Dirty Deal (Perfectly Matched 2)

Everything from the crisp, roasted skin to the little pool of purple sauce that surrounded the quail practically screamed fattening.

Still, watching Bryan tear into the meat like it was the most succulent thing he’d ever tasted had her stomach growling. Maybe one taste couldn’t hurt…

She speared the quail and the meat collapsed onto her fork. The smell was divine, a decadent waft of thyme and butter, but it was nothing compared to the taste. She closed her eyes as she chewed. It seemed impossible for such a small thing to hold so much flavor, but her taste buds tingled, begging for another bite.

She ran her tongue over her lips, trying to capture every drop of that richness, and caught Bryan staring at her. He didn’t avert his gaze, but his crooked smile transformed and his jaw went tight as his eyes went dark.

Just for fun, she repeated the move and held his gaze, but this time he leaned back in his chair, taking another long sip of his champagne.

Interesting. He’d sniffed the bait but hadn’t swallowed the hook. Her pulse quickened. Nothing she liked more than a challenge.

She leaned back and set her fork down. Maybe better to let him think he was doing the fishing. “So, this date for a charity auction you filled in for at the last minute just happened to be at your favorite restaurant. Such a weird and happy coincidence, yes?”

He looked distant for a moment, and then his attention snapped back to her, his hazel eyes narrowing. “Jesus. You’re right. My sister is a fucking mastermind.” Then, as an afterthought, he added, “Pardon my language.”

“You think she set you up from the get-go?” She could feel a smile tugging at her lips. That was some nefarious shit. Even she was impressed.

“I’m sure of it, now. The little shit. It wouldn’t be the first time. She means well. She’s just misguided. And sneaky.”

He forked up the last of his bird, and she was about to comment on how quickly he’d finished, but when she looked down her plate, she realized she’d picked up her fork again, and her plate was just as empty as his.

Crap.

The waiter appeared again with the second course within minutes. This round, thankfully, was lighter fare. Walnut and cranberry salad with balsamic dressing.

Good, salad she could do.

“Doesn’t she think you can find your own women? I mean, it’s not like you’re bad-looking.”

That was an almost laughable understatement. When she’d seen him up on the stage, she’d have said he was a solid eight. Nice, regular features, great body. Like the guy in the photo when you bought a new picture frame. Up close, he emanated a sexual energy, like raw, masculine power, and it made her tingle from head to toe.

“She knows I could find my own women if I wanted to. I’m just not interested right now.”

“In like a priest-y kind of way or…?” She chomped on a lettuce leaf and surveyed him, still trying to shake off the tension in the air. She was supposed to be charming him into doing what she wanted, not fantasizing about what he’d been packing under those fig leaves.

“No, I’m definitely…not celibate.” He shifted in his chair and gave her that half grin again. “But Q, my sister, she thinks I should settle down with the ‘right girl.’”

“Well, you know there’s at least one person out there who wants that job.” She smiled, but when he raised his eyebrows at her, she realized her mistake. “No! No, no, not me. Your crazy ex from the auction, I mean.”

He barked out a laugh and shook his head. “Hell no. Piper was my last stab at having a serious relationship.”

“Even hearing you use the words ‘Piper’ and ‘stab’ in the same sentence makes me twitchy.” Serena chuckled, but Bryan didn’t.

“You have no idea.”

“So tell me,” she pressed on, suddenly dying to know more about Dr. Bryan Metcalf and his love life. “She was truly your last real girlfriend?”

Not that she could talk. Her longest relationship had been between her and the personal trainer she’d fired after six months because she felt like they were getting too close. Other than that, guys in her life lasted a month, maybe two. After a lifetime of getting shipped off to boarding school only to come home to her parents, who spent their lives committed to hurting each other, it became abundantly clear that, while love might be real, it was fleeting for most people and just about anything—from gaining a few pounds or a few crow’s feet to not putting clothes in the hamper—could make it disappear.

Falling in love and risking her heart like that when so many people seemed to take hearts for granted wasn’t high on her list of things to do in this lifetime, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t right for other people. Especially for someone like Bryan.

He seemed stable and like a good guy. Maybe all he needed was a stable, good girl to wash the Piper taste from his mouth. A man like him, all tall and muscular with an MD and a military background? He was tailor-made for girls to fall in love with. Hot, but also pretty funny, and weirdly magnetic.

“Yeah, shortly after that, I went to medical school and then to the military. Not a lot of time for relationships. Plus, she and I had a pretty bad run of it. I can’t deal with the crazy.”

“Right, but I mean, not all women are crazy,” she said with a curt nod, and waited for him to agree.

Instead, he slanted a dubious brow at her, and she squawked.

“Oh my God, seriously? That girl is a special case. There are tons of women out there that don’t act like that.”

He held up his hands and rushed to correct himself. “I’m sure there are women who are…less intense than the ones I’ve been with. But there must be some kind of pheromone on me that attracts the nutty ones. No matter where I go, the crazy bus follows me.”

“Like, what do you mean? Girls who cry when you don’t call them enough?” If that was the case, she could feel Bryan’s pain. That was irritating as hell. She’d had her fill of whiny phone calls all from one-date guys looking for more attention even after she’d been clear

she just wanted to go out and have a meal and some laughs. By the end of it all, she’d wound up hurting feelings, and she hated that. Maybe Bryan was onto something.

“I wish that’s what I was talking about.” He sighed.

“Do tell,” she said, leaning in to better hear what she sensed was going to be a juicy story.

“Let’s see,” he ticked off on his index finger, “I had a woman once steal my car and threaten to drive it off a cliff if I didn’t promise to see her again.”

“No shit. How did you get out of that one?”

“I didn’t let her pull a Thelma and Louise, if that’s what you’re asking.” He pushed his untouched salad plate away and continued. “911 is on speed dial, and they caught up with her. She wasn’t even the worst of them.” He ticked off another finger. “Then, there was a girl who sneaked into my bedroom one night and lay next to me so that when I woke up, she was staring directly at me. Just…watching me. Said she could see the depths of my soul when I slept.”

“Come on,” she said on a laugh. “You can’t be serious.”

The waiter appeared again and swept away their dishes, then replaced them with a creamy red soup. She dipped a spoon in and gave it a go. Roasted red pepper.

“I couldn’t make it up if I tried. The worst part is before she broke into my room, she went into my mom’s closet, took some of her clothes, and put them on. She said she wanted to make me feel taken care of.”

Jesus. He wasn’t even kidding. “So how bad could Piper be compared to that?” Serena sipped on her soup.

“She’s her own special brand. She may not be as crazy as the other ones, but she’s definitely the most insistent. You know when we were dating she thought it would be a nice gift to look up all the headstones of everyone in my family that had died and print them out. She made a scrapbook of tombstones.” He shook his head at the memory before taking a spoonful of soup.

“Was it part of a scavenger hunt that led to a hollow grave?” Serena deadpanned.

“It felt like things were headed that way for sure.”

“So I don’t understand. If your sister saw all of this happen, doesn’t she think you’re probably safer without a girlfriend-slash-stalker in your life?”