“Well”—I flipped through a few of Tanner’s pictures, glad to see a couple where he looked a bit less young—“you can keep your rude assumptions to yourself, or you can take them elsewhere.”
“Fair enough.” Grant didn’t move.
According to his profile, Tanner was looking for someone thoughtful, driven, anda bit unexpected.
Those three things applied to me, right?
He was a self-described investigative writer, which explained the press pass on one of his profile pictures.
I smiled sweetly at Grant. “Threatened?”
“I’m shaking,” he said dryly.
Jeff was last, and Grant managed to keep quiet while we browsed his profile. He was VP of Product at a tech company not far from Matchify, and his picture leaned into the businessman identity.
He was clean-cut, with neat, dark-brown hair, a slick suit, and a professionally neutral expression. Honestly, I’d have thought my compatibility percentage would’ve been highest withhim. But that was after a quick glance through his profile. I couldn’t really dig in with Grant watching.
IfI took these profiles to the other founders, Katie and Brooke would be neck-deep in them in two minutes.
“You ready to go on some dates?” Grant asked, all energy. “Who should we reach out to first?”
“The compatibility score is below 80%, soI”—I emphasized the word—“will wait for them to reach out. That’s generally the most efficient route.”
“It’s not a sales funnel; it’s human connection.”
I sat back in my chair with folded arms. “Are you here to observe or to run the show?”
His responding smile was an acknowledgement that he took my point. “I’m not trying to run things, but it’d be great not to sit here wasting time when you could just as easily reach out. Unless you’re scared to make the first move.”
I was. If anything would set me up to seem intense, it was being the one to initiate—and doing it immediately after being matched? That reeked of desperation.
I hated that I thought that. This wasn’t 1950, for heaven’s sake, and I was used to going after what I wanted—at least in the business sphere. But this was a really weird mixture of business and…pleasure? Maybe pain. Time would tell.
“I’m not scared,” I lied shamelessly, moving the cursor to the button that saidSend Jeff a message. I hesitated. Jeff seemed like my best option. It would be a shame to scare him off by being overeager. Maybe I should message Leo or Tanner first.
“If he can’t handle you messaging first,” Grant said, “he’s a waste of your time.”
I might as well have been a sheet protector for how easily he saw through me.
“Besides,” he continued, “Jeff says he wants someone comfortable with ambition. Let’s test him on that.”
Let’s. There was nolet’sabout it. Grant had no skin in this game. It was pure entertainment for him.
But he was probably right. If Jeff didn’t like a woman who took initiative, it would be better to knowthat now.
I clicked decisively and typed a quick message, trying to pretend Grant wasn’t watching every keystroke.
Hey, Jeff! Good to meet you virtually. Looks like we work a few blocks away from each other. Let me know if you’d like to grab a coffee sometime.
I had just pressed enter when I got a new message. It was from Leo.
“He must be taking a break from bicep curls.”
I shot Grant a look. “Jealous?”
“Just curious when he’ll fit in a date between lifting sessions and meal prepping.”
Leo and I went back and forth a bit and ended up agreeing to meet in a week and a half. Contrary to Grant’s snarky quips, Leo wasn’t at the gym; he was on a business trip in Virginia.
