by I. T. Lucas
Brenna forced a smile. “Lucky me.”
Finally, when her turn arrived, she rushed to the sink and scrubbed her hands and forearms all the way to the elbows as if she was prepping for surgery.
What a complete and utter failure this night had been. She was never attending another reunion.
Heading out, Brenna pulled out her phone and scrolled until she found the Uber application. As it opened, though, something, or rather someone, caught her eye.
A tall guy in a suit exited a taxi, and when he leaned inside the cab to pay, she took a moment to admire his well-defined backside. She was still standing and gawking when he straightened up and turned around.
No way.
Brenna would recognize those dark eyes and that intense gaze no matter how much everything else had changed.
“Gabriel?”
3
Gabriel
As Gabriel stared at Brenna Hutchinson, he wished Hunter was there to lift his jaw for him because it was hanging open and he was too stunned to close it himself.
Suddenly he wasn’t the confident thirty-year-old entrepreneur who'd made a multi-million exit and who hadn’t been shy around women for years.
He was a sixteen-year-old boy facing his crush.
She’d remembered him.
She’d called his name.
And now she was blushing.
Because of him?
Gabriel fought the instinct to look over his shoulder and check whether there was another guy named Gabriel standing behind him and making Brenna blush.
“Gabriel Rothman?” she repeated, sounding unsure.
God, he loved her voice. He loved everything about her.
“Yes. But it’s Gabriel Barnes now. My mother remarried, and I took on my stepfather’s last name.” He realized that he was still holding his wallet in his hand and put it in his pocket. “Hello, Brenna.”
She smiled. “Oh, good. For a moment there I thought you didn’t recognize me. You were staring at me as if you were seeing a ghost.”
Shaking his head, he walked up to her and offered his hand. “I could never forget you, Brenna.”
With a shy smile, she put her hand in his. “I haven’t changed much. I still wear my hair the same way I did in high school.” She pushed one long curl behind her ear. “I should get a more professional hairdo, but then managing my curls is easier when they are long.”
Brenna was nervous.
Was it because of him?
He didn’t remember her rambling on about her hair, or her clothes, or any of the other nonsense high school girls had liked to talk about. Brenna had been too focused and driven to be bothered by such trivia.
“I love your hair. Don’t you dare change it.”
She blushed again. “Okay, if you insist.”
Glancing at the phone clutched in her hand, he realized that they were still standing on the sidewalk outside their old high school, and that Brenna had been about to leave when he’d arrived.
“Do you have to go? Or can you come back inside and spend a few moments with me? My flight was delayed, and I was afraid I’d miss out on all the fun.” He meant meeting her.
“I was about to call an Uber, but I didn’t yet, so I can stay a little longer.”
He stifled a relieved breath and offered her his arm. “Excellent.”
As she threaded her arm through his, he blurted, “You’re the only reason I came here at all.”
Her step faltered, and she would’ve stumbled if he hadn’t stabilized her. “Really? Why?”
Because I’ve been obsessing about you for the past fourteen years.
Instead, he said, “I’m a big fan of your YouTube videos. That film class we took together in junior year paid off.”
Gabriel had joined only because of her, so he could have an excuse to be near her.
Brenna’s eyes widened. “You’ve been watching my channel?”
“Since the beginning. You’re doing a wonderful job.” He chuckled. “I think I’m ready for the advanced placement anatomy test.”
When they stepped inside, slow dance music was playing, and the lights were dimmed. He would’ve loved to take her into his arms and slow danced with her, but it was too soon for that. Besides, he was a lousy dancer, and this evening was about impressing Brenna and not making a fool out of himself.
Scanning the room, Gabriel found an empty table and led Brenna toward it. But as she glanced at the dance floor, he had to ask, “Would you like to dance?”
“Oh, no. My feet are killing me. I was just looking.”
“Good.” He pulled out a chair for her. “I’m not a great dancer.”
“Neither am I.” She sat down. “How did you find out about my channel?”
He’d been stalking her Facebook page, but he wasn’t going to admit it. “Big brother watching. One day it just popped as one of the suggestions. Google probably figured we knew each other.”
“Isn’t that creepy? There is no more privacy.”
He waved a dismissive hand. “It’s all done by bots. And anyway, I’m glad for it. I’ve watched all of them.”
“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about? I’m not difficult to find. You could’ve just called me.”
Damn, he needed to come up with something that made sense, but the only thing that came to mind was Hunter’s advice.
“I need a doctor.”
When her eyes clouded with worry, he realized how dumbly he’d phrased it. Evidently, infatuation had an adverse effect on intelligence, reducing him into a bumbling idiot.
“What I meant was that my company needs a doctor to evaluate our medical monitoring protocol.”
“What is it that your company does?”
He’d explained it so many times that it was like reciting a script. “My partner and I designed a virtual reality fully immersive experience. Customers fill out a questionnaire, describing the fantasy they would like to enact, and the type of partner they desire to share it with. The software then finds the best match. An appointment is scheduled for both to get hooked up to the virtual reality machines at the same time. In three hours, they get to experience days or even months of living out their fantasies.”
