9781631050275TheirPerfectMatchMarshNC Read Free

want my vital statistics…or my social security number…to become office gossip.”
    “No need to worry about that. Lovelines consists only of me, Brenda Taylor, and Todd Matthews, our programmer. The information you give us is scanned directly into the system, and from there it can be accessed only from the computer right here in my office. No one will ever read it, not even the women it selects as matches for you. I handle all that sort of detail.”
    “All right, then. I’m ready to try.” With a nod, Zane pulled his wallet from inside his leather jacket and handed her his credit card. Gold, she noticed. Zane Bishop had done well for himself in his seafaring career.
    “Let me just step into the next room and have Brenda process this. I’ll be back momentarily with your receipt. Meanwhile, you can start filling out the background check form.”
    Discreetly, she slipped into the reception area and closed her office door behind her.
    Brenda had clearly been waiting impatiently for her to emerge. “Wow!” she whispered, faking a swoon. “I think that guy materialized out of a dream I had once—a real steamy dream, if you know what I mean. I sure hope he didn’t sign with us!”
    Molly closed her hand around Zane’s credit card to shield it from Brenda’s view. “What? Why not?”
    Brenda stared as if Molly had just asked the most ridiculous question in the history of human discourse. “Because, Molly! If he’s business, that would make him off-limits.”
    “Aha. Does Decker know you ogle the men who walk in here?”
    “Not for me, silly.” Reaching into her desk, Brenda snapped open her compact and did a quick check of her hair and makeup. “Decker’s more than enough man for me. I meant for you, Mol.”
    “For me! Now you’re the one being silly.”
    “Why? He’s gorgeous and he’s single, isn’t he? And he’s here because he wants a girlfriend.”
    “Please, Brenda. He might hear you. Now run this credit card and prepare Mr. Bishop’s receipt, please. The usual fifty percent deposit.”
    Brenda didn’t seem in the least chastised. Instead, she examined the card with obvious interest, turning it back and forth so that the holographic image embedded on its face shimmered in the fluorescent light. “Mmm, the gentleman is well-to-do as well as gorgeous.”
    “Brenda, please. He’s a client, and as such he deserves courteous, respectful, and above all, discreet treatment. Now I’d like this conversation to end, if you don’t mind.”
    “I don’t mind. But I’m entitled to my opinion that he’s only the finest male specimen ever to walk through this office—with the exception of my Decker, of course.” With a shrug, Brenda turned back to her computer and completed the requested transaction in less than five minutes. She handed Molly the card along with the receipt that sputtered from her desktop printer. “Large credit line, too. You’re a fool if you fix him up with anyone but yourself, Molly.”
    Molly grabbed the items in an uncharacteristically stiff gesture. “Like you said, you’re entitled to your opinion. Just like I’m entitled not to respond to it.”
    She slipped back into her office and found Zane on his feet, his right hand tracing a pattern along the edge of her desk. He’d finished the background-check form and centered it neatly on her blotter.
    “Here’s your receipt, Mr. Bishop,” she said, holding it out to him. “I hope you’ll find everything you’re looking for in Lovelines, and more.”
    “I hope so, too. I admit that the idea of a dating service put me off at first, but I’ve always been adventurous.” He returned his gold card to his wallet and folded the receipt into a rectangle without even glancing at it. “What about you, Miss Grayson? Do you consider yourself the daring type?”
    Molly laughed—a bit uneasily. “Most people who know me would say no.”
    “I didn’t ask what other people think.” His shrewd, silvery-blue eyes locked on