by Amanda Tru
“I’m sorry,” she said softly, fully knowing the words were far too inadequate. But she wasn’t willing to offer an explanation. She knew it wouldn’t do any good anyway.
“Sorry isn’t quite good enough, Miss Hutchins.”
“Elise,” she correctly quietly.
“Miss Hutchins, look at me!”
Not knowing what else to do, Elise quickly acquiesced and swung her gaze back to him, but she avoided his eyes. She couldn’t take those beautiful eyes looking at her with such disgust.
“I have a theory. Let me explain it, and you tell me if I’m right.” Not waiting for her response, he continued. “You see, I don’t think this is an isolated incident. A campus newspaper ran an interesting story a few weeks back. Did you happen to read it?”
Once again, he didn’t seem to need a response from her.
“I think you’re Cupid.”
Chapter 4
At that moment, Elise understood what it meant to have your blood run cold.
“Or maybe I should say, I know you’re Cupid,” Ryan said with conviction. “I reread the article and did a little investigating. It seems a little strange that a large percentage of the couples matched by Cupid work at or frequent the library.”
Elise shrugged. “It’s the University library. Of course everyone comes here.”
“But do a lot of them also frequent your church?”
Elise made the mistake of looking into Ryan’s eyes. He was a well-trained lawyer, and she was being interrogated. The second she made eye contact, she realized he could see the truth and her sense of guilt. There was no use denying it or trying to pretend that his theory was far-fetched.
“You were trying to set me up with Britney Bowers, weren’t you?
“She is crazy about you, Ryan!”
“But I am not crazy about her! There is no excuse for you sending her flowers and pretending they were from me. That’s deception and borderline fraud! And you claim to be a Christian! How can you justify your behavior? You interfere in others’ lives without permission. You are dishonest. You lie and deceive. Why? Does the end justify the means? My first impression of you was that you were a shy, sweet, Godly woman of good character. I can’t believe I was so wrong.”
Elise shook her head, tears making trails down her face. She somehow knew it would do no good to defend herself. He had completely misunderstood and misjudged her. But she didn’t have to stand here and listen to him rant and lecture her.
“Obviously nothing I say is going to change your opinion of me, so if you’re done . . .” Elise turned and fled down the steps and into the rain, her feet flying across the wet bricks.
Suddenly, Ryan was in front of her, blocking her path across Red Square.
“No, I am not done!”
In their haste, neither one of them had bothered with an umbrella or even a hood. Elise looked up at Ryan, frustrated, yet still almost mesmerized at the droplets of water dampening his hair and trickling down the angular planes of his face.
“What you are doing is wrong!” Ryan said, his features clothed with an intensity that only enhanced his rugged good looks. “Does anyone else know about how you like to toy with others’ lives? You’re famous now since that article. I think you deserve to enjoy your popularity. So I’m going to help you out with that. I intend to inform the newspaper of Cupid’s identity. I also think your supervisor at the library will find it very interesting to know how you’re using your position to ‘help’ others.”
Elise was horrified. With her hand covering her mouth, she just stared at the wickedly handsome man in front of her.
“Please, Ryan. Please . . . don’t tell.” Her mind went to all of the couples she’d matched. How would they feel when the magic and romance of an anonymous Cupid was suddenly brought into the realm of reality? What would her boss say? Would everyone misjudge her as severely as Ryan? She didn’t think she could handle the shame and embarrassment.
At her plea, Ryan’s expression didn’t relent even a little. “It’s the right thing to do. What you do is unethical, and this is the only way to have all the secrets out in the open. You made your choices, and now you have to deal with the consequences.”
Elise closed her eyes, her throat constricting in pain from trying to keep the tears from joining the rain that coursed down her hair and face. She longed to set things right! Ryan had misunderstood everything, and yet she doubted he would listen to an explanation, even if she could give it. He had positioned himself as judge and had convicted her without a trial. Now he was handing down her sentence. And it was harsh.
Elise felt a strange mixture of shame, anger, and sheer panic. What kind of lawyer was he? She deserved a good defense, or at least the chance of a trial. If only she could offer a case that he would understand and accept. That’s when a sudden, ridiculous idea hit her.
“Okay,” she said.
“Okay what?” Ryan asked, obviously suspicious over her abrupt mood change.
“Okay, you can reveal my identity. But before you do so, I have a request.”
“What?” His suspicions were not appeased in the least.
“Give me twenty-four hours.”
“How is twenty-four hours going to help?”
“I want to present my case,” Elise answered firmly. “You have made assumptions that aren’t true and judged my character in the worst possible light. You are wrong about me, and I would like to have a defense.”
“What exactly did you have in mind?” While not open, his expression was at least curious.
“Are you busy tomorrow? I know you won’t believe me if I just tell you what I do and how your opinion of me is wrong. You don’t know me at all, so I need to show you who I am. You need to observe what I do to match couples and why I do it. If at the end of twenty-four hours, you still want to broadcast my story, go ahead. I won’t stop you, and I won’t deny that I’m the Cupid the paper was talking about.”
