“Blake Donovan of Donovan InfoTech?” Jaylene’s right eyebrow lifted.

“You’ve heard of him?” Andy couldn’t help the surprise that sounded in her voice.

“He’s the toast of Boston’s business scene.” Jaylene fanned her face with her hand. “Who hasn’t heard of him?”

Until she’d met him the day of her interview, Andy hadn’t, that’s who hadn’t. “Yeah, exactly. Who hasn’t.”

“If I remember right, he’s a hottie.”

“Yes. Yes, he is. I have a picture.” Andy was suddenly grateful for the doldrum hour on Saturday that she had filled snapping shots of Blake on her phone unbeknownst to him.

Jaylene took the phone, her eyes brightening as she took in Blake’s picture. “Yummy.”

Though pleased with Jaylene’s assessment, Andy couldn’t help feeling a little bit stabby that someone else recognized how attractive Blake Donovan was. It was honestly the most absurd feeling she’d had in, well, ever. She dismissed it as a side effect of the no-coffee-plus-walking thing.

Jaylene handed the phone back to Andy. “And you think he’d want to go out with me?”

“I’m positive. He asked me to set him up, in fact.” Not a lie. “Would you be interested?”

“Maybe.” Jaylene’s tone said there was no maybe about it. It was yes all the way.

“Tell you what—are you on Facebook?”

She nodded so Andy opened her phone and entered Jaylene’s name in her social media app. When her profile came up, she sent a friend request. “I just friended you.”

Jaylene’s own phone buzzed from the side pocket of her purse. She pulled it out and flicked her fingers across the screen. “And I just accepted.”

It took all of Andy’s strength not to happy dance right there in the station. “I’ll show Blake your profile, if you don’t mind, and see what he says?”

“Yeah. That sounds … great, actually. Thanks.”

There was a moment of semistrange silence between them which Andy filled with unnatural grinning and staring at Jaylene’s daintily polished hands. Thankfully, the moment was interrupted by the arrival of a train.

“Well, this is me,” Jaylene said with a shrug.

“Great meeting you.” Was that too eager? “I’ll get back to you soon.”

The women waved and parted.

With Jaylene out of sight, Andy let out a sigh of half relief, half elation. She might have a grip on this ridiculous job of hers after all. Although extremely tardy and undercaffeinated, she couldn’t help thinking, I’m awesome.

*   *   *

Two days in, and his matchmaker was already late. How could he have been so wrong? Blake was rarely off on his assessments like this. Her first working days seemed to have been going extraordinarily well, despite all his best efforts. He still cringed at the thought of how Drea had derailed him so much in the elevator.

Now that she was showing her true colors, he was feeling far more in control. Once that unruly hair popped around his door, he was going to give her a piece of his mind. He was going to put her in her place, and then he was going to sit down in his place, and get in the B-Zone. He was going to show Andrea and Monday who was boss.

But when she peered around the jamb with such a delighted sparkle in her eyes, he decided to wait and hear just what had her all riled up before laying down the law. And when she started hopping back and forth from one foot to the other while gushing about the date she’d just interviewed, he decided that her neon-orange cross trainers were actually the worst part of what was happening here. After all, she had been working. He knew he hadn’t been wrong about her. Blake Donovan was rarely wrong. Andrea wasn’t the only one who was an astute reader of people.

He let her words flow past his ears as he studied her, trying to decide why he was finding himself so unexpectedly charmed by this display of enthusiasm. Probably it was because most of his employees played their cards close to the vest. Probably it was just the novelty of it. Probably nothing.

He tuned back in as she collected a few folders and printouts and marched over to his desk. “So I tentatively scheduled you for Thursday evening. I figured you’d want to approve it, obviously, but this also gives you a little time to make sure that jives with your schedule. Okay, these are the latest batch, and I’m not telling you which one I’ve spoken with.” She slid the small stack over to him and fanned them.

He gave the head shots a cursory glance. At first look, he thought two were decent, one was doubtful, and one was perfect. He slid one of the maybes back at her. “Tell me about this one.”

“Amanda Delgado. Retail clerk at a high-end boutique. Has an associate’s degree, no plans to further her education beyond that. Hobbies include shopping and horses.” She waited for his reaction. Blake considered. There were a few things that gave him pause about her profile, brief though it was. He’d never liked horse people, for one. Creeped him out. And shopping? Was she going to be a shoe person? He sent another disapproving look in the direction of Drea’s feet.

The thing that he was silently debating was the education bit. It was true that he didn’t like ambitious women, and those with degrees tended to be. Many educated women also tended to have opinions, and those simply would not stand when his spouse was entertaining business associates. On the other hand, and he had Drea to thank for this, he was beginning to realize that women with opinions could simply be more interesting. Blake was torn, and he didn’t like that feeling.

“Pass,” he said. “This one?” He pointed toward the doubtful girl. There wasn’t anything wrong with her per se, but something about the arch of her brows and the sharpness of her nose said total bitch, even with the smile she was wearing.

“Mina Mizuki. Works in a nonprofit animal shelter, active member of PETA, enjoys cooking.”

“Pass. Absolutely not. No way.” He was shaking his head before she’d finished her spiel.

“Why? She’s skinny and brunette, and already has a pet charity. That’s kind of perfect for the stay-at-home wife of a gazillionnaire.” Of course she was going to argue about this.

“It isn’t any charity, Andrea. PETA is for vegans. Vegans, Andrea.” He felt pained at the very thought. “Do you think I plan on dating this woman at salad bars, because the menu at Del Frisco’s offends her?”

“I suppose you don’t look like the tofu type, no. But she cooks, didn’t you want that?” She still looked hopeful. This woman was impossible. Why was he explaining himself to an employee?

“PETA is also an organization that prides itself on celebrity endorsements. If I start dating this person, I’ll be her ticket to landing a big name for the next ad campaign. Her cooking or not is beside the point. I’m not interested in being used for my name or status.” Andrea pressed her lips together and held out her hand for another folder.

The other maybe skidded in her direction.

“Melissa Carswell. Dancer. Not very talkative, but seems nice enough.” That sounded promising.

“She’s a possibility. Pull up her home address on Google Earth.”

Drea stared at him in disbelief, but he was not joking. Location, location, location—it wasn’t just a real estate mantra. Where people chose to spend their time said a lot about them.

Once she had located the address, he leaned over her. “I know that neighborhood. Lots of bars. It’s a party area. She’s obviously a drinker. Pass.” He was close enough to smell her shampoo, but also to hear the choice words she muttered about him. He pulled back.

“That leaves us with Jaylene Kim,” she said in her normal voice. He leaned back in, ostensibly to study the picture, but she smelled really nice. Blake idly wondered why he didn’t find excuses to smell her more often.

“Because that would be inappropriate,” Drea was saying.