A Matchless Romance (Aisle Bound) (8 page)

“I was straight with Mom from day one about not wanting to be the heir apparent. She wouldn’t listen. Thought I’d take the easy route. Was positive I’d change my mind once I faced the hard truths about the job market, and having to pay my own rent, and insurance.”

“You didn’t choose the easy way. You went your own way.” And Drew admired the hell out of her for that.

“Yes. I used my sorority’s alumni network to, well, network for jobs. Even stayed in the chapter house for free when I flew out here to interview.”

“Your comfortable community of women came through for you.” Drew understood. He’d experienced the same instant kinship within the gaming community. Guess they had that in common. Along with single-minded parents who tried to pigeonhole them.

“Always. And I scored a position as a budget analyst before graduation.” Tabitha nodded her thanks to the waiter who cleared her plate. “I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it. What I did discover was how much I loved matchmaking. People within the company, people I’d meet at industry events. Pretty soon I had a steady stream of referrals. My friends insisted I start charging.” She propped her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “I learned so much listening to the women at the Tailfeather. I know men. I know what makes them tick. I know how to read them.”

Drew bristled. “Sounds like your knowledge base is comprised of low-lifes and cheats. Maybe you shouldn’t measure all men by the ones willing to pay for a woman by the hour.”

The waiter’s hand jerked, sending a splatter of deep red wine onto the tablecloth instead of into their goblets. A flurry of apologies followed as he blotted it up with a napkin. After he rushed away, Tabitha frowned.

“You startled the waiter with your judgmental condemnation of my mother’s very loyal, very well-paying customer base.”

What was he supposed to do—let her look at his entire gender through a distorted, perverted lens? “They’re deviants and jerks.”

“Now who’s painting with a wide brush? Sure, some men cheat on their wives and girlfriends. But some visitors to the Tailfeather are lonely, just looking for a little human contact. You don’t realize how easy you have it in the dating department, Drew.”

“Easy?” He couldn’t even force a laugh at the absurdity of her statement. But this time, he waited until the waiter set down steaming bowls of duck and truffle pasta before commenting further. “I’m a card-carrying, full-fledged computer nerd. That’s guaranteed female repellant. Except at my gaming conventions.” Where he did have great success with women. Lots of women. And he made sure they all had a good time.

“You’ve got the looks of a cover model. Also, a weird mental block against seeing how attracted women are to you, but we’re going to clear that up. Saturday night, if I can pull it together fast enough.” She tapped her fork against the gold rim of the plate with a far-off stare.

It worried Drew. He took a swig of the red. Almost moaned at the rich, earthy taste. And steeled himself to ask, “What do I have to do?”

“Just show up. Be yourself. You’re smart and funny, when you relax enough. Seriously Drew, you’re catnip to women. That big salary and bonus of yours won’t drive them away, either.”

“It’s not like I’m keeping the money,” he muttered. It had been his idea to help his grandmother. She hadn’t asked. In fact, had argued against it. But Drew wouldn’t listen. Not when he knew it was the right thing to do.

“Why not? Tithing it to some all-powerful gaming deity?”

Should he tell her? Of course. Tabitha had just laid out the truth about her mother’s whorehouse. The least he could do was be equally upfront about his family’s secret. “It’s going straight to my grandmother. As much as I can manage. She’s going to be evicted in a month if I don’t do anything.”

Tabitha laid down her fork without taking a bite. “Why?”

“Do you remember hearing about that big investment broker scandal last fall?” Drew paused. Reminded himself not to swear. Since when he thought about the fucking asshole prick who ruined his grandma’s life, it usually got violent and R-rated. “The guy who ran a shell game with his client’s money?”

“Yes. Just the basics. Darren Lewinsky lost fortunes—none of which belonged to him. He lived the high life off of his clients’ lifetime savings. They caught him at Halloween.”

Caught him too late. Fucking Feds caught him after all the money was gone. Drew’s gut clenched at the memory of silent tears streaming down his grandma’s face when they went to the bank together. When he’d clutched her hand, guilt-wracked for the money she’d spent on his athletic training and travel. Regretting like crazy the month he’d bummed around Europe after the Games, bankrolled by his proud grandma. If he’d come back sooner, she’d at least have a few thousand more in her bank account now. Or would Lewinsky have drained that, too?