Ryan stared at her for a full ten seconds. She could feel the rain soaking her hair. A few droplets escaped down her neck, trickling down her back and sending reflex shivers throughout her body. But she maintained eye contact with Ryan, refusing to even blink.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll give you twenty-four hours. But I’m not available tomorrow morning. I have to teach a class and then go home for a conference call.”
“That’s fine,” Elise said quickly, relieved and yet a little scared he’d change his mind. “I have shopping to do tomorrow morning anyway. We’ll make it work.”
Elise looked at her watch. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Elise took off at a brisk pace back across Red Square and up the steps to the library.
“Wait a minute,” Ryan said, at her elbow as they once again reached shelter from the rain. “Where are we going?”
Not stopping, Elise continued to the library doors. “You agreed to follow me around for twenty-four hours, right? Well, my defense starts right now.”
Chapter 5
Ryan’s surprise visit and the resulting drama had caused her to completely forget the appointment she had scheduled. She hoped she wasn’t too late.
Elise led the way up the grand staircase to the third floor.
As she walked past the glass-windowed group study rooms, she quickly saw the objects of her mission. Continuing past the room, she ducked behind a bookcase that provided a perfect line of sight.
“What exactly are we doing here, Miss Hutchins?” Ryan demanded, not bothering to follow Elise’s lead with concealing himself and not caring to use a library whisper.
He was going to ruin everything!
“Shh!” Elise said, putting one finger to her lips in a silencing gesture and using the other had to grab Ryan’s and pull him back behind her.
Shocked at her own boldness, Elise quickly released Ryan’s hand as if it were a hot ember and turned to explain. Facing his angry expression, her fierce courage suddenly abandoned her.
“Exhibit A,” she said, simply pointi
ng to Group Study Room 2.
Ryan obediently peered around the end of the bookcase. “Aren’t those the same students you were talking to yesterday about their group study session?”
“Yes. Clay and Shelby.” Elise paused, nervous about how Ryan would react to her explanation. She’d never actually had to explain her matchmaking scenarios to anyone. Chandra and Britney had come along a couple times, but at this point, they almost took Elise’s unusual hobby as a matter of course.
“But aren’t there supposed to be more students in the study group?” Ryan asked, clearly impatient but trying to play along. “They are the only ones in there.”
Finally, she took a deep breath and dove in. “I set them up. I’ve known for months now that they really like each other. But Shelby is very shy, and Clay is somewhat of a nerd. Clay didn’t seem to think that a beautiful girl like Shelby would ever be interested in him.”
“So you told them there was a study group session today when there actually wasn’t,” Ryan filled in.
“Not exactly,” Elise hedged, well-aware of his disapproving tone. “I just told them I had the study room scheduled. They usually have study sessions on this day, but their leader didn’t schedule it for today. So I scheduled the room myself; I just didn’t tell them they would be the only members in attendance.”
“That’s still a lie, Miss Hutchins. Whether you told them something that was untrue or you led them to believe it, you’re still being deceptive.”
Elise felt a jolt of fear. Maybe he was right. She tried so hard to make her matches in ways to wouldn’t compromise her faith or ethics, but maybe she was wrong to do any of it.
“Ryan, would you please reserve your judgment of me for twenty-four hours?” Elise asked calmly and quietly. “Then I give you permission to rant and rave and lecture me all you want.”
“Fine.” Ryan replied, though his tone suggested his attitude about their arrangement was anything but fine. “But you can’t exactly expect me to be a silent observer.”
“Of course I don’t. You can talk or ask whatever questions you like. I would just prefer to postpone questioning my character and labeling me a liar until you really know me.”
Ryan’s brooding silence was his only response.
“Look at them, Ryan,” Elise urged, as she moved over a few inches so he could see past the end of the bookcase to the window of the study room.
Ryan moved closer, his arm brushing hers.
Elise spoke softly. “Do you think they really care that they were set up and the rest of the group isn’t going to be here?”
It looked as if Clay and Shelby had completely forgotten they were supposed to be studying. But even from a distance, the smiles on their faces were obvious. Clay looked as if he’d just found out he was heir to a fortune, and the soft glow on Shelby’s face was reminiscent of what Snow White must have looked like when first awakened to find her prince.
“They’ve been needing an excuse to break the ice and be together for months. All I did was provide a time and place for them to meet and get past the awkwardness. From here on out, they’re on their own.”
“What will you do when they find out there wasn’t really a study group session today?”
Elise shrugged. “I doubt they’ll even bother looking into it. They’ll probably be too occupied with each other to think it anything other than good fortune. If they come ask me, I’ll just show them the schedule that says this room was reserved for their group. Their leader isn’t very organized anyway. This isn’t the first time one of their study sessions hasn’t happened as scheduled. It’s just the first time Clay and Shelby have been able to reap the benefits.”
“Congratulations, Miss Hutchins. That’s quite impressive. You’ve managed to successfully deceive two people and justify it as being for their own good. I don’t know that I’ve seen a hardened criminal do such a brilliant job of appeasing his own conscience.”
Elise met his eyes, and for a brief moment, she forgot to mask the hurt that was surely reflected in her own. Then she turned around and left.
