I rolled my eyes at the message from Melanie — my ‘step-sistant’ as the bubbly young twenty-something old called herself— then pushed out a short breath as I glanced over at Avery. He was hunched over the tablet in his lap, working through the questionnaire.
He was probably going to be easy to match. I could think of two women right off the top of my head he would definitely be attracted to, based on the physical description he gave me.
“I think I’m done.”
I blinked, then gave him a smile. “Great. I’m going to review all of this, and I’ll have you coordinate with Melanie about your schedule so we can start setting up your dates. Do you have any questions?
“None I can think of,” he said as he handed me the tablet. “Got any questions for me?”
“Actually, I do.” My eyes fell on his beautifully tailored suit. “Umm… you do have clothes that are a little more casual, right?”
My heart sank at the confused look on his face. “Something wrong with my suit?”
“No,” I said quickly. “It’s very nice, and it looks expensive…but that’s the problem.”
He dropped into the chair across from my desk. “Explain.”
“Well… part of the challenge with you is finding a woman who won’t be blinded by or unhealthily attracted to your wealth. One way we can ensure that is by making it a little less obvious. Don’t you have clothes you wear to hang out?”
“Tori, I hang out with mechanics or play basketball. We wear shop clothes, or sweats, tee shirts. Stuff that’s gonna get dirty.”
I cocked my head to the side. “So you don’t have like… khakis and a polo?”
He considered it for a moment, then shook his head. “I have a few, but I’m … usually in a suit. If I’m not, I’m in sweats. I’m not that guy, that’s all into the clothes and stuff. I mean, I know what looks good, but mostly I just go to Neiman’s and let them tell me what to buy.”
Of course he casually uses a personal shopper. Of course.
“Well, there’s no need to go to Neiman’s for what we need. I’m going to introduce you to a little place called TJMaxx. We’ll schedule a shopping day.”
“Is that common? To take your clients shopping?”
I shrugged. “I’ve done it quite a few times. Some people need a little assistance with that, like others may need help talking to women, or not biting their nails, whatever. I make it happen.”
He nodded, giving me a smile. “I feel like I’m in good hands.”
“You are,” I assured him as I stood to escort him to the door of my office suite. Melanie gave me the evil eye as I passed. “We will be in touch with you tomorrow for the scheduling, ok?”
We exchanged goodbyes, which included a little sideways hug that caught me off guard. Even the brief contact of his body against mine made my nipples painfully hard, something I desperately hoped he didn’t notice. When he was on the other side of my door, I breathed a heavy sigh of relief and turned around, only to find that Mel was standing right behind me, one hand on her hip, the other pointing an accusing finger. “You’ve slept with him. Is he an ex?”
Surprised by her question, I took a step back, swatting her hand away from my face. I should have known she would notice something was up. Mel was better than I was at picking up the subtle hints of underlying emotion, which is why I’d hired her. In the few months she’d worked at Matched, she, along with her psychology degree, had already proven valuable, but today was a day I wished she had taken a late lunch— or better yet, the day off.
“No, I haven’t, and he’s not an ex. He’s Desiree’s brother.”
“Does Des know you slept with her brother?”
My eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”