“My grandmother used him for years. Turns out, he was the one using her. She lost most of her savings. Payments hadn’t been made on the house in months. Her debts were staggering. The bank’s going to foreclose if she can’t make a payment—a significant payment—within a month.”

“That’s why you took the job at Game Domain.”

“It tipped the scales. I knew I had to find a company big enough to help me bring
Quest
to life. I’d been shopping some smaller firms that didn’t offer as big a salary. Places that were a better fit. But when I found out about Grandma, the cash became more important.”

“You didn’t want to go corporate, did you?”

“Answering to people like Keiko was never my dream. But the job’s turned out to be a lot better than I hoped. Not that it matters. I would’ve done anything to scrape up the cash to help Grandma. Flip burgers, if it paid enough. Work three jobs.” Drew realized his hands had clenched into fists. He forcibly flattened them onto the table.

“She’s always been there for me. Supported me. Made me feel like I was good enough. That’s why I have to go to New York and rock the hell out of those interviews. Not just to start the buzz about
Quest
. I need that bonus. It’s the only way to save her house.”

The sound of Tabitha’s chair scraping over the stone floor echoed off the walls of the nearly empty room. Out of polite habit deeply ingrained by his grandmother, Drew stood as well. The music swelled. Andrea Bocelli, who he recognized from the closing ceremonies of the Summer Games, milked a note for every poignant tremor he could squeeze out of it.

Tabitha tossed her napkin onto the table. Crossed the two steps to him in shiny red heels that brought the top of her head level with his chin. Then she framed his face with both hands. “Drew Weston, you are a remarkable man.” Tabitha pressed her lips to his. Soft. Light. Warm.

Her move shocked the hell out of Drew. But it gave him the opening he’d hoped for since the moment he ran into her. One he never thought he’d get with the enchanting woman so many light years out of his league. So he damn well wouldn’t waste the opportunity.

Drew curled one hand around the creamy, slender column of her neck. Wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her flush against his body. It also brought a startled gasp out of Tabitha. He caught it with his own lips, smiled, and took charge, deepening the kiss. Firmly learning the shape and fullness of her mouth. Tasting the wine’s tang from her lips was so much more delicious than from a cold glass.

She was far from cold. Tabitha burned him up, lighting a fire everywhere they touched. But instead of flicking outward, it leapt inward, sending licks of desire through his entire body. Drew spread his fingers wide across the small of her back. He wanted to optimize the amount of her he touched. Imprinted with his heat, his need, his want.

On a moan, her hands slid up his face to run through his hair. Then she linked her wrists behind Drew’s head. The motion rubbed her breasts against his chest. Between her dress, his shirt and the stupid vest, all he got was an impression of their shape. A reminder that there was so much of her knockout body still to explore. Not that he needed a reminder. Not with his fingers brushing the taut swell of her ass. Not with his thighs wide, bracketing her rounded hips. And his fully hard dick straining against her stomach.

A crash from the hallway indicated some waiter had just lost a night’s tips worth of glassware. The noise jolted Drew back to the reality of their location. Backing Tabitha against the terra cotta wall to anchor her while he plundered her mouth—what he wanted more than anything right now—just wasn’t practical. So he eased back. Loosened his grip on her waist to a caress. Slid his hand around to twine a single loose tendril around his finger as he stroked it down her cheek.

Lust had scrambled his brain. Drew couldn’t think of a good segue. “Dinner’s getting cold,” he said. Watched her eyes slowly flutter open. Saw them come into focus, and then watched her pupils contract to a pinpoint as she rounded her eyes into wide circles. Crap. He should say something nicer. Tell her that he’d rather nibble on her than on the pasta. “Tabitha, you’re—”

She cut him off. First with a fast, upward skip of her eyebrow. Then with a finger across his lips. “I’m glad to know Ivy’s quality control is so excellent. She’s right. You are a phenomenal kisser.”

Drew let his arms drop to his sides. Suddenly the last thing he wanted to do was touch her. Did Tabitha throw herself onto his lips as a test? “What? Are you beta testing me as a potential Match-n-Mingle client? This whole thing was just to find out if my moves were good enough?”

“To be good in business, you can’t always accept other people’s findings.” She tucked the loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Sometimes it pays to do the research yourself.”

