Putting It to the Test Read online

  He’d picked answer C: take-out dinner, candles and a bubble bath for two.

  The exact same answer as hers.

  Oh, man, she was a goner.

  She tried to answer Bev’s question but couldn’t quite move her lips, and luckily she didn’t have to. Like a knight in shining armor, Bev’s husband, Kurt, stepped into the doorway, shifting the mood in the room and giving Carly a badly needed change of focus.

  “I thought that was your car in the driveway.”

  She smiled and hoped her red cheeks weren’t as obvious as they felt. “Hi, Kurt!” she squeaked.

  His eyes drifted toward his wife. “Cookies for dinner?” he asked, teasing.

  Bev smiled wide and motioned to the plate at Carly’s side. “Help yourself.”

  “No, thanks.” He rubbed his stomach. “What’s really for dinner? I’m starving.”

  Rolling her eyes, Bev pushed up from the chair and made her way toward the door. “Let’s go see what we’ve got,” she said.

  And then Carly was alone. Not wanting to interrupt Bev’s and Kurt’s dinner, she opted to skip the rest of the section on sexual habits and preferences and concentrate on the other parts of the survey to get this done as quickly as possible. It shouldn’t take long to go through the answers and sync them up closely enough. If she just focused and hurried through it, she could be out of there in a matter of minutes.

  She went back to the top of the survey and began running through Matt’s answers, and it wasn’t long before she noted that, aside from their sexual compatibility, she and Matt Jacobs had absolutely nothing in common. Practically every one of her answers had to be shifted from one end of the spectrum to the other, and Carly realized if she hadn’t acquired his answers, she’d never have come close to being the most compatible.

  He’d all but confirmed every impression she’d had of him—his selfish arrogance, his disinterest in others, his insistence in coming first in every aspect of his life. Matt Jacobs clearly cared about one thing and one thing only: Matt Jacobs.

  I like helping others. Disagree.

  I care what people think of me. Strongly Disagree.

  I consider myself more intelligent than most. Agree.

  I am attractive. True.

  I’ve made sacrifices for my loved ones. False.

  It went on and on, question after question painting the picture of the narcissistic, self-serving jerk she always suspected Matt was, and though a small piece of her felt the tug of disappointment, in general the survey brought her a giant breath of relief. Where his answers to the sexual profile had her wondering how she could come near him without tearing off his clothes and doing him on his desktop, the personality profile shriveled up her attraction and left her stale.

  In part because she’d seen this man before—the striking good looks, the charming smile, the sultry voice, countered by a complete and total disregard for anyone but himself.

  Matt Jacobs seemed to be a carbon copy of her father, and if Carly had one central goal in life, it was to never, ever end up like her mother.

  A flood of relief swept through Carly, easing the tension in her neck and leaving her ripe with a giddy sense of elation. She’d caught Matt’s number well before she did something stupid like act on her attraction. She was officially empowered, this survey handing her the emotional tool she needed to focus on the job and forget this latent lust she’d had for the man, kinky sex drive or not. He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and unlike her mother, she wasn’t fooled by the disguise nor ignorant enough to believe he could change.

  The right man for Carly would be sexy and rugged but also caring and dependable. He’d put his family first, place her needs on the table right next to his and accept a partnership that involved both give and take. And if there was anything this survey screamed loud and clear, it was that Matt Jacobs clearly wasn’t that man.

  Energized with a new sense of control, she went through the rest of the survey, relating her answers more closely to Matt’s, not copying verbatim but putting them close enough to appear the perfect match. Although, wondering how any woman would fit into the life of a man like him was a challenge. Guessing that the logic behind the survey was not so much to find matching answers but people who seemingly fit together, she took a calculated risk and set up her answers accordingly.

  She was nearly done when Bev stepped back in the room and plopped down on the recliner.

  Carly saved her answers and turned to her friend, who now looked a little ruffled. “Are you okay?”

  Bev huffed. “Yeah, things have just been a little stressful around here lately with Kurt’s new job, but it’s no big deal.” Picking up the cookie she’d left on the side table, she took a bite and added, “Just wait until you marry Mr. Right. You’ll see what wedded bliss is really like.”

  Carly appreciated the sentiment, but when she boiled it down, she often doubted she’d ever find out. Marriage wasn’t exactly on the top of her list. And in reality, for her there probably wasn’t a Mr. Right. Every man too thrilling scared her witless, which left her with a plethora of safe but dull consolation prizes.

  She didn’t have to be a psychoanalyst to know her upbringing had left her destined to a life of independence. But that didn’t matter to her. She was making her own home, providing herself with the kind of steady security she could count on. She had everything she needed when it came to home and family, and if there was a man out there to share it, he’d have to be one in a million. She wouldn’t settle for anything less.

  Closing down the Internet connection, she took the sheet with Matt’s answers and glanced at them one last time. One in a million, that was for sure. And thanks to the survey, she’d been able to confirm that the small group of men good enough for her most definitely didn’t include Matt Jacobs.

  5

  “YOU TWO ARE perfect for each other!”

