“Ouch. Cold. How do you go from that to matchmaking?” Gavin might agree if he didn’t have Aaron. There was something magical there. “And she had a point. It sounds a tad cynical.”
“More than a tad.” Cynthia’s amusement was back. “One-hundred percent and then some. I’m not that kind of jaded anymore, though I’m still a make-your-own-fate kind of person. She and I are data geeks, so we tuned it into something more. We used it to set up friends. Messy business—never set up friends. You have to choose sides after.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“But when it worked, it was as good as fairytale magic. That’s me selling the product, by the way.”
“I like it.” He did. It took a little while to pull out her playfulness, but not as much as he’d feared.
She ducked her head and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Anyway. One day I realized I’d spent so much time on it, I should start getting paid for my work. So I spun it into an actual thing.”
He was torn between the urge to dig more into the details of her tech and the desire to push the light mood a little further. Before he could decide, the front door latched open.
A moment later, Aaron joined them. “So sorry I’m late.” Tension coated his words. He loosened his tie and dropped on the couch next to Gavin. “Did I miss anything?”
“Your partner was forcing me to admit I’m bitter and jaded.” Cynthia teased.
“There was coercion but no force.” Gavin held her gaze. “Not unless you beg first.”
Her blush darkened.
“Actually”—Gavin looked at Aaron—“we were discussing how, if it weren’t for you, Cynthia would be my long-lost soul mate.” Mostly, he tossed the soul mate comment out to throw Cynthia off. It wasn’t quite a conscious thing, though he recognized it as soon as the words passed his lips. More a habit born of years of keeping people at bay. It was also a good way to stash the temptation to keep flirting with her—push it over the top.
“Should I be worried?” Aaron didn’t look worried. Instead, some of the lines of stress etched around his face faded.
“She’s a self-professed data geek. Uses analysis to keep her world making sense.”
Aaron glanced at her. “That is kind of sexy.” He had a similar tendency toward distracting conversation, but his was born from being a street hustler in his early years. It was part of the reason He and Gavin played off each other so well. Their tangents tended in the same direction.
If Cynthia wanted to use that psychology degree, she’d have a field day with them.
“Should we get started?” Her suddenly sharp tone indicated Gavin had struck his mark in dialing back the conversation.
With a second glance he realized she didn’t appear upset. Her lips were swollen and flushed, and her irises wide. The same expression she wore the other night in her office. That was tempting.
Aaron looked between the two of them, brow furrowed. “Ready if you are.”
WHEN CYN CALLED AARON earlier, he was ready to tell her the deal was off. The investment, the terms—all of it. Gavin was part of the reason. Aaron was also feeling gun shy on the investment front. He’d spent his morning dealing with a hardware startup on the brink of bankruptcy. They’d made a number of mistakes, and their company value had dropped to zero almost overnight. He wouldn’t be able to recoup the losses.
Gavin was right; Aaron needed a win. The firm was barely two years old, and Aaron would burn through his capital more slowly if he lit it on fire. It was the one problem he always had when he played the bullshit game. He could spot a lie a mile away, in the dark, filtered through earmuffs, but if the person telling the story believed it, he got sucked in almost every time. And in this industry, most people believed in what they were doing. They’d never beat the odds if they didn’t.
When Cynthia said please, though. Aaron couldn’t tell her no. And when he walked into the house tonight, to Gavin’s laughing face and Cyn’s embarrassed smile, his doubt bled away. Even when she shifted to her cool, professional mask, something pleasant lay underneath, and Gavin was still happy.
Aaron might not decide to go through with the deal with the dating app, but for now, he’d made the right choice.
“Did you both have a chance to look over the matches saved to your inbox?” Cynthia asked.
“Yes,” Gavin said.
Aaron took a seat next to Gavin on the couch. “But I trust whatever he has to say.”
Cynthia raised her brows.
“Does that have the potential to taint the results too?” Aaron asked.
“New territory here.” Cynthia opened her tablet case and tapped on the screen. “If you’re both okay with that, so am I.”
That was an open-ended answer, compared to how defined her criteria had been so far. It made Aaron even more curious to see how this went.
They made their way down the list of nine names—a nice assortment of men and women. Cynthia would ask if Gavin was interested, and each time, he’d say, “I don’t think so.”
The process took less than ten minutes.
“Should I not have asked you to do this?” Aaron asked him.
“You should have. But that’s not the entire list.”
“It is.” Frustration leaked into Cynthia’s words. “Are you willing to go for a Round Two?”
Gavin shook his head. “We’re not done. Cinderella hasn’t tried on the glass slipper yet.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Cynthia’s denial was sharp, and she studied her hands as she spoke.
“Then you didn’t delete your own profile from our match list?”
That was interesting. Aaron was definitely right to ask Gavin to look at the matches. Not that Aaron should consider even for a moment that Cyn was a viable match, if she was going to be a business partner. Lust warred with reason inside, arguing it was just one date, and it was part of the contract. No.
“What if we pick you?” Gavin asked.
Aaron tried to force out an objection, but the words stuck in his throat.
“That’s not an option.” Cynthia’s voice wavered.
