He laughed out loud. “If it makes a difference, I feel more relaxed already.”
She smiled up at him. “And here we are. At the bottom.” She pushed through the door into the lobby of the office building.
“Will you let me escort you to your car?” the stranger asked.
“I’d appreciate that, as the security guard appears to be busy answering calls.” She nodded toward the front desk where a guard had just hung up the phone when another call came through.
They nodded to the guard as they passed and left through the door to the garage, descending one more flight of stairs.
Ariana wished there were more stairs. She wasn’t quite ready to leave this man. She liked how relaxed and comfortable he made her feel after how tense she’d been over coming to the BODS headquarters. Here she was talking to a strange man, and it wasn’t awkward or difficult at all.
“This is my car,” she said as they approached her Audi SQ5, the car her husband had always wanted and had just purchased when he’d gotten his diagnosis.
“Thank you for keeping me company on the tower descent,” he said, giving her a little bow.
“Thank you for seeing me safely to my vehicle,” she said with a nod. “If you decide you want to come to my meditation class, get a hold of Leslie, she can tell you how to find me.”
“What if I want to know how to find you before that?” He took her hand. “I like talking to you.”
She smiled. “We’ve just committed to letting Leslie’s system find our matches.”
“Didn’t you just say I should let go of my stress and the things I can’t control?” He raised an eyebrow in challenge.
Ariana wanted to do like he said and let go of that stress and uncertainty. Still… “Leslie is convinced her software will find the one who is right for each of us.” She looked up into blue eyes. “We should at least give it a chance.”
He nodded. “I get it. You don’t want to go out with me.”
“I didn’t hear you ask.”
“If I did?”
She shook her head. “BODS is churning away as we speak, now that the electricity is back on. It could already have found someone perfect for you.”
“And you.”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Will you let me know if it doesn’t work out for you?” he asked.
She nodded. “I’d like that.”
The man held out his hand. “It’s been nice talking with you.”
“And with you.” She placed her hand in his, and the electric current that raced up her arm excited and frightened her. Ariana could see herself falling for this guy, and she just wasn’t ready for that level of intensity. Not yet. She dug her keys out of purse and clicked the unlock button.
The stranger opened the door and held it for her.
She hesitated. “As I probably won’t see you again, I just want to say I enjoyed our conversation. More than you’ll know.” She slipped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down to kiss her.
And he did.
Deep, sexy and thorough. She liked the way he tasted and how he held her in his arms. Gentle but commanding.
When he stepped back, she climbed into her car.
He closed her door and watched until she started the car, shifted into drive and pulled out of her parking space.
She’d reached the outer exit when she realized…she hadn’t even asked for his name, nor had he asked for hers.
Chapter 3
Dillon could have kicked himself. He’d let his stairwell companion get away before he’d remembered to ask for her name.
Then again, she’d been adamant that they should give BODS a chance. If all else failed, and he didn’t like the woman the system chose for him, he could always hit up Leslie for the redhead’s name.
He hadn’t realized she was a redhead until they’d entered the stairwell with the emergency lights illuminating her long straight hair. And then, it wasn’t until the regular lights had come on that he’d noticed she had hazel eyes.
Normally, he would have said he preferred brunettes, but that hair… He found himself wanting to run his hands through it and test to see if it was as soft and silky as it appeared. She’d worn a long, floral skirt with a marigold top cinched at the waist by a gold chain belt. What he liked most were the pointed-toe cowboy boots on her feet. Not true. What he’d like best were her eyes.
Hell, he liked the whole package. Why did he need a system like BODS to find a date? He’d bumped into someone he could see himself going out with, without going through a matchmaking algorithm.
Then again, she wasn’t the kind of woman he normally went out with. His usual woman was all the highs: high class, high heels and high maintenance, wearing designer clothes that could fit in a board room as easily as a country club with the wealthiest clients. Yeah, maybe he should wait until BODS found his perfect match. He was curious now to see how his “perfect match” would compare with the redhead.
As he drove out of the garage, rain poured down on his truck, making it difficult to follow the redhead. Not that he would. He had a date with a beer and his brothers at the Firehouse Lounge.
He parked his truck in the parking lot near the bar, dragged in a breath and braced himself for his brothers’ ribbing. His only consolation was that they would go through this whole matchmaking scheme soon enough, and he’d get to poke fun at them and make them just as uncomfortable as they would make him this evening.
He was soaked in the downpour by the time he entered the bar. Ace spotted him from a table in the corner and waved
