Meeting His Match (A Match Me Novel) (Entangled Lovestruck) (2 page)

“The toughest. These McNeill men are crazy stubborn.” Regan laughed. “Give it a day and see what you can pull off. I have faith.”

Of course she did. She was safe in New York with the love of her life, not trying to bully a millionaire into letting her match him with a stranger. Addison tapped her finger on her steering wheel. Damn it, she knew better. Her friend wouldn’t shy away from a challenge like this. No, Regan would
relish
it—kind of like she was in danger of doing right now.

Maybe she was right—again—and this was exactly what Addison needed, even more so than a vacation. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“You got the key to the house I sent?”

“I’m on my way out there now.” She’d stopped by a hotel for a few hours after her plane landed to freshen up and get her game face on, so she hadn’t had a chance to check out this house she’d read about. Apparently it had been in the McNeill family since before the Civil War—unsurprisingly, they’d fought for the Confederacy—and had nearly as many legends surrounding it as the family itself did. There were a ton of ghost stories, though she couldn’t imagine George McNeill letting ghost hunters desecrate his family seat.

“Perfect. Keep me updated, and don’t forget to have fun while you’re down there. Be sure to check out the piano room—I bet you haven’t played in forever.” Then she was gone, leaving Addison to follow the GPS directions out of Manchester.

As she drove, she mentally compiled a list of things she’d need before she actually picked the potential matches for Caine. He had to fill out the questionnaire, if only to give her a good idea of what he thought he wanted. Addison had learned a long time ago that what people put on paper wasn’t necessarily what they needed, but she liked to have a baseline to judge by.

After that… She shook her head. Regan hadn’t been joking when she said Caine required work. He might be rich and attractive, but there was something beneath the surface that she couldn’t quite put her finger on yet. It didn’t fit with the image of the millionaire CEO or with the list of truly impressive achievements she’d found when she did a cursory background search on him. The man the public saw was the perfect oldest son of George McNeill, who seemed more than happy to follow in his father’s footsteps.

The thing was, even if Regan hadn’t dangled the knowledge in front of her when she offered this job, Addison would have known the truth the second she laid eyes on him.

Caine McNeill was miserable.

Chapter Three

Caine opened his eyes and immediately closed them again, hoping like hell that he was dreaming. But when he tried again, he got the same result. Addison St. Claire was in his office. Again. And she didn’t look happy. He sighed and sat up, knocking over the pile of contracts he’d been working on when he must have passed out. “How’d you get past Agnes?”

“Trade secret.” She surveyed him with a critical eye, and he had the feeling he came up short. “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear yesterday. For this to work, I’ll need your cooperation—which means no more nights spent on that couch.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “That’s the funny thing—I didn’t ask for this. I’d be perfectly happy to get you a car to the airport and send you back to wherever you came from.”

“Would you?” She leaned forward, drawing his attention to the fact that she was wearing purple today. The dress wasn’t particularly low-cut, but there was no hiding
those
curves. She cleared her throat and he realized he’d been staring at her breasts. Addison raised an eyebrow, but continued as if she hadn’t just caught him ogling her. “Can you honestly tell me that you’re living a happy and fulfilled life?” When he opened his mouth, she said, “
Honestly
.”

Though it was tempting to lie just to get her out of here, he couldn’t do it with those brown eyes pinning him in place. “I do well enough.”

“I’ll be sure to tell your brother to put that on your gravestone. Caine McNeill—he did well enough.”

Christ, what a depressing thought. But he wasn’t about to bare his soul to this woman who thought she had his number. She didn’t need to know that he enjoyed the work he did, but he didn’t love it. He never had. He’d gone through life meeting every challenge his father expected, and he was proud of what he’d accomplished. But there had never been another option for him. He wasn’t sure what he would have picked for himself if there
were
other options.

It wasn’t something he liked thinking about.

Annoyed that he
was
thinking about it because of her, he glared. “Why are you so concerned with my happiness?”

“Because everyone deserves to find their soul mate.”

He laughed. “Soul mate. That’s rich. Aren’t you a little old to be believing in fairy tales?”

“Laugh all you want. I have an excellent track record of successful matches and, as I said last night, you’re desperately in need of a successful match. Which brings us to what you
should
have accomplished last night.” She held up a stack of papers stapled together. “We need to go through this questionnaire before I can be effective.”

“That’s a damn shame, because I don’t have time. I have this little company I’m in charge of running.” He pushed to his feet, hoping like hell that Agnes had a chance to get his dirty clothes from last week to the dry cleaners and back. If not, he was going to have to actually leave the office or run the risk of looking like he’d slept here overnight.