“Then why are you in the system?” Gavin asked.
“My name’s in there for testing. Like a one-person control group.”
“It’s just for dinner. That’s the deal, right?” Gavin’s argument echoed Aaron’s thoughts too closely.
“We were going to order in anyway.” Aaron bit the inside of his cheek. Bad. Wrong. The problem was he didn’t want to take it back. This was a conflict of interest. It’s just for dinner. That was a pretty good counter. And realistically, if they got along with Cynthia, it meant her algorithms worked, and there was something to her app. That was the point.
“It’s only a valid match if both parties agree to see each other,” Cynthia said. “That’s part of the process. The only reason I’m here.”
“You’re going to leave before the food shows up?” Gavin was pushing this hard.
Aaron couldn’t deny he’d like a few hours with Cynthia that weren’t business related. “If you stay, just through the meal, I’ll call my side of the agreement done. But only if you would have taken the date if this wasn’t a business arrangement.”
Cyn studied him, mouth twisted in a frown. Silence stretched through the room. The air conditioner kicked on, loud in the stillness, as if to point out maybe this wasn’t a hold-your-breath-worthy event.
Chapter Nine
A yes lingered on the tip of Cynthia’s tongue. It struggled to push its way out, while she argued with herself. This was a business. Dating the clients, even if it was only one meal, was unprofessional.
It wasn’t as though she put herself on their list. The system picked her as a valid option. If match-her and business-her were two different people, match-her would take the date with Gavin and Aaron, and business-her would legitimately secure funding. Both hers liked the way that worked out.
She mentally shook her head, to rattle some sense back into p
lace. The last thing she needed was to add more confusion to this mix, by thinking of herself in two-person terms.
Was she working the system, or making a legitimate deal? She didn’t have the right kind of ego to assume that intentionally putting her name on their list was a sure-fire path to success.
Gavin leaned in and rested his elbows on his knees. “The other night, you said the system makes the match but what comes next is up to the people involved.”
She was flattered he was pushing the issue. “I did. But this is different. I control the system.”
“Which means even if you put your own name on the list, you’d have to be doing your job, looking for those characteristics that make matches click, to know I’d nibble. Don’t worry, no full-on biting unless you beg.” Gavin winked.
Damn him, for vocalizing half her argument, and for sending a flush of heat racing over her with a few simple words.
“If it helps with your decision,” Aaron said, “take yourself out the equation for the night. Check Cynthia the entrepreneur at the door. Be the woman who picked our names out of the dozen or so you were matched with. Detach the evening from your in-office life.”
Double damn. Aaron spoke directly to her what if.
Gavin studied her. “Unless you’re not interested.”
“That’s definitely not the issue.” She snapped her jaw shut, to stop more words from slipping out before she could consider them. Screw it. If she was going to enjoy their company, it would be as much on her terms as theirs.
Besides, she was here, and it was only dinner. It had nothing to do with the fantasies that danced in her thoughts thanks to their last encounter. “I guess I’m missing the point of my own pitch, if I walk away from the opportunity in favor of waiting for fate to drop something in my lap.”
“Exactly,” Aaron said.
Gavin smirked. “Then it’s settled. You’re staying.”
CYNTHIA MOVED BACK into the living room with the men. Dinner was a lot of fun, though the conversation was thinner than she expected. It took all of two minutes to discuss how long they’d each lived in L.A., and she didn’t dare ask about Gavin’s famous past, after the reaction she got last time.
The lack of substantial conversation would make it easier to call it an early night. She could ignore the disappointment dancing inside that the evening was exactly as discussed.
She stopped in front of the chair she’d occupied before.
“You can’t sit over there, all isolated and aloof.” Playful teasing lined Gavin’s words. He grabbed her wrist and tugged her toward the sofa instead.
A thrum of electricity sped over her skin. “I can’t squish between you.”
Aaron positioned himself on the couch so it appeared that was exactly what he intended. “Why not?”
Because that could complicate things. Remind her she wouldn’t mind a more intimate end to the evening if business weren’t involved. “I have onion breath.”
“Then you should have picked them off your pizza.” Gavin sat and pulled her down between him and Aaron, so her thigh pressed against Gavin’s.
Cozy and comfortable. “That seems a bit wasteful.”
“Besides, we ate the same thing you did.” Aaron shifted so his knee rested against hers, and settled his arm behind her back. “Either you have a real reason or not, but no excuses.”
She laughed. “Fair enough. I’m sitting, aren’t I?”
Gavin nudged her with his shoulder. “Are we good enough friends now that I can pick your brain about how your software works?”
“Buying me pizza doesn’t mean you get my trade secrets. I hope my friendship is worth more than that, too.” Cynthia kept her tone light. Playful. It was easy to sink into this and forget the outside world for a moment.
“It was a good pizza,” Aaron said.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head but couldn’t hide her smile.
“It’s not about the pizza, it’s about what came with it,” Gavin said.
“Or who?” Aaron smirked. “Never mind. That’s too obvious. Too easy.”
“I am not.” Cynthia tried to force indignation into her voice, but her laugh disrupted it.
