Page 71 of Somebody To Love

“Danny told me sometime before we went on our first date.”

“Did you set up that disastrous date I went on with that Geoff guy?”

“Guilty as charged. When I found out that you were part of the agency, I did go into your account and change your match. I sort of hoped you would just give up on the agency then so that way it wouldn’t be unethical for me to date you instead. Sylvia was pissed.”

“She knew?”

He quickly backtracked. “She wasn’t an accessory or anything. After she realized what I’d done, she was the one who threatened to tell you everything. That’s why I showed up that night at the museum, to tell you the truth.”

“But instead you said you were with the agency and that you were my date—”

“Which was all true...”

“A partial truth.”

He nodded. “You’re right. I wasn’t completely truthful because I didn’t think you would react well and I was right.”

“Yeah, sue me because I’m not a fan of being lied to. So when did you plan to tell me the truth?”

He shrugged. “Truthfully, I didn’t have a plan. I was supposed to tell you that night at the museum exactly who I was. That was the only plan I had and when that fell through—”

“You mean when you deliberately failed to tell me who you were?”

“You’re right about everything. I should have been forthcoming. I should have told you the truth. I don’t know why I didn’t. It’s just everything was going so well and I didn’t want you to misconstrue my intentions.”

“And what were your intentions?”

“To have you fall in love with me.”

“Love can’t be orchestrated.”

He sighed and sat back. “Trust me. I know that now. If I could do it all again—”

“But you can’t so there’s no reason to even go there.”

He nodded again. “You’re right. So where do we go from here?”

I shrugged. “I guess I could kick you out and say goodbye...”

His face hardened and he moved to stand up. I reached out then and placed a hand over his. “Hold on, you didn’t let me finish...”

“What were you going to say?”

“I was going to say I could kick you out of my house and out of my life or I could forgive you and see where this goes...”

He entwined his fingers with my own and studied our hands linked together. “I was stupid. And arrogant. You were right that I had no right to play God with your love life. I should have told you I owned Infinity Connections. I should have been honest with you from the start. But I wasn’t and I know that’s no way to start a relationship... but I’m willing to put all my cards on the table. Be an open book.”

He reached for his briefcase, never letting go of my hand and pulled out his laptop. He opened it, accessed a file and said, “Read it.”

I looked at him curiously, “What is it?”

“Everything about me. I had Sylvia send it all over once you texted me. It’s all here. My family history. My evaluation, which Sylvia insisted I do, since she wanted me to understand exactly what we were requiring our clients to do. My likes, dislikes, greatest fears, favorite color. My W2s for the past 4 years, blood type, health records. I think Sylvia might have even included my college entrance exam scores. Passwords. Bank account information. You name it, it’s there.”

I smiled, I couldn’t help it. I was amused.

“I just want you to know that I’m not hiding anything from you. Nothing. Anymore. I’m an open book from now on. I’m done hiding and that includes hiding how I feel. Just give me a chance. I might not deserve it, but I know if you give me the opportunity I would like to share everything with you, Piper.” He took my other hand in his and said, “Look at me.”

I stared into his eyes and saw love there. I teared up and wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. His gaze held my own as if he never planned to let me go. With a steady voice he said, “Everything that I am and everything that I have is yours. You’re my world.”