This wasn’t going to work. Ryan had already made his mind up about her, and now it was apparent that nothing she could say or do would change that.
Elise sped back down the staircase and to the front doors, attracting strange looks from those she passed. She didn’t know if the attention was because she was obviously upset or because her wet hair was plastered to her scalp. She figured she must look terrible, but right now, she just wanted to make it to her car before she let loose in a good tear fest.
Ryan’s hand on her upper arm stopped her right before she left the shelter of the library and headed back down the front steps and into the rain.
“Wait, Elise.”
Elise turned around, but she kept her eyes lowered and focused on breathing deeply. If he said one more hurtful thing, she’d lose what little control she had left.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I agreed to give you twenty-four hours before I made any final judgments, and I still intend to do that.”
Ryan’s words and sincere tone brought Elise’s head up to cautiously scan his face. His brow was furrowed in regret, and his hazel eyes were gentle, expressing concern for her.
“I know I can tend to be judgmental,” Ryan continued with a grimace. “I guess it’s a side effect of the job. But the real problem is probably that I feel very disillusioned about you. My impression of you had been that of a nice, shy, Christian girl with great integrity. Then to find evidence to the contrary has shaken me. I’m not accustomed to being wrong in reading people.”
In almost a reflex, Elise opened her mouth to defend her character, but Ryan held up his hand to stop her.
“That being said, you were right. All of my opinions of you so far have not been based on first-hand experience. I haven’t given you a chance to defend yourself. So if the offer still stands, I would like to give you that opportunity. And I will do my best to keep from handing down a verdict until this time tomorrow.”
Elise was quiet a moment. She was never one to hold a grudge. And, although she was still afraid that, in the end, his opinion of her wouldn’t change, she had to at least try.
“Do you have plans tonight?” Elise asked.
“No,” Ryan replied hesitantly, appearing a bit wary of her sudden subject change. “But I thought you were just talking about tomorrow afternoon.”
“No, that would be a waste of a good eighteen hours,” Elise replied with a smile. “I still have plans for tonight. I need to run home and change clothes, but can you meet me at the Paramount Theatre? I’ll leave a ticket for you at the Will Call. The show starts at 7:30.”
Though still reluctant, Ryan agreed.
As Elise left him and ran across Red Square once more, she realized that Chandra had gotten her wish. For as much as Elise longed to go to the show by herself, she had a date.
Chapter 6
The downside of being in her seat at the theater early was that Elise then had to nervously wait for Ryan. Would he even come, or would he just not show up? Then, if he did come, would he find her other matchmaking ploys unethical as well? Added to this was the knowledge that Ryan was an extremely attractive man, and she was going to have to sit close beside him for the entire duration of the show. And that was enough to make her shaky and a little nauseous.
Elise didn’t date much. It might be more accurate to say she didn’t date at all. She never had. Being brutally honest with herself, she knew her lack of a social life was really her own fault. Even after all these years, she was still painfully shy. If a man happened to glance her way, which didn’t seem to occur very often, she ducked her head and pretended to ignore him. Yes, she knew it was childish. And yes, she sometimes got really mad at herself over it. But she could never seem to talk herself out of her same reclusive behavior. She could acknowledge full responsibility and blame, and yet she felt helpless to change.
Elise reached her hand to the back of her hair, checkin
g to make sure no stray hairs had escaped the loose up-do. She shivered. It was cool in the theater, and even though she’d worn her white shawl, the material of her dress wasn’t exactly designed for winter wear. But Elise had wanted to look nice. Her vanity and sense of fashion had won out over comfort when she’d put on her delicately embroidered white gown. As much as she wanted to deny it, she’d worn her best for Ryan.
Although Elise kept reminding herself that this was not a date, it still didn’t help her apprehension. As silly as it sounded, Elise wanted Ryan to like her; not necessarily romantically, she was too realistic for that. But she did want to have his respect. Knowing that anyone would question her character and think so ill of her was extremely hurtful. Knowing that someone was just about the most handsome man she’d ever seen made it even worse.
“So what’s the mission, Cupid?” the quiet voice at her ear startled her. Their seats were close to the aisle, and Ryan had seized the opportunity of the empty seats behind her and snuck up. Obviously enjoying her reaction of surprise, Ryan came around the aisle and slid into the seat beside her. “So we’re seeing ‘Warhorse’? I’ve heard it’s a great show. But I somehow don’t think you invited me here to trick me into a date. Though, considering your record, maybe you would?”
Elise knew he was teasing, but she couldn’t help the wide-eyed blush she knew flooded her face. She would have never tricked Ryan into a date with her, but that didn’t mean the mere sight of him didn’t send her heart aflutter. Whether at church or the library, Elise had always seen Ryan in a suit. Tonight was no different, except that it looked to be a more formal suit, a tux. And the man made that tux look incredible.
Taking her reaction as a denial, Ryan continued. “So if the pleasure of my company isn’t your purpose, why are we here?”
Elise handed him a pair of opera glasses. “Look below on the orchestra level, about halfway between us and the stage.”