Dating by Design Series Box Set

by Jennifer Peel

  By the way he kissed me, I would say, statistically speaking, we had a high probability of proving the theory right.

  Epilogue

  For a moment, I thought I was dreaming, but it felt too good and real to be a dream. I woke up enough to feel his hand glide against my bare abdomen where my tank top must have come up in my sleep. “Why are you in my bed?”

  He laughed against my ear. “Darlin’, after all these months of my pent-up energy keeping my hands off you, you still don’t trust me?”

  “Should I?”

  “Probably not.”

  I turned into his bare chest and snuggled in, knowing I probably shouldn’t—especially not here in his parents’ guest bedroom—but did it ever feel amazing. “So, why are you here?”

  “I couldn’t sleep.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He ran his hand down my back, naturally bringing me closer. “You should be, since it’s your fault.”

  “My fault?” I spoke into his well-defined, smooth chest that I had been enjoying the last couple of days as we played on the beach. He always spent Memorial Day weekend at his parents’ house on Pensacola Beach. Kenadie used to come with him. She and Jason were here, but they were staying in a nearby hotel, enjoying the newlywed life still.

  “It’s killing me being next door knowing you’re in here. And have you ever slept on a bunkbed?”

  I smiled. “Not since I was twelve. Do you want to switch? You can have this bed and I’ll take the bunk beds.”

  “That defeats the purpose.”

  “So, there’s a purpose to this?”

  “I’ve been thinking that I’m tired as hell going to bed alone every night.”

  “Do you have a solution to that problem?”

  I felt the deep breath in his chest and as he slowly let it out. “I love you, Meg.”

  I had to stop myself from crying. I had been waiting to hear those words. I kissed his chest. “I know.”

  He pulled back. “How did you know?”

  I reached up and ran my fingers through his hair. Even in the dim light I saw his eyes close from the touch. “I know you love me because you pulled down my tank top as soon as you felt my bare skin, and you’ve never pushed me to sleep with you, even though I know you’ve wanted to. And you let me hold the remote and you play with my cat.”

  “I do not.”

  “Liar. Jasper curled right up on your lap the last time you were over.”

  “Don’t tell anyone.”

  “Your secrets are safe with me.”

  His lips barely glided over mine.

  “That’s another thing. When you kiss me, I feel like you want me to be part of you.”

  His eyes burned in the night. “I want you to share every part of yourself with me.”

  “I want that too. I love you.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I was waiting for you to say it first. I didn’t want to scare you.”

  “Meg Dawson, you will always scare the hell out of me.”

  “I’m happy to hear that.”

  He took another deep breath. “How do you feel about eloping?”

  I felt like we were screaming down that hill again. A huge whoosh ran through my body. I had felt that way many times the past several months together. It had been the best time of my life. I had known for a while now that he was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. And despite our improbability, I found that we were more than compatible. He obviously felt the same way. “Can we do it in Wyoming with my family?”

  “I was thinking more of catching a flight to Vegas today, but if Wyoming makes you happy, let’s go there. There are some things I’d like to do to you on that bearskin rug.”

  I smiled, thinking of all the possibilities. “You make me happy.”

  He leaned his forehead against mine. “Marry me?”

  “Yes.”

  Narcissistic Tendencies

  Dating by Design: Book Three

  Jennifer Peel

  Chapter One

  I looked between the profile on my screen and the man who sat in my office, twisting the gold band around his finger. There were several similarities between the two hotshot playboys, except the one in front of me had surprised me.

  “How’s Meg?” I asked.

  I missed her in the office. But it made sense for her to focus on finishing school and finding another job now that she and Zander were married. Even though the client dates in our office were professional and platonic in nature, I didn’t think it was a good idea for a married person to go on them. Why open the door? It looked like Meg and Zander agreed. Zander, too, was no longer playing the role of relationship manager. He now filled the position of executive vice president. He took over several of Kenadie’s duties, including running the connection meetings and assigning clients to their respective relationship managers.