  Matt sat at the conference table staring at a gushing Brayton Hall, thinking that if the Singles Inc. survey pegged him and Carly as a perfect match, the company was headed for bankruptcy. He was about as suited to Carly Abrams as he was to putting on a tutu and dancing Swan Lake.

  Which meant someone in this room was pulling a fast one on someone in this room.

  He glanced around the table of suspects, which included Brayton, Andy McGee—the Singles Inc. marketing officer—and Carly, who didn’t look the least bit fazed by any of this.

  Did she know something he didn’t?

  “Who knew we had the ideal couple sitting right here in our offices?” Brayton added.

  Matt studied Brayton’s goofy grin and realized that no matter how hard the man tried to come off as a suave and polished businessman, he’d never fully conceal the boyish nerd he’d grown up as. Even if Matt bought the idea that these survey results were legit, they surely didn’t warrant this giddy reaction from the boss. Yet here were Hall and Andy, donning dopey smiles like two kids who’d just caught him and Carly making out in the backseat of his Beemer.

  Passing a sheet of paper that appeared to contain his compatibility rankings, Andy chimed in. “A match this close, we might lose you two to a honeymoon sometime soon.” He turned to Brayton and chuckled. “I don’t know, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. We need this project to stay on schedule.”

  Matt’s left eyebrow rose involuntarily. Were they kidding?

  “You don’t have to worry about that,” Carly said. “We’ll be taking this project very seriously. Hall Technologies is excited to name Singles Inc. as one of its clients, and our priority will be assuring you’re a satisfied one.”

  Andy winked. “Though a sidebar story about Singles Inc. finding everlasting love is always welcome, too. We have a habit of finding romance wherever we go. We are the experts, you know.”

  Matt had to swallow down a laugh. The guy was marketing to the core, always looking for that double bonus where publicity could be made. He was probably already sizing up how Matt’s and Carly’s faces would look plastered on the
sides of every transit bus in the county.

  “It’s hard to argue with an expert,” she agreed. “But why don’t we put the job first and see what follows after?”

  Cool as a cucumber. If Carly was at all suspect of these results she wasn’t showing it. But before he could ponder why, she tossed him an alluring glance that he caught with an unexpected blood rush to the loins.

  Damn, she was beautiful when she wanted to be. And today, in front of the boss and their client, she’d upped the volume on her charm. Matt only saw her like this on occasion, usually during staff meetings when heads began to butt and someone needed to step in and play referee. She was good at that, a born diplomat. The type who brought sanity to all things insane—like the direction Brayton and Andy were trying to take this meeting in right now.

  Glancing down at the page Andy had slid across the table, he noted his compatibility results with the other employees—and, sure enough, Carly was listed on top with an eighty-seven percent match ratio. The next nearest was Laine, another coworker he’d crossed paths with on a couple projects. He’d liked Laine, enjoyed talking with her, and even she only ranked in at fifty-four percent. To think Carly could outmatch Laine by thirty-three percent was ludicrous at best. He’d stake better odds on aliens landing in Graceland and resurrecting Elvis.

  Not that Carly didn’t have any redeemable qualities. Make no mistake—the woman had a number of assets entirely compatible with his desires, and he suspected when it came to all things physical, they’d fit together quite well. Sneaking a peek down the ruffled neckline of her pale blue pantsuit, he could think of a couple things that might slip nicely into the palms of his hands. And the fruity look of those glossy pink lips was definitely harmonious with his taste for all things sweet.

  But none of that took away from the fact that professionally they’d rubbed each other like sandpaper since the day he’d been hired. And the fact that she wasn’t sitting there as bewildered as he by this whole compatibility thing left him smelling something foul.

  Opening a purple folder labeled Singles Inc., she pulled out a stack of what looked like business specifications. “I only had a moment to look these over, but I can already see how we can make improvements to your current software. Some of it is outdated. Not only that, but the site loads slowly. I’m gathering most of the graphics have a higher resolution than necessary. Believe it or not, a good portion of the country still connects to the Internet through dial-up. We’ll want something that works fast.”

  Matt frowned and looked down at the papers in front of her. “Where did you get those?”

  “A copy was left with both of us.”

  “When?”

  Looking a little too self-gratified, she replied, “I take it you haven’t been back to your desk in a while.”

  No, he hadn’t. Though he’d known they were making announcements this morning, he hadn’t been terribly interested, opting instead to play around in the lab, testing some animation on various platforms. He hadn’t even known he’d been awarded the Singles Inc. project until Hall had popped in and told him about this meeting after noticing that Matt hadn’t accepted the electronic calendar invite.

  Not waiting for an answer, Carly turned back to Andy. “I see you’ve done some customer surveys for feedback on your current site. It would be nice to bring some of your clients back to look at the new prototype. Is that a possibility?”

  “I’m sure we can arrange that.”

  “If not, we can gather our own group, but it’s always best to work with people who’ve actually used the site,” she said, jotting down something illegible on one of the pages.

  She continued flipping through the pages of the proposal. Her copy was already riddled with notes, and Matt began feeling unprepared and a little foolish for showing up without so much as a pen. As the three of them spoke about the project, he alternately tried to keep abreast of what was going on while studying the papers in front of her, looking for something he could use to interject some thoughts of his own.

