Her Best Match (The Best Girls 1)

Steven didn’t deserve this treatment.

“Steven is my boss. I sometimes call him Mr. Gherring out of respect. I doubt you’ll ever hear me call you Mr. Sterling.”

“Oh! You cut me to the core. I’ll only ever be ‘Evan’ to you. Still better than ‘Stevie,’ I suppose.” He continued to chortle.

What little sympathy she’d had for Evan vanished. “I can come up with a name more suitable for you, if you like. But I won’t be able to say it in front of Gram!”

Now Steven's dimples made an appearance, and Evan donned a contrite expression.

“I’m sorry. I love my cousin even when I tease him. Won’t you both forgive me if I promise to stop?” His face was the picture of penitence.

“I might.” She gave Evan a taste of her mommy-disapproval glare. “But this dinner looks good, and I haven’t been able to eat a bite so far. And I get testy when something comes between me and my food.”

Evan’s eyebrows lifted in good humor. “I promise I’ll be good! Gram, you didn’t warn me about this temper. Had I known, I’d have been on my best behavior.”

“It doesn’t get any better,” Steven murmured.

Evan chatted through the rest of dinner, regaling Anne with stories of him and his sisters growing up. After dinner, he offered to give Anne a ride home.

“That won’t be necessary, cousin,” said Steven. “We live togeth… we live in the same building. I’ll make sure she gets home safely.”

“In that case, I’ll simply bid the lady adieu.” Evan took her hands in his and made as if to give her a peck on the cheek. But at the last moment, he brought his head around and brushed his lips against hers. He grinned as her eyes flew open wide. “Until next time, my fair lady!” And he dashed out the door.

Steven muttered something about hating all his relatives, and Gram smiled as if nothing had happened.

Anne barely interacted with Steven on Friday, as he had meetings with clients the entire day. She arrived home from work with only an hour to spare before Henri was scheduled to pick her up. Rayna stopped her on the way to the elevator. “So, tonight’s the big date with Henri, right?”

“Yes, it’s tonight,” she said flatly.

“You don’t sound very excited. We are talking about that incredibly yummy guy with the French accent, right?”

“I think… I think I may need to break up with him. Which is silly to even say since we’ve never really been together. Just a few dates and talking on the phone.” She thought for a moment. “He did take a train from Paris to Switzerland just to see me…”

Rayna stared at her. “That’s so romantic. Why would you want to break up with a guy like him? Is he two-timing you?”

“No, but I don’t think it’s going anywhere, and I don’t want to lead him on. The problem is he’s got a sick niece he’s really upset about, and he doesn’t deserve another emotional blow. I don’t know how to tell him.”

Her stomach was heavy, like lead.

“Why isn’t it going anywhere? Are you interested in someone else?”

“No… there definitely isn’t anyone else. Although Mr. Gherring’s grandmother is trying to find a husband for me now. She introduced me to another of her grandsons last night. I have to admit, he’s handsome and very entertaining. He had me in stitches.”

“But?”

“But I don’t know. Maybe he’s too slick for me? To tell you the truth, I’m not sure I met the real Evan. He and Mr. Gherring don’t like each other, so there was a lot of verbal sparring.”

“Don’t you like Mr. Gherring a little?” Rayna’s question sounded casual enough, but Anne noticed she was watching her response with a keen eye. Anne bottled up her feelings and put the cork in tight.

“I like him as a boss and all that. But we could never be romantically involved. That’s why I set him up with Ellen. She’s more his type.”

“I guess you think you’ve got this figured out because you’re some kind of master matchmaker, but I think your calculations may be a bit off on this one.”

“You’ll see,” she said, with a confidence she didn’t quite feel.

Anne went downstairs ten minutes early. She didn’t want Henri to wait. Especially because she didn’t want him to accidentally run into Steven. Exiting the elevator, she spotted Ellen sitting on a couch in the lobby. Facing the inevitability of the awkward encounter, Anne moved to greet her.

“Hi Ellen? What are you doing here?”