  Zander looked up from his phone. He had been staring at it while playing with his ring. He seemed anxious. “She hasn’t been feeling well since we got back from Punta Cana last month.”

  “Oh. Is she okay?”

  He looked down at his phone again. “I’m sure she’s fine; she’s at the doctor right now.”

  I had never heard him sound worried. I was happy I was wrong about him. I mean, he was still conceited, but Meg had gotten to him somehow, and it was apparent how much he cared for her. We were all shocked when they showed up married last month after eloping over Memorial Day weekend and an impromptu honeymoon. Not all of us, exactly. Kenadie, who we were waiting on to start our meeting, had attended the spur of the moment wedding in Wyoming where Meg’s family lived.

  “I hope she feels better soon,” I offered.

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “Me too.”

  Kenadie appeared. “Sorry I’m late.” She shut the door behind her. “I just got off the phone with the marketing firm to finalize our campaign. They’re reaching out to Nicholas today to schedule filming for the first commercial. And they are sending over the pictures from his photo shoot. I can’t wait to get those up on our website. This is going to be big for us.”

  I cringed internally. This wasn’t a good idea. I got that it was going to be huge for Binary Search and why Kenadie, the CEO and owner, would agree to such an idea, but Nicholas, or Nick, as he’d asked to be called, was the wrong man.

  In my evaluation of him, it had been clear he had narcissistic tendencies. He seemed unable to handle criticism, like when we met yesterday and I politely suggested he put away his phone he was obsessed with, he only glared at me and kept right on checking it. He was obviously self-absorbed and had no regard for others’ feelings. Not unlike Zander, but at a more pronounced level. His Hollywood lifestyle, I’m sure, had contributed to it. He was used to constant admiration.

  Not only that, the answers on the questionnaire we had each potential client fill out were unbalanced. His values and preferences were all over the place. On one hand, he checked that he was not looking for a long-term relationship, yet the traits he wished for in a partner had everything to do with wanting that person to be loyal to him in every regard, as if they were in a lasting relationship.

  If only that were the most off-putting piece of information. He clearly thought highly of himself and wrote down more achievements than any client I had ever seen. Perhaps I could excuse the Emmy and People’s Choice Award, but he mentioned three times that he had been People’s Sexiest Man Alive. And there were a dozen other awards listed. I swore half of them sounded made up, like Most Overlooked Actor. Self-importance was a huge red flag.

  I had to voice my concern. “Kenadie, I asked to speak to you and Zander so we could discuss Nick’s evaluation.”

  She was now seated next to Zander. She looked at me, surprised, I’m sure, by my tone. Zander looked mildly interested as well, but his phone stayed his main point of focus. He must really be worried about Meg, which worried me too, but first I needed to deal with the Nick situation.

  Kenad
ie’s pretty brown eyes narrowed. “Is there a problem?”

  I straightened in my seat. How did I put this after only meeting with him once? Well, once in my capacity here. “I’m concerned about his . . .attitude . . . and how he will come across to any of the women he may date using our service. It might bring in more bad publicity than good.”

  “Any women we choose for him will have to sign a non-disclosure agreement before they can go out with him. Nick’s lawyers made that a stipulation in the agreement,” Kenadie was quick to answer.

  “Unfortunately, I can see why.”

  Kenadie now had a slight look of panic on her face. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying I’ve never met a man more egocentric than him.” That wasn’t exactly true. There was a bigger ego maniac in my past, but no one here knew about him and I liked to keep it that way. Both Kenadie and I looked at Zander.

  Zander looked up. “Why are you looking at me?”

  Kenadie and I both turned away from him and faced each other.

  “As I was saying, as far as I can tell, he cares about no one but himself. At least Zander usually places Meg’s feelings above his own.”

  Zander’s head popped up. “Why do I keep being brought into this? I told you both he was a player. And I’m happily married now, thank you.”

