by Nana Malone
“No.” I shook my head. “It might be the hard way, but I’ll get what I need. I just have to find the best way to drive him insane.” I grinned. “This might even be fun.”
“I know enough to fear you when you get that gleam in your eye. Quick question though. Toby… Should we look in on him? I know he no longer works here, but he was on the team.”
I frowned. “I’ve already arranged for a meal service for two weeks. I expensed it. To help until he gets on his feet.”
“Evan lost his mind over Toby. He’s not going to like it.”
“Tough. It’s the right thing to do. Toby was a lazy pain in the ass, but he was on the team.” I shrugged. You didn't always like your family, but you needed to show up for them.
“I wonder if Evan is going to sack your new nemesis too?”
I frowned. “Evan? Fire Roone? I wish, but the guy hasn’t done anything wrong yet. Besides, I want to beat him fair and square. And Evan has no reason to fire him.”
“Uh huh. Let’s just say, Toby punching a client gave Evan the legitimate reason he’s been looking for to sack the git.”
I blinked several times. She wasn’t right about that, was she?
Chloe rolled her eyes. “How can you not even see it? Evan is super protective of you.”
“I’m his protégé.” He’d hired me when I was still a newbie. He worked with my schedule and trained me. He was the reason I even had a career right now.
“Sure. I’m just not certain that’s the word he’d use.”
“That’s absurd.”
“No, it's not. I’m just saying pay attention. Evan might just get rid of Roone for you.”
Roone walked by our office. He and Ariel were deep in conversation. I scowled at him as he walked, and he must have felt my gaze on him because he shifted his eyes, met mine, and winked.
Asshole.
My phone rattled against something in my purse as it rang. I dug around to fish it out. “Hello, this is Jessa.”
There was nothing but silence on the line, so I tried again. “Hello, this is Jessa. Who is this?”
There was static, maybe breathing, but mostly silence.
“Hello?”
More breathing, then a hang up. I glared down at the phone. Blocked number. Was it international? Maybe a wrong number?
Something is up.
I shoved down the voice of my father. Just because I’d gotten a random phone call, didn’t mean that something was going on or something bad was going to happen. I refused to live my life in fear anymore.
Chloe lifted a brow. “Who was that?”
“No idea. They hung up. There was some heavy breathing though.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Nice and creepy. I swear to God, if someone is going to be a creeper, they should be a clear creeper. You know, with specific instructions.”
She laughed. “Right, please leave your panties on the back porch in the back garden specifically at this time, so I can pick them up.”
“Exactly. It leaves out any ambivalence.”
She frowned. “Seriously, is there something to worry about? Have you had more than one of these?”
I refused to give some weirdo any credence. “Of course not. Just a crank call.”
Besides, I had bigger fish to fry.
8
Ariel…
"Mr. Millston, I'm excited you wanted to talk to me. Everything with Jessa has been going great. You were right. She's exactly the right person for what we're trying to do with Meet Cute."
Evan sat back in his seat nodding quietly. "You know, I've been going over it. Everything I see on the app is a rave. Any negative reviews happen to be the result of customers' misuse. And they’re things that customer service seems to resolve quickly."
I smiled. Great. At least the deep back story of the app had worked. We anticipated them digging into the background story. It was airtight. No holes. But I was curious as to why he’d called me into a meeting. "Wow, I aim to please. We're a small company, but we’re growing. Millions in the bank, zero investors, all my own money. That's the dream. I just want to go to the next level."
He laughed softly. "Ms. Scott, you don't have sell me. I know the pitch. And Jessa is the right person for you. She'll get you the exact kind of clientele needed to take you next level without diluting the brand in any way."
"I'm excited to hear that. She's been fantastic so far. Smart, on her wits. Nothing not to like."
"Right. Of course. She's our best and brightest." He sat forward and steepled his fingers. "Just how does the algorithm go about matching people? If, you know, say someone wanted to make a request of the algorithm, would it be possible?"
"What do you mean request?"
The tension in his brow immediately smoothed. "Oh, nothing, not to worry, of course. Just… you know, if say Chloe, Jessa's assistant, wanted to match herself with say Roone? Is there a way for you to directly link them?"
I frowned as if it had never occurred to me that anyone would try and manipulate the system. Not my first rodeo, twatmuncher. "No. I didn’t build any back doors to the system. Unless people are really a match, the system will not put them together. I'm a purist like that. Otherwise, what's the point? Look, Mr.—"
"Evan, call me Evan."
"Evan, okay. I believe in this app. I developed it for a reason. I've had my heart broken before, and I wanted to take some of the guesswork out of it. I wanted something that would truly help people connect, you know?" The irony of it all was that the app actually did work, so if ever I wasn’t a Royal Guard anymore, I had a fallback plan.
Like Jessa had said, it was complicated to key in on what would match two people. But if you went on the basics of what they liked to do and their personality types, it wasn’t that hard. The irony of it was, Roone and Jessa actually were a match.
"But no one's really seen the algorithm."
I shook my head. "Of course not. It's proprietary. If I let anyone else see it, any idiot could use it for their dating app. And then it wouldn't be special, now would it?"