  How did she manage to run away with this project so quickly? It wasn’t as if he’d been gone all morning. He’d only stepped away from his desk for an hour—two, tops—and here she was talking as though she were the team lead on this project instead of an equal partner.

  And the obvious impression in Brayton’s and Andy’s eyes left him irked. He didn’t like being one-upped, and after his baseball career had ended he’d sworn he’d never be less than best again. Yet here was Carly only minutes into their new joint venture, already grabbing the baton and running ahead without him.

  He recalled his conversation with Adam in the restaurant the other day, how the buzz in the office had her as a contender for the management job opening up, and an annoying curl of resentment tightened his jaw. Over his dead body. He’d worked way too hard getting to the top of Brayton’s list to let Carly Abrams pop out in front of him at the last furlong.

  “What do you think, Matt?” Brayton said, pulling him from his thoughts. “I know you haven’t gone through the preliminaries yet, but any initial thoughts on the subject?”

  He looked around the table, all three of them staring at him in anticipation of his answer, but he hadn’t heard a word they’d said.

  “Well, um…”

  As he fumbled for a reply, he caught a glint in Carly’s eyes. She was batting a thousand; he was sinking like a brick, and she not only knew it, she was enjoying every minute. But before he could embrace his irritation, she stepped in and unexpectedly threw him a life preserver.

  “I don’t think their transition to Oracle will impact what we’re doing, but you might have more experience than I do.”

  “Uh…no. We can feed data to Oracle just fine.” And when he looked to her to confirm he was on the right track, she faintly nodded and encouraged him to continue. “Any software we use can accommodate your downstream system.”

  Andy appeared to be pleased with his answer. “That and our new logo are the only new developments we’ve got since the preliminary specifications were drawn up.” He stacked his papers and placed them in his leather-bound notepad, then tucked the pen in its holder before closing the file. “So unless either of you have questions, we’ll let you two review the documents more thoroughly and go from there.”

  Brayton picked up his BlackBerry and clicked a couple buttons before gesturing to Matt and Carly. “Schedule a meeting with me late next week to discuss your initial ideas.”

  Carly made another illegible note and nodded, and Brayton turned to Andy. “We’ll get back to you shortly after.”

  “Good enough,” Andy said, rising from the table. “I look forward to working with you two.” Then, snapping a finger in their direction, he added, “I’ve got high hopes for that other thing, too.”

  Carly smiled and graciously accepted a handshake, but Matt couldn’t temper his annoyance. No computer program was going to assign him a lover, particularly a woman who’d be working for him before the year was out. And though Carly might be showing patience with this lunacy, he’d heard enough.

  Forcing a smile on his face, he said his goodbyes and stepped out of the conference room, shaking his head and wondering how his morning managed to get blown to bits in the span of one hour. He’d come into the office feeling pretty good, all but forgetting about Singles Inc. and their survey. He hadn’t expected to be chosen for the project and had mentally wished good luck to whatever couple they’d selected.

  Now he was walking out of a meeting he’d just blown on a project he didn’t especially want, newly paired with a woman who was supposedly ideal for him despite the fact that she’d spent two years loathing him.

  If that didn’t spin a guy’s head, what would?

  “Matt!” Carly called out behind him as she rushed to catch up with his quickened pace. He reluctantly slowed, his mood a little too sour for conversation right now, but what else could he do, break out in a run?

  Instead he turned and caught a glimpse of the one other maj
or problem with this whole scenario—that he’d be working in proximity with Carly Abrams over the next several months. And given her ability to turn his thoughts in circles, he really didn’t need to be put to the test right now. He was trying to impress the boss, not look like an ass in front of him, and though he’d wanted to work with Carly someday, he’d prefer doing it after he landed the promotion.

  A side of him thought he should just take her home to his condo, strip them both naked and not come out until he’d completely and thoroughly sweated her out of his system. But looking in those sultry blue eyes, the loose strands of satiny hair framing her face and that silky blue pantsuit hugging every curve, he doubted even that idea would prove fruitful. It would only make him want her more, which was why the coming months were most likely going to be hell.

  He could see it play out before him clear as day, his history coming back to haunt him, his propensity for putting his wants ahead of his needs and ending up with nothing. Ever since he’d been released by the Nationals he’d promised himself he’d take his next career seriously. Never again would he be told he had the talent but not the discipline to make it. It had been hard enough letting go of the one thing he was good at, and now that he’d found a new career he wasn’t about to screw it up. This time he’d be the best. He’d scale to the top, look in the mirror and see a sense of pride staring back at him instead of the bloodshot dismay of a self-induced failure.

  And the temptation standing in front of him had the power to derail it all. Because when he looked at Carly Abrams, the last thing he wanted to think about was work.

  “What’s your schedule look like?” she asked, using a delicate finger to shift the hair away from her face. “We’ll need to get together before we meet with Brayton.”

  Those blue eyes were all business, and once again it struck him how casually she was taking the news of this survey. An eighty-seven percent compatibility rate wasn’t typically brushed off when both people involved happened to be single and available.