She swallowed, and her eyes began to sting as she ignored his hand. “What are you doing here?”
“I have a blind date. My last one. But I have a feeling it’ll be with just the right woman.”
“Is that so?” she whispered, just standing there. She didn’t dare get too close to him. There was so much hope in her heart, it felt as big as a balloon. And she was afraid of bursting it.
“Yeah. You know, I signed up at that dating agency. I always thought it was bullshit. But I guess it’s worth a try. And then I was told I have a 91 percent compatibility with the woman I’m meeting for a date.”
She swallowed. “Compatibility isn’t everything, Connor.”
“No. But the chemistry with her is right. She’s the smartest woman I know. The bravest woman. The funniest woman. And since I already love her, I thought…what do I have to lose?”
Her lips trembled, her fingertips tingled, and she nodded. Then she sat, not across from him, but next to him. “Okay. Keep going.”
He seemed to fight a smile. “You know, I once said that there is no right person for true love. There’s just the right time. But I was wrong. The right person makes any time the right time.”
“Really?” She swallowed again. “So now you suddenly believe in Match Me!, huh?”
“I believe everything that tells us that being together is a good idea,” he replied simply.
She had to laugh. “Very pragmatic of you. But…you don’t have to believe in Match Me! You might think the agency is stupid. That's okay. You’re entitled to your opinion. I’m so sorry I may have given a different impression.”
“I know. But I wanted to at least deal with it. Give it a chance.” He scratched the back of his neck, his gaze still taking in her appearance. “I honestly didn’t expect us to be compatiblewhen I signed up. I just wanted to try it out because it meant so much to you. God, you should have seen the self-righteous expression on Maddie’s face when she told me we were over ninety percent.” He sighed and rubbed his face.
Rachel laughed and let her knee sink against his. “That must have been hard on your ego.”
“No, not at all,” he said without batting an eyelid. “I have no idea if the questionnaire actually works, Rachel. Or if I can believe in it. But at least with us…it seemed to know what fits together.”
Her eyes burned. It was okay if he didn’t believe in the questionnaire. All that mattered was that he’d bothered with it for her. “You couldn’t have told me that as soon as you found out?”
“Unfortunately, no. I had things to do.”
“Oh yeah: Where were you?”
“Chicago,” he replied hesitantly.
“Why?”
“I had something…to take care of.”
She opened her mouth in disbelief. “You did that? You convinced that bastard to drop the lawsuit?”
“Um,convincedisn’t the right word. I thinkthreatenedis more appropriate.”
“Connor!”
“That’s my name.”
“Connor!” she repeated louder. “That was my fight. You didn’t have to fight it for me.”
“Yeah, I know. But I’m a lawyer. I know what to threaten other lawyers with, and…isn’t having each other's back what you do? In a…relationship?” He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck. “We have each other’s backs, right?”
“Relationship?” she whispered. “That’s a big word coming from you.”
“Oh, I used bigger words on that idiot in Chicago.”
“Are you sure they weren’t just louder words?”
“That too.” He pressed his lips together. “But that guy also made me incredibly angry.”