Coffee wouldn’t be a terrible idea, either.

He turned, effectively dismissing her, and headed into the bathroom off the back of his office. She was a smart enough woman. Hopefully she’d be gone by the time he completely woke up. Caine splashed water on his face and brushed his teeth, and he couldn’t help listening for the sound of the door to his office closing. Addison might be beautiful and set on matching him, but even she could take a hint. He wasn’t interested.

But when he opened the door, she was still perched on the end of the chair where she’d been sitting when he woke up. He sighed. “You’re making it difficult to be polite.”

“I’m not the only one.” Her smile didn’t so much as flicker. “The faster we get this done, the faster I can get out of your hair.”

Persistent, wasn’t she? But if she was friends with Regan, that made sense. “Don’t make me threaten to call security.”

“Good Lord.” She got to her feet and strode around the couch until she was in his face. “What are you so afraid of? That I might be right?”

This close, he caught a whiff of her perfume, something light and airy that made him think of the ocean. It was almost enough to distract him from the urge to pick her up and dump her ass outside his office door. Almost. “I’m not afraid of a damn thing except a nuisance of a woman who won’t take a goddamn hint.”

Her smile widened, as if he’d just confirmed something. “Perfect. Then there’s no reason
not
to let me have a crack at it.”

What part of what he’d just said made her think he’d actually entertain this crazy idea? Caine stepped forward, crowding her. It was a bully move and he wasn’t proud of it, but he’d left his common sense behind when he woke up to her invading his space. “There’s every reason.”

She lifted her chin. “Name one.”

“How about the fact I can’t look at you in that dress without wanting to find out what’s beneath it?”

She blinked, her perfectly lipsticked pink mouth going into a surprised O. Hell, she wasn’t the only one surprised. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but there was something about this woman that rubbed him in all sorts of uncomfortable ways. She’d been in his presence less than fifteen minutes and she was already bringing things to the forefront that he’d spent a lifetime fighting to control.

And he couldn’t stop if he wanted to.

“Why do you look so shocked?” He moved closer, until they were nearly chest to chest. “You’re a beautiful woman, even if you’re aggravating the hell out of me right now.”

She seemed to fight to regain control of her expression. “You’re insane.”

He sure as hell felt it right now. He fought against the desire to touch her. Pushing her with proximity was one thing, but hooking the back of her neck and hauling her in for a kiss was crossing a serious line. He wasn’t a goddamn savage.

No matter how much he felt like one right now.

She glared, but he didn’t miss the way her body leaned into his, like a flower seeking the sun. If he kissed her right now, would she kiss him back or punch him in the face? The fact that he didn’t know only intrigued him further, which meant he had to get her the hell out of here before he did something truly stupid. “Just another reason why you should get your ass on a plane home. Today.”

…

Addison couldn’t make herself move back, no matter how loud the voice inside her became demanding she do just that. Annoyance had to be the reason she was staring at his mouth and wondering what it would be like to kiss him. The
only
reason. She hadn’t had a challenge in so long that the thrill of being faced with one was enough to make her as crazy as he apparently was. He was so much bigger this close, his height dwarfing her even in her heels, and his shoulders making him loom.

That’s when she realized exactly what he was doing.

She jerked back, taking a few extra steps to put the nearest chair between them. When he merely watched her with an impassive expression on his face, her suspicion was confirmed. “You’re trying to intimidate me into leaving.”

“Did it work?”

Almost. The door was far too tempting when she was still having a hard time keeping her gaze on his eyes instead of that wicked curve of his bottom lip. If she left now, she wouldn’t have to face the fact that a part of her she thought long dead perked up just by being in his presence. It didn’t matter what she felt physically, though. Caine was destined for another woman.

A good thing, too, because he was obviously a handful.

Addison had dealt with clients who were a handful before. She could do it again. She very pointedly ignored the fact that none of her clients in the past had affected her on this same level, and focused back on Caine. He hadn’t moved, but the room felt smaller with him staring at her so intently. She shoved her hair back. “Stop it.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

Yes, he was. She took a deep breath that did nothing to make her feel less hunted. Damn it, she was better than this. “You’re trying to make me uncomfortable, but it won’t work.” That was a dirty lie, though she was more uncomfortable by the way her body was reacting than anything else. “I think you’ll find I don’t scare easily.”

“You know, I’ve changed my mind.”

