“Parker paid for the wedding because he could afford to,” she said defiantly.
He shook his head. “And because his parents refused to.”
“I suppose,” she said acerbically, but still with an undertone of defiance, “they didn’t expect Parker to present them with a woman he met during a party- hopping night on the town.”
“You and Parker never really connected.” He knew he had to tread carefully here. “In the bedroom, as well as out. You said as much yourself after our first time together.”
“If you knew all these things about Parker, then why did you associate with him?” she retorted. “It seems to me you should have been spending your time warning the single women of Boston away from him.”
He shrugged. “We were business school classmates, but we were never good buddies. I was asked to be a groomsman because I was a lucrative and powerful business contact. That’s how things work in the world Parker’s from.”
“The world you’re from.”
Rather than deny it—he couldn’t really deny it—he went on placatingly, “Encouraging Parker to listen to his doubts was the right thing to do. Would you rather have wound up in divorce court in a couple of years?”
“The right thing to do?” she repeated incredulously. “The night before my wedding?”
“Granted, the timing wasn’t ideal.”
“Now there’s an understatement!” Her eyes flashed green fire. “Maybe by the night before the wedding, it would have been better to have just let Parker go through with it.”
She paused for breath. “Maybe we would have found a way to work out any problems. How could you be sure we’d end up divorced? Are you omniscient or just arrogant?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “An interesting statement from a woman who makes her living predicting whether two people will be happy together.”
“You’re not the least bit sorry for your actions, are you?”
“I’m sorry you were hurt.” It was the truth.
“You came to Ideal Match knowing, knowing, you’d had a hand in the whole wedding fiasco.” Her brows snapped together. “When were you going to tell me?”
She raised a hand as if to stop his reply. “No, wait. I’m sure not before you talked me into going to bed with you.”
“I may have made a mistake in judgment in that regard,” he ground out. He didn’t know how to placate her—how to reach her—at this point.
“No, I made a mistake,” she contradicted, her eyes still snapping. “It was a mistake to take you on as a client, a mistake to get romantically involved with you, and a mistake to sleep with you.”
His jaw hardened. “Like hell.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking. I compromised my professional principles, put Ideal Match’s reputation on the line, and for what?”
“You were happy to book Boston’s number one bachelor when you were focused on what it could mean for Ideal Match,” he reminded her.
She opened her mouth, then clamped it shut. “You’d think I’d have learned from my experience with Parker not to get involved with anyone remotely associated with him.”
“The fact you and Parker crashed and burned doesn’t have anything to do with us.”
“On the contrary,” she argued, “it has everything to do with us. Or maybe I should say, there isn’t any us anymore.”
His eyes narrowed. “We could put the lie to those words.”
“Yes, I forget you’re Boston’s most eligible man,” she said, pausing meaningfully, “and destined to stay that way as far as I’m concerned.”
He took two quick steps toward her, saw the flash of challenge in her eyes, and in the next instant, swept her into his arms.
He ravaged her mouth with his kiss, but underneath it was undeniable want and need.
They broke apart, and he took a step back, not trusting himself too close.
They were both breathing deeply.
“Is that the proof you were looking for?” she asked finally.
“What do you think?” he returned.
It had been plenty, and yet not nearly enough.
They stood there for a suspended moment that seemed to go on forever.
Then she turned and walked toward the elevator.
He watched her go, brooding as the elevator doors opened and she stepped inside.
She kept her face averted, not looking at him, as she punched a button and the elevator doors closed.
“I’m swearing off women,” Matt found himself declaring.
“What?” Noah said disbelievingly. “Boston’s Most Eligible Bachelor is going cold turkey off the world’s most delectable dish? Say it ain’t so.”
It was Monday morning, and they were in Matt’s office at Whittaker Enterprises. He was standing behind his desk, hands braced on hips, with documents his brother had just brought in arrayed before him.
Noah stood with arms crossed, but he still somehow appeared casual and relaxed.
Noah, Matt noted dryly, looked like a guy who’d spent the weekend having sex. Unlike him.
It had been two days since Saturday night’s fiasco with Lauren, and he’d spent the weekend in a foul mood he’d carried into the office with him.
He shook his head at his brother. “I mean it. I just don’t understand women.”
Noah laughed. “Spoken just like a man in love. That’s exactly what I said right before I realized I needed to propose to Kayla.”
“You’re nuts,” he replied.
Noah was known as the family jokester, prone to making off-the-wall comments.
Besides, Matt thought, he felt like hell—worse than he’d ever felt over a woman—so it was unlikely he was mistaking one emotion for another.
“No, my friend, you’re crazy,” Noah said gravely. “Crazy in love, that is.”
“Did you stop by to discuss work, or are you the firm’s new resident psychologist?”
Noah gave a fleeting smile. “I came by to pay it forward. It’s a family tradition.”
“What?”
Noah shook his head. “Forget it. Let’s just say Saturday night was the first time I’ve heard of you coming to blows with a guy over a woman. And not just any guy, either, but a man you were supposed to stand up for five years ago.”
“Believe me, I’m not proud of it.” As much as Parker had deserved it.
“It’s not your usual style,” Noah mused. “Most of the time, you’re cool and unflappable.”