“Gentleman might prefer blondes, but women prefer assholes.”

Wren rolled her eyes at me, but kept silent.

“Come on,” I said, watching people go past our table as we finished eating our favorite dairy-free ice cream. It was a beautiful Boston afternoon and we were celebrating the end of my first day. “You know it’s true.”

“Even if it is true, and I’m not saying it is,” she said. ”It doesn’t make sense.”

“It doesn’t have to make sense for it to be true. Seriously, if you really think about it, a lot of things that are true don’t make sense. But research has shown that after interacting with two men, generally speaking, the woman is usually more attracted to the asshole.”

Wren took a big bite of her peanut butter chocolate cookie ice cream and hummed her delight before turning her attention back to me. “I can’t believe someone did research on that.”

I shrugged. “Can’t argue with science.”

“And as a matchmaker, whose job it is to find your clients that one true love, their soulmate, what do you think of that study?”

“Skeptical at first, but now I believe it, completely.”

She raised an eyebrow. “It wasn’t your study, was it?”

We both shared a laugh over the idea of me running a study.

“No, but seriously,” I said, when we could both speak again. “You should write this down. Use it for your next big investigative piece.”

“An in-depth look into the dating habits of assholes?”

“Hey,” I said with a grin. “Beats what you normally find in the newspaper.”

She sucked the last bit of ice cream off her spoon. “True that.”

“The way I see it, we’re all assholes. Just of varying degrees. As a matchmaker, it’s my job to find the one you’re most compatible with.” I couldn’t help but wonder if Tenor had ever taken his company’s multiple choice assessment.

“This doesn’t explain to me why women pass on the nice guy in favor of the dickwad.”

“I don’t think dickwad and asshole are interchangeable terms, but I’ll ignore that for right now.” I also ignored her smart comment in response to my statement. “Look at it this way, when you think of your perfect man, he’s not really perfect, is he? Even if he always holds the door open for you and helps old ladies cross the street, you want him to be a little bad, right?”

I could tell she was starting to see things my way when she got that far away look in her eyes.

I dropped my voice. “A nice guy wouldn’t spank your ass while taking you from the back or push you against a wall because he had to fuck you right now, this second, would he?”

“No,” she answered, even though I’d meant for it to be a rhetorical question and had actually been picturing Tenor pushing me against a wall.

“But a mostly good guy with a dash of asshole?”

“For sure yes.”

“Now do you see what I was I saying?” I couldn’t help the fact that my question came out a bit smug. At her nod in response to my question, I asked, “And what is the takeaway from all this?”

“Assholes are inevitable,” she mused. “Might as well use them for sex and get something out of them.”

I almost snorted water out of my nose. “I don’t think that came out the way you intended.”

“It made more sense in my head,” she said, flushing a bit. “And didn’t sound so perverted.”

“Please,” I said with a wave of my hand. “Perverted thoughts are the best kind.”

“Says the matchmaker for assholes.”

“Someone has to do it.”

Her expression grew serious. “How are you doing with the business?”

“It gets easier everyday. Just ready to finalize everything and be done with it, you know?” I asked, because I knew she meant my old business and not my new job.

She took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “I know.” The smile slowly returned to her face. “Let’s go for a walk. We’ll see if we can find the biggest asshole in Boston and convince him to let you find his soulmate.”

“I know who the biggest asshole in Boston is.” But I stood up and threw my trash away. “I work for him. Don’t you remember?”

“Hard not to, with you talking about him all the time.”

“I do not talk about him all the time.” Maybe half the time, but not all.

She just snorted, but kept walking.

“Do I?” I asked, but there was no response.

As loathe as I was to admit it, working at Bachelor International was not too bad. Certainly, it was better than I had anticipated. The other employees were friendly and Tenor stayed out of my way.

I had spent my first two weeks in an orientation and training type of atmosphere. I thought the training was a bit beneath me, to be honest. I mean, I had run my own business doing the same exact thing, but Tenor refused to budge. He insisted everyone have the exact same training so there would be no foreseeable way for the new hire not be told something.

Frankly, I thought it was a colossal waste of time and had no trouble telling him as much the few times he dropped by my office to see how I was doing. He refused to allow me to skip anything, however, so at the end of two weeks, I’d yet to be given my own clients, much less been told anything beyond the high level details of the international division.

The other time suck Tenor stood by were staff meetings. Every other day, he gathered all the employees together at nine. Every other day. When the woman who had the office next to mine, Rebecca, told me that, I’d laughed because I thought she was joking. My laughter soon died when I noticed she wasn’t laughing with me.

“You aren’t joking,” I said.

Not only was she not joking, she said Tenor felt very strongly about these meetings and you didn’t miss them unless you were in the hospital. I rolled my eyes because I thought that was overkill if I’d ever heard it, but I parked my butt in the conference chair at five minutes before nine every other day. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

The Friday of my two-week anniversary was no different. I took my seat and Tenor glanced my way and gave me a wink and a smile. I thought the wink was a bit much, but maybe he was trying to tell me he was keeping an eye on me and not to nod off like I had on Wednesday.

As always, I was bored out of my mind and by the time we were halfway through, I was snoozing or at least attempting to sleep with my eyes open. I’d given up any pretense of interest at all. In fact, I was trying to decide if I could block out the second half while still sitting in the room when I noticed that everyone was looking at me.

Fucking hell, had someone mentioned me? I turned back to Tenor, but he was watching me with a very amused expression.

“Can you repeat the question?” I asked him.