“Nope, you’re not.” Gavin trailed a finger down her arm. “That’s part of the fun. Is that a no on the trade secrets?”
She struggled to believe anyone but her would find those details interesting, but reason said, if she could get sucked into it, someone else could as well. “I’m not sure what kind of information you’re looking for, but I might-could be persuaded.”
“I like the idea of persuasion.” Gavin’s voice dropped an octave, sending delicious chills down Cynthia’s spine.
“I don’t think you’ve got the same thing in mind as I do.” She forced her voice to remain steady, despite the vivid images that splashed across her thoughts—of him pressing closer, backing her into Aaron... She shook the thoughts aside.
“But you’re not certain.” Aaron’s tone was as coaxing as Gavin’s was playful and seductive.
“I hate to assume.” She looked at Gavin. “You’re welcome to take a look at the code if you want, after the investment contract is signed.”
Aaron cleared his throat. “But you hate to assume.”
“I’m optimistic. Otherwise I would have given up about twenty pitches before I got to your firm.” This was better than the dinner conversation. She enjoyed the way each tangent flowed into the next and then back again. The tantalizing thoughts teasing her senses.
“The secret’s not all in the code, though.” And Gavin was back on the original topic.
Definitely fun. “No. I purchase aggregate data from a variety of companies. Compiling what they have is part of the code, though.”
“Does that include figuring out that someone who likes Oreos also enjoys having their ass slapped?”
Her cheeks heated, and the images in her mind intensified. Bending at the waist to kiss Gavin, bare butt in the air. Aaron’s hand landing flat first on one cheek, and then the other. “That’s a touch oversimplified, but yes. If person ninety-two does or likes certain things, they’re more likely to be into another, seemingly unrelated set of things. I have access to millions of numbers, so it makes it easier to guesstimate.”
Aaron placed a finger under her chin and drew her face toward his. It was a bit like watching a tennis match, but with more anticipation dancing through her veins. "I'm curious. Does your profile say you like Oreos?" Aaron asked.
Cynthia didn't have to reach far, to figure out what he was actually asking. Reason told her to shut this down. A simple no would do. But she was being someone else for the night, right? And searing flames spilling over her and igniting her nerve endings didn't want to settle for time alone later with her vibrator. "It does."
“I’d ask if it’s the cream filling that does it for you, but that feels crude.” Gavin’s breath was hot on the back of her neck.
She wanted to lean into the sensation. Let his fingertips follow a similar path. She resisted. “I don’t get the impression that holds you back very often.”
A smile tugged at the corners of Aaron’s mouth. “Be fair. Blatant innuendo is different from a crude joke.”
“Sometimes.” Gavin’s voice was barely a whisper, but she felt it over every inch of her body. “But really, I’m wondering—are you interested in being the filling in a sandwich cookie? I’m hoping for yes.”
So was Cynthia, along with the wide range of promises that went with it. “Yes.”
Gavin pulled out the chopsticks holding back her hair, and it tumbled loose around her shoulders. She turned to him. He dragged his gaze over her face, then brushed a finger over her cheek before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Better.” He didn’t pull his hand away.
Her voice caught, but she pushed through it. “Is this where you tell me I look prettier this way?” she teased.
“I let your hair down because it makes it easier to do this.” He knotted his fingers in her hair and tugg
ed her head.
A jolt traveled through her scalp. She gasped involuntarily, and her nipples strained against her bra. Behind her, Aaron let out a low groan.
Gavin hovered his lips millimeters from hers. “You’re breathtaking regardless.” He brushed a kiss along her bottom lip, then nipped the tender skin.
Her pulse tore through her veins, and her restraint snapped. She pressed in close, crushing her mouth to his. Aaron kissed along the back of her neck, down to where it met her shoulder.
Gavin swallowed her whimper. He pulled back to meet her gaze. His eyes shone with lust and laughter. “First time as the filling?”
“Yes.” She didn’t have an issue with casual sex. It was the best way for her to get laid, her being a cynic about romance and refusing to get tied into a relationship full of empty promises. But her experiences were relatively tame. “That doesn’t mean you need to be gentle.”
Aaron caught her earlobe between his teeth and tugged. “Glad to hear it.” A growl cut through his words.
Desire grew in her gut and traveled lower, to throb between her thighs. Gavin kissed her again, hard and hungrily. She grabbed his shirt in her fists. She was desperate for something to ground her. It didn’t do the trick, and she didn’t care. Since she was someone else for the night, she’d dive in head first and enjoy every minute of it.
Aaron glided his fingers under her shirt and over her bare stomach. She was torn between pressing against Gavin, feeling every inch of him, and leaving space for Aaron to move.
When Aaron worked up the front of her blouse, undoing the buttons one at a time, her decision was made. She let go of Gavin, to let Aaron drag her jacket and top down arms, leaving her in her bra. She needed more—the sensation of skin on skin—but she didn’t want this to be over too quickly.
Gavin slipped a finger under one strap on her shoulder and slid down toward her breast. He pulled the lace away, barely touching her nipple. She hissed and arched her back, to get closer, but he kept enough distance to tease.
Their Matchmaker Page 6