He’d been wrong about Hadley. She didn’t care about him.
Not at all.
If she did, she would have picked him. Not Wes.
“I hired you to do a job.” Blaise spoke through gritted teeth. “Now you’re telling me you won’t do it?”
She flinched. “I’m trying to do the right thing.”
“For Wes. What about for me?”
“For both of you.”
Not good enough. Not even close. “The right thing is for you to what I hired you to do.”
“I can’t.”
Blaise hated those two words. Why had he thought Hadley was different? She wasn’t.
He raised his chin. “Then I’ll hire someone else.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’re firing me?”
“I am.” The words sounded harsh to his ears, but they would never work out. He saw that now. “I hired you for your matchmaking skills. Now, you’re telling me you can’t do the job. Yes, I’m firing you because Matched by Lowell is nothing but a scam. I’ll find a more qualified matchmaker who won’t give up when things don’t work out the first time.”
“He’s not ready.” She choked out the words, her voice was whisper soft.
“Yes, he is.”
Her eyebrows drew together, matching the pinched expression on her face. “Winning is that important to you?”
“If you knew me the way I thought you did, you would know what the bet means to me.”
Hurt filled her eyes. “If you knew me the way I thought you did, you would know why I can’t do this to Wes.”
Blaise didn’t—couldn’t—say anything.
She swallowed. “So where does that leave us?”
“There is no us.” The words shot out. “If there was, we’d never be having this discussion. We got carried away pretending to be together. That’s all.”
Hadley’s eyes gleamed. She took a breath and then another. “That’s all.”
She sounded so defeated.
Blaise didn’t—couldn’t—care. He pressed his lips together. He had nothing to say to her.
“I offer a money back guarantee. I’ll void our contract and refund the retainer you paid me.” With that, she hurried away from him, disappearing into the crowd.
He stood, paralyzed. People rode the escalators. Some entered the room where he’d be speaking on the panel. Others talked as he and Hadley had.
Except they hadn’t been chatting or catching up.
They’d fought.
Broken up.
And…