She froze, sensing a trap and unable to figure out where it was. “You…have.”

“I reckon maybe you’re right. Maybe I do need a woman—”

“Soul mate.” If he could settle for just any woman, Regan wouldn’t have needed to call her in. “The only way it’ll be a successful match is if it’s with your soul mate.”

“Whatever you choose to call it.” He dropped onto the couch and patted the cushion next to him. “Show me this questionnaire.”

There was definitely something up. A man like Caine was far too stubborn to go from ready to call security to agreeing with her. It didn’t matter that she
was
right. The fact he’d done a one-eighty with no warning had her suspicious.

But she wasn’t going to turn down a chance to get this ball rolling. The sooner she got him matched up, the sooner she could go back to New York and get away from this strange fluttering in her stomach. Addison scooped up the papers and took a seat on the other side of the couch, leaving two whole cushions between them. She turned to the first page of the questionnaire, trying not to think about the fact that Caine had slept on this very couch last night, or that he looked deliciously rumpled right now, his tie askew and his shirt wrinkled. He looked almost approachable.

At least, he would if she were into the overbearing alpha male type thing.

She gave herself a mental shake. It didn’t matter what she might or might not be into. Right now was about finding out what
he
was into so she could start narrowing down possible candidates. She cleared her throat. “First question—”

“You can’t expect me to be able to read that from all the way over here.” Before she could bring up the fact that she didn’t actually expect that since she was reading him the damn questions, he moved closer. A whole lot closer. With bare inches between them—less than that when he stretched his arm over the back of the couch—the only way they could be closer was if she were in his lap. The fact that he
still
hadn’t touched her only ramped up her awareness of how little distance there was between them.

Caine grinned. “That’s better.”

Not by a long shot. Maybe she should have done this portion over the phone, because at this rate, she’d be lucky if she didn’t fling herself away from him just to escape the horrible longing to touch him. Or, worse, give in and actually touch him.

She braced herself. She could get through these questions and then she’d have plenty of space to get her head on straight. “What do you look for in a partner?”

“Going for gold right off the bat, huh?” He leaned over to peer at the paper, putting his face nearly against hers.

Good grief. She batted him away. “Stop trying to crowd me and answer the question.”

“Fine. I reckon if and when I end up getting married, I need a woman who’s independent enough to handle the fact that I work long hours. She needs to have her own thing going on because I won’t be able to entertain her. I’m expected to have a family, too.”

Grateful for a reason to focus on anything other than how good he smelled—something woodsy and masculine—she grabbed a pen off the table and started taking notes. The way he spoke wasn’t exactly enthusiastic, but she could work with it. She paused when he didn’t continue. “What else?”

“That’s all.”

The fact that he didn’t realize the problem put her back on firmer ground. “Those are pretty basic things—she has a life outside you and she wants children. If that’s all you wanted, you’d be married by now.” When he just stared at her, she prompted, “What about hobbies? Interests? Stuff that you like outside of work that you’d want to share with a significant other?”

“I don’t get much free time.”

She waited, but he didn’t seem all that inclined to help her out. “There has to be something you do besides work.” Even as she said it, she wondered if maybe there
wasn’t
. God, this man really was on the road to needing a full-scale intervention.

“There isn’t.”

That just wouldn’t do. “Then we’ll find you something.” She made a note to dig deeper and see what kind of extracurricular activities he’d been involved in during his school years. Maybe the answer was there. “You have to have something besides work to talk about on the dates I’ll set you up on. That’s the surest way to ensure you don’t get a second one.”

“And here I thought I’d get by on my charm and good looks.”

“That’ll get you a first date. It won’t get you a second one with anyone who’d be suitable.” When he laughed, she looked up from her notes. Holy hell, the man had laugh lines to rival his little brother’s. Then what he’d said hit her. “My God, did you just make a joke?”

“It’s been known to happen.”

If forbidding Caine had been attractive, a laughing Caine was downright deadly. What was she supposed to do with a man who was unhappy and driven and had a sly sense of humor? Flustered, she turned back to her notes.
Keep to the questions and get out of here
. “What about physical aspects? Is there anything you refuse to compromise on? A certain type you gravitate toward?” She usually encouraged clients to let go of their “types” and focus on the person beneath the physical, but she liked to know what they liked.

“I seem to have developed a keen fascination with redheads.”

She shot him a look. “You’re doing it again.” She just wished it didn’t send heat coursing through her body. He was trying to manipulate her into letting him have his way. It didn’t mean anything.