“We preferthorough.”
“Big Brother prefers the same thing.” He winked at me, but before I could do anything but experience a little spike in heart rate—a mark of my annoyance—his eyes were back on his notepad.
A buzzing sounded, and I glanced at my phone, but it was face up on my desk, the screen dark.
“Sorry.” Grant reached into his pocket and silenced his phone. “So, what would you say?—”
His phone went off again. He silenced it and restarted his question, only to be interrupted yet again. He glanced at the screen of the dinky, little flip phone and grimaced.
“Go ahead,” I said. “Take it.”
I wouldn’t mind a quick break from the third degree. Maybe it was the glasses acting like a magnifier, but Grant’s direct gaze felt like the time my mom caught me in a lie in junior high. I’d said I was going to the movies with my best friend when I’d really gone to Tyler Hatch’s house. That was the night before he’d dumped me for the head cheerleader. So not worth the trouble I’d gotten in.
Grant got up and shot me a quick smile. “Thanks.”
The door closed behind him, and I let out a long, slow breath.
It was our final interview, and I was half-impatient to say goodbye forever to Grant, half-reluctant to let him out of my sight.
He was the most head-scratching combination of intense and easygoing. He reclined in his chair like he was shooting the breeze with longtime friends, but all he actually shot was pointed questions like an expert marksman.
Or a hitman.
I was pretty proud of the way I’d handled him, but it meant not letting my guard slip even for a second. I’d managed well so far.
But that didn’t mean that whatever he wrote wouldn’t end up being a hit piece. His attitude toward Matchify was highly skeptical, maybe even tinged with cynicism. I wished I knew why. Hemight just have that attitude about everything—hazard of the job. But maybe there was more to it.
He insisted I brought my personal experience into the app’s creation? Well, he broughthisinto his investigation of it, and that raised a lot of questions.
I’d never know the answer to them. Grant Wilder wasn’t just a closed book. He seemed more like a CIA black file—probably with as many repercussions for opening it without the proper clearance level. I wouldn’t have minded a tiny peek, though.
My door opened, and Nick slipped in with a glance over his shoulder. “How’s it going?” he asked a bit breathlessly with a smile.
I smiled back, grateful to see a welcome face. Katie gave Nick constant grief for ducking out regularly to do long lunch dates with his wife, but he always got his work done. He was reliable—and a very needed dose of testosterone amongst our estrogen-dominant group.
“It’s going,” I said. “Just trying to make it through this last bit without handing Grant a jug of gasoline to throw over the Matchify bonfire.”
“You still think that’s his aim?”
I shrugged. “I don’t think the man knows how to write an article that’snotovertly critical. Have you read his stuff?”
“Just glanced over a couple headlines. But I thought you two were getting along pretty well. At least, that’s what it’s looked like.” He put his hands into the pockets of his suit pants. Nick always showed up dressed like a businessman—unlikesomepeople. “Honestly, I wondered if he was kinda into you.”
I blinked, then let out a curt laugh. “You’re joking.”
“Nope.”
I turned to my computer. “You’ve been out of the dating game too long.”
“About as long as you,” he shot back. He’d been married for a couple years now—right before my breakup with Chase, in fact.
I hadn’t dated since. Matchify was more than enough to handle. And a lot less heartbreak.
“I thought I’d check in on you,” Nick said, walking toward the door. “I’m just a Slack message away if he comes onto you too hard.” He stopped and turned his head so I got a glimpse of his profile. A distinctly mischievous smirk. “Unless youwantthat…”
I looked for something to chuck at him, but since my choices were an empty coffee mug or paperclips, I settled for yelling, “Out!”
He obediently opened the door and stepped out, only to duck his head back in. “You know, Hailey and I just watched one of her favorite movies—A Cinderella Story. As the wise Hilary Duff once said:Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”
