio rental car, in a parking garage in downtown Salt Lake, staring at the city’s premier attraction—a temple. Who the fuck built a city around a temple? At the time, Gavin was trying to figure out if he’d rather go out in a blaze of glory via overdose or via dramatic car ride off the edge of a mountain.
Aaron stayed by his side during detox. The four-billion-dollar tech-startup sale that earned Aaron his nickname was the mental half of Gavin’s recovery. Gavin used building the company—the hype around it and its perceived value—as a way to climb out of the pit that drove him to drink. Focusing on that project allowed him to divert his thoughts, until they reordered themselves and he could shrug off the addiction.
“You in there?” Aaron’s question pulled Gavin from the uncomfortable tumble into the past.
Gavin shook the clouds away and gave him a smile. “Yup. Lunch?”
“If you’re sure you’re all right.” Aaron eyed him with concern. “I’ve been trying to get your attention.”
“I’m super-swell.” Gavin winced as the catchphrase from his movie days slipped out.
“If you say so.” Aaron would know the reassurance was false, but he’d give Gavin time to process before pressing for more.
They made their way inside, were seated a few minutes later, and placed their order.
“How’d things go with the dating-app people?” Gavin was grateful he had a pending topic to change the subject to. Anything that took his mind away from where it had wandered.
“Promising.” Aaron’s simple response didn’t hide the glint in his eyes.
“That’s appropriately vague.”
A smile slipped through Aaron’s neutral demeanor. “I liked it. She needs to provide another piece of proof, and I’m going to buy in.”
“Sounds fair. I’m surprised she didn’t already have that information.”
“She did.” Aaron took a sip of his water, then swirled the glass enough to make the ice clink. “But I want to see if she can do something less mainstream with the product. Might as well push the concept to its limits.”
He was dragging this out for effect, which worked. Gavin was curious. “Do tell.”
“She’s going to find us a date.”
Gavin shivered, his skin feeling as if Jack Frost breathed down his neck. “Us?”
“I’m not going to have all the fun myself.”
Gavin clenched his jaw. He didn’t care that Aaron hoped to find them a hookup. The two of them frequently brought a third person into their relationship—sometimes for a night, other times for months. It was the details of this particular proposal that set his teeth on edge. “This is the write-up you read to me a few days ago, isn’t it? The one where she boasts that her computer takes all sorts of personal information, stores it, and matches it against a database of other clients?”
“That’s the one.” Aaron’s glee slipped. “What about it?”
“Well, an agent emailed me this morning. Which means I’m back on someone’s radar. At the risk of sounding like a selfish asshole, I’d rather tone down my digital presence, not give a slew of identifying details to a random stranger, to keep on file.”
Aaron’s expression softened. “I know. I promise I took that into consideration. But really? Someone found you again so soon?”
“Yes.” Gavin was probably making a big deal of nothing, but caution kept him sane. “You thought about the consequences?” He wanted the conversation back on track, so they could get it out of the way more quickly and move on.
“The process is one-hundred percent anonymous. She’s got an extensive non-disclosure agreement around all client information, and that includes us.”
“And if she decides selling my name to the tabloids is good reason to break that?” Gavin was being paranoid, but it was with good reason. He’d had a doctor’s office, a barista, and several hotel clerks do exactly that in the past.
“First of all, she loses her funding if she does that.” Aaron’s tone was sympathetic but practical. “I can’t imagine the paparazzi will pay her enough to make up for what she can get from the firm. Second, with a service like hers, if word gets out she’s done that, she loses half the clients in L.A. And third, I trust her. Are sure you’re all right? The email you mentioned is what has you spacing out and on edge, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Gavin sighed. Aaron was right. All of those were good reasons this arrangement was probably all right. “I don’t know why, but the past hit me hard today.”
“You were up late, watching Where are they now? reruns, weren’t you?” Aaron teased.
“Or reliving someone else’s episodes in my dreams.” Gavin forced himself to chuckle, and it helped lift some of his stress. He had to admit the idea of how the system worked intrigued him. And if he was being rational, it held a lot less risk of someone recognizing him than picking up a random stranger at the bar did, because they would only meet the person they matched with.
“I can tell her never mind,” Aaron said. “It’s my condition for funding, not hers. She’d be happy to take it off the table. I guarantee.”
Gavin shook his head. “Don’t do that. I’m in. Let’s see how this thing works.” The functionality fascinated him. His hobby was figuring out if people were predictable enough that computer algorithms could second-guess them, and this was right up his alley.
He just had to quiet the nagging discomfort inside, instead of letting it swell the way it was now.
Chapter Five
CYNTHIA APPROACHED Aaron and his boyfriend in the lobby of the office she shared with several other startups.
Aaron looked good, the same as every time she saw him. He wore those expensive suits as if he were created for the cover of GQ, and it seemed like amusement always danced in his eyes. Whether or not he was the serial dater she assumed he was; he was sexy. Not that it mattered. She’d never been big on happily ever after for herself. There was no romance or fairytale in an emotion that could be predicted by a computer program.
That didn’t stop her from wishing for a moment that she were the client instead of the agent in this arrangement. She wouldn’t mind hooking up with these two for a night.
The man with Aaron was just as compelling. The dirty-blond hair that flopped over one eye was almost status quo for this town, but his brown eyes held a captivating warmth and mystery she struggled to look away from. He was tall and lanky, looking like he’d be more at ease in a faded T-shirt and jeans than in his button-down and tie.
And he was familiar. Eerily so. She scanned his face against her mental list of everyone she knew, but didn’t find a match. This was going to drive her nuts.
“Aaron.” She pasted on her professional mask and extended her hand. “Glad you could make it.”
He stood and shook her hand. His grip was firm and his skin warm against her palm. “I think you’re just saying that, but I’m hoping to make it true. This is my partner, Gavin.”
The name ticked something in her head too, but she still couldn’t grasp it. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“Same.” Gavin kept his hands in his pockets, but the way he traveled his gaze over her sent goosebumps ris
ing along her entire body. He met her gaze and gave her a smile. “Thank you for indulging us.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” Was there hidden meaning in that? No. She was grateful for the chance to land an investor. Nothing more.
She led them to her office, going over the highlights of what she’d already told Aaron with Gavin. She had been tweaking the inputs for the match process all day, so it would accept data from two sources instead of one. It was days like these when she wished she hadn’t pushed her best friend, Emily, out of her life. It wasn’t the biggest reason she missed Em, but working on this process without her was a reminder that they lost a good friendship.
Cynthia was infamous for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and being too stubborn to take it back, but she’d tried this time—called Emily several times, to apologize. Emily never returned those calls.
Cynthia pushed the past aside and gestured for Aaron and Gavin to take the seats across from her desk, while she took her own chair. “I need to ask you some questions,” she said. Might as well dive into the professional aspect of things immediately, rather than dwelling on the fact she had two gorgeous men in her office, who wanted her to find them some company to share for the evening. “Normally I’d ask you separately, so you don’t contaminate each other’s data with your answers. This time, since the point is to match you both with the same person, I’ll let you play off each other.”
Clothed. Not clothed. Somewhere in between. Images assaulted her of what that play might involve. What was wrong with her today? She never let clients distract her like this. It was probably her brain rebelling, because she knew how critical this match-up was to her business.
“Things like what our favorite color is?” Gavin asked teasingly. “Turquoise, for the record. And I don’t care for long walks on the beach. Not here anyway. I hear the ocean is nice in Australia, though. Coffee for breakfast, toast dry—that kind of questions?”
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