The corner of his mouth lifted in somewhat of a smile, but I had the feeling it wasn’t a question I’d missed. No, based on the way everyone around the table smirked, I’d missed something much, much bigger than a question.

“I was talking about the potential for expansion in other cities,” he said.

I nodded. At dinner the night I’d signed the contract agreeing to work for him, he’d touched on expanding the business. He’d sounded very excited talking about it and all the while, I was trying to wrap my head around a matchmaking company being a franchise. I had never even considered doing anything like that. Either way, I hadn’t expected it to come up again so soon.

“I had a call yesterday morning from a colleague in Atlanta,” he said. “He’s heard that the owner of The One For You Agency is thinking about selling. He’s set up a meeting for the beginning of next week.”

Again I nodded, but didn’t understand how this in anyway involved me. I mean, seriously, did he have to stop the entire meeting and repeat himself simply because I’d been daydreaming?

I needed more caffeine. Unfortunately, there was not enough coffee in the world.

“I was informing the group that I was going to ask you to travel with me to Atlanta, since you recently sold your own business and joined us,” he said as if it was nothing at all. “I’ll stop your office after lunch so we can discuss in further detail.”

I only nodded, why he hadn’t stopped by my office before the meeting? Wouldn’t it make more sense to do it that way than to spring it on me at a staff meeting?

Unless he knew that because I was relatively new, I wouldn’t question him in front of everyone. Perhaps he’d planned it to happen just that way. He’d smoothly by the way bring up in the staff meeting that he would be going to Atlanta and just so you know, I’ll be taking the new chick with me. Knowing, of course, the new chick wouldn’t say anything and when he stopped by her office after lunch, she’d agree because what else could she do?

I narrowed my eyes at Tenor as he closed the meeting. He thought he had me right where he wanted me. And maybe he did. At least for now, anyway. But I was onto him and I was going to keep my eye on him very closely.

Of course he was nothing but smiles when he stopped by my office after lunch. I’d finished a peanut butter sandwich at my desk and had just cleared the crumbs into the trashcan when he knocked on my half-opened door.

“Knock. Knock,” he said, entering with a grin.

Damn, he was much too handsome. I swore sometimes it hurt he looked so good. Especially dressed the way he was today. I’d been too bored and later distracted to take note of it during the staff meeting, but now…

The way he strolled into the room as though he owed it.

He does, I whispered in my head.

When paired with the suit I knew had to be custom and made from a blue material that somehow matched his eyes just right?

Oh, yes. I had a feeling Tenor Butler knew exactly what he was doing and that confidence shook me as much as it turned me on.

“Did you have a nice lunch?” I asked.

“Yes, thanks.” He pulled one of the chairs across from me close so he could place some papers on top of my desk. I noticed his fingers. Funny how I didn’t remember seeing them before even though I knew I had.

But I didn’t see how it could be possible for me to have seen them and not remembered. His fingers were so long and even though I knew he had a desk job, they didn’t strike me as idle fingers. They moved with a purpose. The way I assumed his entire body did and suddenly, I wanted to touch those fingers and have them touch me in return.

“Mia?” he asked.  

“Huh?” But I was still looking at his fingers while at the same time calling myself an idiot for doing so.

“Are you okay? You seem to have drifted for a minute there.” 

Several minutes actually, but I wasn't about to admit that. Nor would I ever tell him what I'd been thinking. I nodded.

“I wanted to apologize for springing the Atlanta trip on you the way I did.”

He came into my office a lot to apologize about one thing or another. I wondered if he realized that or if he even cared. I got the impression, although I could be mistaken, that he wasn't one to apologize often. Of course, I was pretty sure that had more to do with the fact that he was rarely wrong as opposed to not being one to admit when he was. 

“No need to apologize,” I told him. “I should have been paying closer attention during the staff meeting instead of daydreaming the way I was.” 

“Is it a problem for you to travel to Atlanta? If it is, you don't have to go. It was wrong for me to do go about it the way I did.” He glanced across the desk and met my eyes. “But I have to be honest with you, Mia. I do want you to go to Atlanta with me and I would very much like your impression of the business we'll be discussing.” 

I was positive I wasn't able to school my expression quick enough, but I didn't feel assured enough in his presence to question him. 

“It surprises you that I want your opinion?” he asked. “Why?”

“Why would you care about what I think? What about me makes me so special that you would want me to travel with you? I'm nobody. I'm a has been business owner who lost her business because she didn't know enough about what her partner was doing.”

He closed his eyes and I got the feeling that I had touched on a sensitive subject for him. But why?  

“I should never have made the loan with Dee,” he whispered. “Not without knowing you were totally onboard and knew about the entire deal.”

Was that what put the guilty look on his face? I found that hard to believe. It didn't fit in with the badass business man I thought he was. 

Though I wasn't sure if that said more about him or me.  

And it didn't escape my attention that he never actually answered my original question. But instead of bringing that up, I decided to continue with his line of conversation. “It wasn't your fault I didn't know and I can hardly blame you for that.  That’s all on Mama. Not you.”

“Thank you for saying that, I appreciate it. But I'm not at that point yet. I'm not a completely good guy, you know.”

He was looking at me all playful like. “Oh, I never said you were,” I said matching his style. “I'm sure there are many things you should apologize for; that deal just isn't one of them.”

For a second, it appeared as if he didn’t know if I was being serious or not. To be honest, I wasn’t completely sure myself. But then he smiled and broke into a laugh and I found myself joining in.