  “He’s more than a player. He doesn’t seem to have an emotional attachment to anyone—maybe he’s incapable of it, I don’t know. I would have to spend more time evaluating him to know for sure.”

  Kenadie sighed and bit her lip. “Kate, this is a done deal. We’ve signed. I’ve hired several more relationship managers to handle what I’m sure will be a huge increase in business when people find out that Nicholas Wells is using our service. Can you fix him?”

  “People aren’t like cars; you don’t take them to a repair shop and ‘fix’ them. It takes a willingness on the patient’s part and a desire to change.”

  Kenadie looked at Zander for support. They were more than business partners. They had been best friends since high school.

  Zander shrugged his shoulders. “Kenz, this is your call.”

  “Kate.” She faced me, desperate. “I need you to work your magic on him.”

  “I’m a psychologist, not a magician.”

  “Please. Maybe he was having an off day. I’ll tell his people that you need to spend some more time with him.”

  “Don’t you think that will sound a little strange? We don’t offer therapy here.”

  She slumped in her chair. Despair was etched in her features while she thought.

  “What if Kate became his relationship manager?” Zander suggested.

  Kenadie’s eyes lit up and she perked up a bit. “Yes, yes. We can say we are giving him specialized attention since you evaluate each of our clients. And this way it would reduce the amount of people here that would have to sign an NDA. He was worried about people having access to personal information about him, so this could actually play in our favor.”

  “Oh no, no, no. I don’t do narcissists outside my office.” I had gone that route before. All I’m saying is annulment is an ugly word.

  “Is he really a narcissist?” Zander eyed me. “You used to say that about me.”

  “I said you had tendencies and I stand by that. Nick is . . . well . . .”

  “Please?” Kenadie’s entire body begged.

  I looked at Nick’s headshot on my screen. It was professionally done. It looked so perfect I would have said it had been touched up, but I had met him in real life—twice, actually—and I had to hand it to him, he was gorgeous on the outside. At forty, he still had thick, sandy brown hair and eyes of blue that looked like a daydream. He worshipped his own body, so he was in perfect shape, and his chiseled features wore his eternal five o’clock shadow like they were meant to be together.

  Besides his looks, I couldn’t think of a redeeming characteristic about him. Not even the memory of our first meeting helped his case. But I looked between his picture and Kenadie. Kenadie, whom I admired and respected. She was intelligent, and I agreed whole-heartedly with her approach to relationships. I was happy to help her grow her business. I felt like what we did here was important. People should be more selective about who they dated. I wish Binary Search was available to me back when . . . well, back when I didn’t know better. I would hate to see anyone ruin what she, and the rest of us, had worked so hard to create here.

  I looked one more time between Nicholas Wells and Kenadie. I knew I would regret it, but I would regret the demise of Binary Search more.

  “Fine,” I breathed out.

  Kenadie didn’t waste a moment and jumped out of her seat, making her shoulder length, curled, dark blonde hair bounce. “I’ll call Nick’s people now.” She gave me a relief-filled smile. “Thank you, Kate. Hopefully, he’ll surprise us.” She made a beeline for the door before I could respond.

  Zander bolted for the door, making a call to his wife, I’m sure. I really did hope Meg was all right. Zander had me worried, as did the man staring back at me on my screen. I let my hair out of the messy bun I had thrown it in early this morning and ran my fingers through my long hair.

  My mind drifted back to the first time I met Nick. No one but me would ever know it wasn’t yesterday. Not even Nick, though he did mention during his eval that I looked familiar. It was the only decent remark he made the entire time. I felt it better not to mention our run-in fourteen years ago. He didn’t need to know I had at one time idolized him, and I’d like to think that naïve twenty-year-old woman no longer existed. How could she after everything she had been through?