Brenna’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Like in Total Recall?”
He was surprised that she’d seen the movie. It had been incredibly violent and bloody, and the acting mediocre, but the idea behind it had sparked a fascination that had later led to the development of his and Hunter’s proprietary software and hardware.
“Precisely. While in the cyber experience, they have no memory of their real lives. All they know about themselves is what the software provides for their chosen avatar. But when they wake up, they remember everything and get to savor the experience. For some, it could be a life changer.”
She nodded. “Like people with disabilities and restricted mobility.”
“Exactly. But also mentally. Overcoming fears and inhibitions can be life altering as well.”
“That’s genius, Gabriel. How did you guys come up with such a revolutionary system?”
He liked her looking at him with such admiration, but he couldn't lie to her. “Before this, Hunter and I developed a virtual gaming software that provided a fully immersive experience. When we sold it, we got ambitious and decided to create Dream Encounters. That’s the original name we gave the company, but it has been changed to Perfect Match.”
“I like Perfect Match better.”
“I agree. We worked on it for six years, sinking all the money we got from selling the gaming platform into it, and then we got stuck. Luckily, an investor stepped in and brought a real genius programmer on board. The guy saved the project. Without his help, we would’ve closed shop and gone home broke.”
“Oh, wow. I’m so happy that it all worked out for you in the end. What exactly do you need me for, though?”
“We are ready for beta testing, and we need a medical expert to evaluate our monitoring equipment. It’s vital that we
keep our volunteers, and later our customers, safe. If any issue arises with their bodies while their minds are in the virtual world, we need to know right away and stop the program.”
Brenna nodded. “I understand. But I don’t think I’m the right person for it. I’m a new doctor and a general practitioner. I’m not an expert. You need an experienced neurologist for that.”
“We have one for the virtual connection mind interface. What I need you for is the heart and stress level monitoring and the such. I know you can do it because I watched you explain it.”
She hesitated for a moment longer. “I won’t lie to you. This sounds so fascinating, and I’ve always been a big fan of sci-fi. I’m dying to see that machine of yours in action. Or even try it out.”
“So come.”
“Where is your company located?”
“A ten-minute drive from the hospital you work in.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “How do you know where I work?”
“You’ve mentioned it in one of your latest videos.”
“I did?”
He chuckled. “Trust me. I can recite all of them verbatim.”
4
Brenna
“You must be Brenna,” the grandmotherly receptionist said. “Gabriel told me to expect a tall beauty with long, curly blond hair.”
Brenna didn’t know what to say. Was a thank you an appropriate response to unwarranted flattery?
She wasn’t short, but she wasn’t tall either, and to call her a beauty was a stretch. The only thing he’d gotten right was the hair.
Instead, she offered the woman her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Barbara.” The receptionist grinned as she shook it. “Or Aunt Barbara as everyone here calls me.”
“Is it a term of endearment, or are you really someone’s aunt?”
“Both. I’m Gabriel’s mother’s sister.” She glanced both ways as if to make sure no one was listening in, and then whispered, “I’m here to keep an eye on him. But don’t tell him that. Gabriel thinks he’s doing his old aunt a favor by giving me a job at his company.”
Brenna laughed. “I promise not to say a word.”
Barbara patted her hand. “I’ll let him know you’re here, dear.”
When the door opened, and Gabriel stepped out, Brenna’s breath caught in her throat.
Over the two weeks since the reunion, she’d tried to convince herself that he hadn’t been as handsome as she’d remembered, and that he’d probably looked so good only because of the suit he’d had on.
Except, he looked even better in jeans and a slim-fitting button-down that accentuated his lean muscles. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him, but unlike the guys she’d seen in the gym, he didn’t have the body of someone who lifted weights and ran on a treadmill to keep fit.
Gabriel had the body of a fighter.
“I’m glad that you decided to take me up on my offer.” He offered her his hand.
Brenna put on the well-rehearsed smile she’d perfected for her patients and placed her hand in his.
Wow, talk about a zap.
Keeping her expression as neutral as possible, she followed him into his office. “What can I say? It was an offer I couldn’t resist. I can’t wait to see the virtual dream machine you’ve built.” She sat on the chair he pulled out for her. “I can make a YouTube video about it. I don’t have a huge following, but still. It’s a good way to get the word out.”
Instead of taking a seat on the executive chair behind the desk, Gabriel pulled out the other visitor chair and sat down facing her. “Thank you, but I’m afraid our virtual service is not appropriate for children. It is strictly for adults.”
“I understand that you won’t be offering the service to children, but talking about the science behind it will be fascinating to them. Heck, it’s fascinating to me.”
Gabriel rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I don’t think you understand what the service is going to be, which is my fault, since my explanation was a little vague. These encounters are sexual in nature.”