"No, I don't suppose it would be. But, you know, if I wanted to make a request… Could you do it for me?"
No dumbass. But I tried to phrase it nicer than that. I shook my head. "No, I couldn't. Especially if the request is to not match two people or to match specific people. Everyone here, as you said, is going to use the app. They'll be matched to anyone in our database who's a good fit. We ask everyone to answer honestly, and the system will match them."
"Yes of course. I just wouldn't want some of my female employees to be matched with people who have unsavory backgrounds. You know, I'm looking out for them."
I forced my lips to tip up into a semblance of a smile. "Wow, how lucky they are to have someone like you to look out for them. But I assure you. The app is airtight. Everyone has been vetted over and over again. There's nothing to worry about."
His hands clasped harder. "No," he sat back. "Of course, there isn’t. I just thought it was one of those things I should ask. To get a really full understanding of your application."
"Yeah, any time. Ask me anything you want. But that’s just not how it works.” We laughed together as he walked me out. As I was leaving, my phone rang, and I made a left to find a quiet corner to take the call.
“Hello, this is Ariel.”
“Hey, baby.”
I stopped mid-hallway. “Dad?” He never called. And why was his number blocked on my caller ID?
“Yeah. Why do you sound so surprised to hear from me?”
So many reasons. “What’s up?” My father rarely called. And I’d made it pretty clear that I was going on assignment. So if he was calling, it meant he wanted something.
He always wants something.
“I can’t just call my daughter because I want to talk to her?”
“Dad, I know you. And you knew I was going away. I would’ve called to check in like normal.” Which was about once a month.
“Is it so wrong
for me to want to hear my daughter’s voice every now and again?”
The guilt slithered in. “Sorry Dad. I’m just in the middle of a case so, you know… I’ve been busy.”
“Sure, sure, I know. My daughter is a big important Royal Guard. You know I tell everyone about you. How important you are, how vital you’ve been to the King and Queen. I do. I’m so proud of you baby.”
Why was it that even though he gave me compliments, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop? I was waiting for the ‘ask.’
“Actually, you know, I was calling for a reason.”
And here it was. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering, since you’re not in town, if maybe I could stay at your place for a bit?”
As in my bungalow… on the palace grounds… unsupervised? “What?”
Strictly speaking, the Royal Guard bungalows were meant for the Guard that needed the closest access to the royal family. I had a single bedroom bungalow suite, and I was lucky to get it. I’d been in the Royal Guard since I was eighteen, and seniority-wise, I’d lucked out. “Dad, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Listen, you know I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t need it. I just need a place for a few days. Your mother wouldn’t even let me sleep on her couch. You know how contentious it can get with us. You know that I wouldn’t come to you if I didn’t need it.”
I hated it when he did this. I hated it when I felt like I really had no choice. Like, if it wasn’t for me, no one would look out after him. “Dad, I’m not there. And you would need approval on clearance.”
“I’m your father.”
“Sorry. You still need approval and I’m not physically there to grant it.”
“It’s just for a couple of days. A week at most. I promise, I’ll stay out of the way. It’s not like I’ll be living down there the whole time. I’ll be going to work. I still have the visitor’s passes that you sent me so I could come see you. Please Mer, I need your help. You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t essential.”
Using my childhood nickname was low. He and my mom had named me Ariel because of my hair. And they claimed that I watched the Little Mermaid no less than a million times when I was little. “Dad that’s low. I could really get in trouble.”
“You know, my whole life, I messed up. A lot. But no way, no how would I ever do anything to jeopardize your happiness or your existence. You know this.”
I did know that. Everything he did was an effort to make our lives better. He just made mistakes.
So many mistakes. But never once had he thrown me under the bus or done anything to deliberately hurt me. “Okay look, you know what my key code is to get in. But honestly, Dad, you better come and go quietly. Peacefully. Do not make a nuisance of yourself. No going to the palace.
“Oh, thank you sweetheart. You don’t know how much I appreciate this. I promise. I’ll be quite as a mouse. In and out. I just need a place to clear my head.”
“Okay Dad. But please, don’t make me regret this.”
“Never.” Even as he hung up, I had to fight the thought that I was making the biggest mistake of my life.
Jessa …
After another week of dealing with Roone, I was surprised I hadn’t resorted to drinking yet. For the last two days, everyone had been buzzing about their matches. Chloe was obsessed that she hadn’t been matched yet. The texts were constant as she whined.
“Have you seen who you’re matched with?”
I sighed as I painted my toe nails. “Hello to you too, Chloe. No, I haven’t looked. And I don’t care, because it doesn’t matter anyway.”
“Oh, come on, you have to care about this. I care about this. Come on, it will be fun. You actually have to put yourself all-in.”
“It’s not fun. We’re working, remember?”
“But we can work and play at the same time. Did you not put in the appropriate details?” She scolded.
She was a first-class whiner. “Sure, I did. I mean, I was always a good student and I like to get things right, but not because I care about what the outcome is actually going to be. The Evans would have it no other way. But you don’t see me giddy and staring at my computer or my phone constantly. “
“Oh, come on, Jessa. Have a little fun. Besides, you could use a good shag.”