Ice cold anger at being toyed with froze out the heat from only moments before. It mixed with disgust at the fact he bothered to take the long shot. Drew should’ve known it wouldn’t work. Tabitha might talk a good game. But bottom line? She didn’t want to be with a gaming geek. Of course she didn’t. Why would she be any different from all the other beautiful women?

The ones in high school who sneered in computer class every time his hand shot up. The ones in college who walked an extra-wide circle to avoid Drew and his friends circled to play Risk at lunch on the quad. The women in bars who heard he made video games and immediately left without another word. Yeah. The sinfully beautiful Tabitha Bell was no different at all.

“You didn’t need to lie. Build me up with all those compliments. Waste your money on the fancy dinner.” He edged closer again. Didn’t touch her, but pointedly ran his eyes up and down the length of her body. “I’d have kissed a hot chick like you for a hot dog with the works from a street cart.”

Tabitha sucked in a sharp breath. Grabbed for her water glass. But Drew was ready. Hell, he’d been half-braced for it all night. He caught her wrist before she could toss it in his face. It wavered in her grasp, sloshing a little water on the floor between them.

“How dare you?” she hissed. “All I was trying to do was save face. To laugh off the kiss before you did.”

Her unexpected statement jolted him. “Why the hell would you think I’d do that?”

At the obvious confusion in his voice, Tabitha stopped fighting him. “Because…I just told you my story. Revealed my deep, dark not-so-secret past. Most men, after hearing it, try to steal a kiss. They want to see what sort of Kama Sutra-type knowledge I picked up living at the Tailfeather. When I stop them after just a kiss, they leave. It always happens.”

The glaring hole in her logic had to be addressed. Drew set down her glass, then took both her hands. “But Tabitha,
you
kissed
me
. You made the first move. Not me.”

Her lips parted. She blinked slowly a few times. Then shook her head. “Oh. You’re right. I guess you turned my head with that doozy of a kiss. When you stopped, I went on auto-pilot.”

“I stopped because our waiter could walk in at any minute.” Dropping her hands, he pulled her back into an embrace. Could she really be that insecure? That unaware of her breathtaking looks? Her dazzling personality? “I stopped because you’re an amazing woman who deserves better than a quick screw against a bathroom wall. And we were headed in that direction pretty damn fast.”

“Really? I turned you on that much? From just a kiss?” She looked oddly smug.

Why would she look smug? A shocking thought occurred to Drew. He settled them back into their seats. “Tabitha, you’re not a virgin, are you?”

“No.” Her grip on his hand locked on twice as tight. “Before you run out the door in horrified fear, absolutely not. But I’m not exactly rolling in experience, either. Like I said, guys tend to walk once I don’t promise to deliver the ride of their lives.”

“So you’re a grade-A matchmaker for everyone except yourself?” It didn’t make sense. It didn’t seem fair that a stunner like Tabitha wouldn’t be snapped up in a nano-second.

“Not for lack of trying, but yes. My dating track record’s been tainted by Mom’s career.” A grimace twisted the lips still puffy from his kisses. Tabitha eased back, and forked up a bite of pasta that didn’t make it to her mouth. “By the fact that when I go home for Christmas, my bedroom window overlooks the parking lot of the Tailfeather. Men aren’t wild about me keeping in touch with Mom’s employees, either. But I won’t turn my back on lifelong friends just because we disagree on their career track.”

The obvious solution came to Drew in a flash. “Why not lie? Just keep your background a secret?”

Tabitha gave a headshake so strong it dislodged a bobby pin that pinged onto the floor. “I want a man who wants to be with me. The real me. Not a white-washed, light-on-details version. And I don’t want a man who’s constantly hoping I’ll suggest an orgy, or reveal the secret door to my sex dungeon.” As she bent over to pick up her bobby pin, her voice was slightly muffled by the long white tablecloth. “I want a man who’ll be content to spend a Friday night with a glass of wine, on the couch, playing
Trolls Under Tribeca
with me, for example.”

Did that mean Tabitha told him everything because she saw him as a potential date? Or that she never hid it from anyone? Did it mean Drew was about to grow breasts if he wondered just what their kiss meant? Probably. Better not analyze it. He took a bite. This dinner included the best wine he’d ever tasted, food so good it rolled his eyes back in his head, and a kiss for the record books. Best to leave it lumped together like that. One night of off-the-hook greatness.