  Now, more than ever, I was glad I didn’t share my brush with fame with anyone. At the time, I hadn’t spoken of it because it seemed like the magic of that moment would have lost some of its luster. I used to think it was fitting that it happened at Serendipity, my favorite bookstore. A chance meeting in a place named for happy coincidences. Ask me back then, I would have told you it was fate. It had been the only time that summer I was able to visit my beloved bookstore—normally I was there every Saturday, a tradition I still kept up with. But that summer I was home from college for only a week before I left to work as a counselor for a specialized camp in Tennessee for disabled children.

  I had to admit that I was kind of bummed I was leaving for the summer after I met him. Everyone knew Nicholas Wells was from Georgia. I’d even plotted with some of my high school girlfriends how we would meet him. On the Edge, the crime drama he’d starred in as Talon Fox, was all the rage. I had planned to name my first son Talon, unless I married Nicholas. Which was my first choice. I didn’t think he would want a son named after his character.

  Sadly, I’d never been happier to hear of someone getting divorced—other than myself, of course, except my situation went one step further: annulment. Not dwelling on it. I’m ashamed at the shouts of hooray that went on in my dorm room when it was announced on every major network and gossip site that Nicholas Wells and his model wife, Alessandria-with-no-last-name, split up. I never understood the no-last-name trend. My roommates and I shamefully made fun of her, but really, we were only jealous of the European beauty with long legs, mesmerizing emerald eyes, and flawless features. What a gorgeous couple they made. Of course, my friends and I never thought she was good enough for him. We all cursed her when it was reported that she left him for one of the extras from On the Edge. It was quite the scandal back in the day.

  I foolishly thought I could nurse Nick’s heart back together, given the chance.

  Then life handed me a moment. One I had never forgotten. I was walking out of Serendipity in the quaint Emory Village near my parents’ home in Druid Hills—where I live now, too—not watching where I was going. My nose was in one of my favorite books, Les Misérables. I had purchased a new copy since I’d given my previous copy to a roommate who thought reading paperbacks in the rain was a good idea. I was already so into it that I barely knew I was walking out the door. That’s when I felt
the bump and watched my book drop. When I bent down to get it, I was met with the most enigmatic blue eyes. The bookstore magically transformed into its namesake and I froze for several seconds. His penetrating gaze held me, that was, until our hands touched while we each tried to pick up the book. It was more than a tingle, it was like reading a torrid love letter, but without words. His touch was scorching. I had never known a heat intense enough to cause shivers.

  “I’m sorry,” I managed to stutter. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

  I couldn’t believe I was face-to-face with my honest-to-goodness fantasy. And I was kicking myself for looking grungy in yoga pants with my hair in a ponytail and ball cap.

  The brittle smile he was famous for that gave nothing away appeared on his sun-kissed face. “Lucky for me.”

  Never had three words excited me more. I stood up straight, he followed. We both held the book between us. He acted as if he didn’t want to let go. Neither did I.

  Nick’s gaze drifted toward the title of the book. “Les Misérables. I enjoyed the abridged version.”

  “You’re missing out,” I told him without thinking.

  His eyebrow arched like the character he played. Just enough to make me catch my breath.

  “Is that so?” The question danced out of his mouth.

  I adjusted my hat and bit my lip, embarrassed I’d been so bold. “You have to read the unabridged version for the beautiful history and to see what happens to the doll.”

  He leaned in closer. I still remember the way he smelled, like amber and vanilla. “Care to fill me in?”

  I wanted to, anything to talk to him longer, but my personality came through. “I wouldn’t want to do you the disservice.”

  He tilted his head and studied me for a moment, as if he was surprised by my response. “What is your name?” He didn’t introduce himself, he knew by my reaction to him that I knew exactly who he was.

  I opened my mouth to tell him, but I wasn’t the only one who’d recognized him. A group of women walking past rushed us. My book fell again and I was left to pick it up in the chaos, trying not to get stepped on. The women didn’t even care that they had interrupted my serendipitous moment. They pawed at him while preening themselves, pushing him farther away from me. I walked away with my book but looked back to see if there was any chance he noticed I had gone. I couldn’t even see him in the sea of women.