My mouth fell open. “No, I couldn’t. I’m fine. I have B.O.B. I need nothing.”
“Well, I’m excited. Come on, Jessa, this isn’t like you. When you have a client, especially one as cool as this one, you’re usually a lot more excited.”
She was right. With most clients I’d be all-in, but Roone had me distracted. I’d done the questionnaire and stuck a photo up, but I hadn’t paid any attention to anything else. I’d put it out of my head entirely.
I should be far more interested than I was. If I didn’t get it together Ariel Scott would think I wasn’t invested in her project. I was asking for trouble by not paying attention.
No, you’re asking for trouble because for the first time in your adult life, someone makes you itchy and uncomfortable.
I didn’t like itchy and uncomfortable. This was going to be a shit show. Besides, I didn’t want to be matched. I didn’t date. I hadn’t dated seriously or even attempted it in over a year.
“Sorry Chloe. I don’t mean to be a downer on this for you. True, it’s exciting if their app works. You know, from the research I’ve done, there’s not much on them. It’s got great reviews by people who seem legit. I’ve got calls into people’s people, to see if they can verify using the app and their happiness level.
I heard a chime. “Was that it? Did you get yours?”
Chloe sighed. “No, that was me, refreshing the screen, still nothing. What if it can’t find anyone for me?”
“Chloe! Oh my God, please stop. I’m sure they will find someone who is a perfect match in the system. This is like that other app. The one that like, you know, movie stars use. What’s it called again? It starts with an R or something.”
“Oh, I think I remember, but I’m still nervous. The last guy I dated? He legitimately ran out of my house with his clothes off. He didn’t even bother putting them back on before he left me, so it’s been a while since I’ve dated. I don’t know what the latest thing is, or what the kids are doing.”
“Don’t look at me. It’s been so long since I’ve even been out for a non-work thing, I can’t even introduce you to any guys. Hell, I don’t even know where I’d meet a man.”
“Ugh!” She sighed. “You are so frustrating.”
“Sorry I’m not cooler. I’ll just stick to my sassy mugs for cool factor. Nerdy cool. It’s a thing.”
Chloe must have refreshed again, because I heard the chime repeated. “Oh my God! I have a match.”
Despite myself, a shot of adrenaline spiked my blood, and I sat up straighter. “You do? Is there a picture?”
“Yes. Oh! He’s fit.”
“Wait, seriously?” I don’t know why I was surprised.
Why was I so damn skeptical? I sighed. “What is his name? What does he do?”
“It says he’s some kind of financial analyst.”
“Finance? That seems kind of boring.”
“No, you should see him though. He is… Wow! Jaw dropping.”
“Jaw dropping, you say? Pics or it didn’t happen.”
The second line on my phone chimed, and I glanced down at my messages. And yeah, wow. The guy could easily be a model. First name, Trevor. They used no last names, gave no social media links, and beyond a general career description, didn’t tell you where someone worked. They just showed a photo, a location to meet, a date and time, and a yes or no button.
“Are you going to say yes?”
Chloe laughed. “Are you mad? Hell yes, I’m saying yes.”
This made me wonder who the hell my match was… not that I was in a hurry. Not that I cared. But still, where the hell was my match?
“Do you have one yet?” Chloe asked.
“Nope, not y
et. But you go, click on your match date. Enjoy. I’m going to finish painting my nails and look over the rest of the files. The Tillerman Gala is coming up in a few weeks, and time will go quick. I want to nail down that guest list.”
“Okay, you do that. I am going to go count my lucky stars.”
I hung up with her, then stared at my phone. I stared and stared trying to ignore the itch that would have me press the refresh button. I wouldn’t do it. I didn’t care.
I didn’t want this. But still, somehow, I refreshed. Still nothing. I glowered at it and finished painting my pinky toenail. When I heard the chime, I jumped, causing me to spread my nail polish across my whole toe, not just the nail.
“Damn it.”
I cleaned off the nail polish and snatched up my phone. When I clicked it, I saw I had one new match.
My belly fluttered. This had better be good. Then I clicked the button, waiting for it to load a photo.
When it did, I cursed.
Roone.
I was a 97 percent match with none other than my nemesis.
The universe, it seemed, had a sense of humor.
9
Roone…
Nothing could have made me happier than watching Jessa’s reaction when she was paired with me. I’d feast on that one for weeks. It was way too fun to rile her up.
The problem was, now we had to actually go on the date. And Ariel was having a field day.
“Remind me to pay you back,” I muttered.
Ariel’s laugh rang in my earpiece. “Oh relax, Roone, you’ll be fine.”
“Getting tossed around in midair is not my idea of fun.”
“You’re ex-military. I know you SAS guys had to do aerial training. You can’t tell me you’re afraid of heights.”
I shuddered. “My least favorite part of training.”
“But come on. With all the parachuting, you can’t be afraid to fly.”
“I've never liked heights. There, now you know.” I'd just given her ammo for future use.
“Well, you should have made it clear on your date form. I selected this activity because it involves trusting each other. Oh, and the princess has loved this stuff since some circus her mom took her to.”