Chapter 1
Kat’s leg bounced restlessly as she sat in the waiting area for Zander Benton. She imagined that, if her heart could be seen as easily as her leg, it’d be doing a jig of its own.
Mr. Benton’s secretary had let him know Kat was there and assured her that he’d be with her momentarily.
Good.
Except the idea of finally seeing the man face-to-face was scattering her thoughts like ashes in a windstorm. The line of framed photos on the wall didn’t help. Headshots of each member of the Benton family, starting with Duke—Zander’s twin—and ending with Winston Benton, the brother who’d died tragically from an overdose. The Bentons, with all of their billions, were wealthy in the looks department as well. And Zander, with his arresting gaze and intimidating poise, was no exception.
Kat moved her focus down the line to rest on James, who’d recently married a personal chef, from what she’d heard. And Betzy, the gorgeous redhead, had also recently married—just over the holidays, in fact—to a childhood crush.
She remembered being charmed by the tale as her friend, Chelsea—a diehard Benton fan—gave her all the details. Kat wanted to believe that the Bentons were good people. And it seemed that most of them were. But Zander was the bad seed.
She resisted the urge to pull out her phone and read over her bullet points; she’d gone over them enough.
Beyond that, she’d emailed them to Zander personally before he’d agreed to rescue a company that he should have let die. The outdated printing press, Milton and Brewster, was polluting the area with its overstock of outdated, energy-hog equipment, not to mention the chemical waste those machines produced.
Too bad he hadn’t listened.
Her phone gave out a menacing buzz from its spot in her purse. And then another. Why hadn’t she shut it off? The last thing she needed was to be interrupted at a time like this.
She sank a hand into her purse, blindly reached for the power button, and felt it vibrate and buzz once again.
For crying out loud.
“Better be important,” she grumbled as she tugged the device from its hiding spot. A quick glance at the screen said it was important. Three texts had come in. One from each of the specialists from Married at First Meet, the social experiment/reality TV show she’d tried out for.
The same message blinked at her from each specialist: Congratulations. You’re going into the final round of eliminations.
It felt as if a round of applause was happening inside her ribcage. Wild clapping to the sudden pulse pounding within her head.
Wow, she’d made it all the way to the end. Over the last few months, the elimination process had narrowed thirty thousand contestants, leaving a mere three dozen remaining by New Year’s. And now, only one week later, they were down to twenty-four. Soon it’d be an even twelve—six men and six women. All willing to step up to the altar and say “I do” to a person they’d never met before.
The heart pounding kicked up a notch at the thought. Hopefully she’d be one of the finalists. Hopefully the guy they picked would be just the right one for her. He’d have to be. It was science, and science didn’t lie. Heck, as a chemistry major, Kat relied on formulas.
Sure, there was trial and error, but this method—the detailed questionnaires, deep, personal inquiries, and exhaustive compatibility tests—were bound to give her the best chances at success.
More importantly, this man would be ready for love and commitment. And there was no way she’d get lured into another ruse and fall for a man who wasn’t who he said he was. The mere thought of her ex-boyfriend caused that dreaded sting to seep into her heart.
No, Kat. He’s in the past. Time to focus on your future. And if she was picked to move on to the final round, a wedding could be in her very near future.
A swarm of butterflies fluttered in her tummy as she considered the magnitude of it all. She could actually meet her husband in a matter of weeks. She wished she could envision what he’d be like.
“Ms. Morgan? Mr. Benton will see you now.”
Kat lifted her gaze, tucked the phone back into her purse and forced her mind back onto the reason she was there.
“Thank you,” she said while coming to a stand. Time to give Mr. Zander Benton a piece of her mind.
Chapter 2
Zander stared at his twin brother’s text as a blend of shock, nausea, and amusement clashed inside him.
Duke: Looks like I’m a finalist. If I make it past this round, I’ll be saying I do before the month’s through.
Was he kidding? Betzy and Sawyer weren’t even back from their honeymoon, and now suddenly there could be yet another wedding in the family?
As much as Zander wanted to reply—something that would irk Duke and his prized man bun to the core—he needed to shift gears. Apparently, he had an environmental chemist on his back over one of the companies he’d agreed to rescue on The Lion’s Den.