“I’m not naive, Gabriel. I know that people sharing an adventure might end up in bed. But I can talk about the enacting of fantasy part without mentioning the sex.”
He shook his head. “The software pairs people based on their sexual fantasies and partner preferences. It finds them their perfect sexual match. Basically, we are talking about virtual hookups.”
“Oh.” She’d thought that sex could potentially be part of the adventure, not the entirety of it.
He arched a brow. “Does it bother you?”
She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “No, not really. I just wonder why you would limit it to sex. You’re leaving so much potential on the table.”
“The fantasy and the adventure are not just about sex, but the matching is. In my personal experience, and Hunter’s as well, that’s the most difficult match to make. I’m sure you’ve had your share of unsatisfying sexual encounters, where you had to compromise your needs and desires for the sake of your partner’s. The frustration, the disappointment, the endless string of lovers who just don’t cut it. Imagine circumventing all of that.”
Brenna swallowed. Was he reading her mind?
Her list of lovers was by no means endless, she could count them on the fingers of one hand, and the experiences had been precisely what Gabriel had described. Frustrating and disappointing. In fact, Brenna had given up on trying to find the one who could satisfy her cravings for the same reason Gabriel had given. She didn’t want to go through a long lineup of lovers.
Who the heck had the time or energy for that?
Suddenly, virtual matchmaking seemed like an excellent idea.
“So how does it work? How would an algorithm determine who’s my perfect sexual partner?”
The predatory gleam in Gabriel’s eyes was enough to make her tingle all over. There was nothing subtle about the way he was regarding her.
Brenna had awakened the tiger.
The way she’d worded her question made it sound as if she was interested in trying out the service.
Leaning toward her, he braced his elbows on his knees and his chin on his knuckles, which brought him dangerously close to her. “Each partner fills out a very extensive questionnaire. When you see it, you’ll get what I mean by extensive. You describe your deepest, most secret fantasies and the way you’d like to enact them. Then you choose all the attributes you desire in a partner, assigning them levels of importance. The algorithm then searches the database for the best match for you. Someone who has similar preferences and desires and possesses the most attributes from your list.”
Sounded amazing in theory, but she doubted it could work in reality as well as Gabriel imagined it would.
“Men and women have very different fantasies and desires. I bet half of the ladies would want to be princesses who get swept off their feet by Prince Charming, and half the men would want a bed full of big-busted hotties eager to please them. I don’t see how your algorithm can bridge that.”
Gabriel laughed. “You’d be surprised. More than a few ladies dream of having a harem of guys who are eager to please them, and many men dream of being saviors. Boys’ favorite fantasy books are about the ordinary guy becoming a mighty warrior and rescuing the princess. It’s the classic hero’s journey.”
Brenna crossed her arms over her chest. “Okay, so what do you do when a lady requests a harem of four men in her fantasy? I’m sure there aren’t many guys who’d jump on that.”
Gabriel smirked. “True. But I can imagine a man wanting to be all four different lovers. That’s the beauty of this. In the virtual world, he can be.”
She hadn’t thought that far, but it was true. People could go really crazy with that. Snorting, she waved a hand. “You should have a module for Japanese tentacle sex.”
He arched a brow. “Is that something that interests you?”
“What? No! Of course not. I was just giving an example.”
He le
aned even closer. “What interests you, Brenna?”
She leaned away. “As if I’m going to tell you.”
5
Gabriel
“You don’t have to tell me. You can tell the algorithm.”
Gabriel watched Brenna’s face as several emotions crossed over it in quick succession.
She was intrigued, of that he had no doubt. If he kept the pressure on, she would succumb. Brenna wasn’t shy, but she was reserved, and she certainly wasn’t the type who engaged in random hookups.
But it wasn’t what he wanted either.
In fact, he hadn’t been planning on sharing a fantasy with her at all. At least not anytime soon. All he’d wanted was for her to show up. But one thing had led to another, and he saw an opportunity to jumpstart the process.
Not only that, sharing a fantasy would enable them to figure out from the get-go whether they were sexually compatible. Gabriel had a feeling that they were a perfect match, but that could be wishful thinking on his part.
In reality, things seldom worked out that way. Brenna might be perfect in every way but not in this.
Over the years, Gabriel’s preferences had become very particular. He knew what he wanted and how he wanted it. His quest to find a woman who mirrored that as closely as possible was what had sparked the idea for Perfect Match.
If he cared to be honest with himself, though, Gabriel had always hoped it would be Brenna. But he was realistic and pragmatic enough to realize that the chances of that were slim.
In his mind, he’d separated his crush from his dream sex partner.
Brenna eyed him suspiciously. “How many people have already filled out a questionnaire?”
“The extensive one? None yet. The early tests were done on a limited number of parameters, just to see whether everything worked. We are about to start full-scale beta testing.”
“And you want me to take part in it? I thought you needed me to evaluate the medical monitoring protocol.”