Dating by Design Series Box Set

by Jennifer Peel

  “Don’t count on it. Their new quarterback is hit and miss. He’s no Peyton Manning,” Colton replied.

  “Do you want to bet on the game?” Lincoln’s tired eyes lit up.

  “Betting is for fools,” Dad grumbled.

  “I’ll text you later.” Lincoln winked. Those boys were troublemakers.

  “Let’s get down to real business.” Colton took center stage. “Any boys we need to be worried about?”

  “No.”

  “Oh. She’s lying.” Lincoln pushed Colton over.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Did you hear that and the way her eyes looked up? She’s a liar.”

  “Leave your sister alone,” Dad mumbled in the background. I was always the favorite.

  “We will never surrender. Spill the beans, little sister.”

  “How old are you guys?”

  “Old enough to know you’re keeping a secret.”

  “I’m sorry to disappoint you.” I tried my best to keep a straight face and my eyes focused. Rotten boys knew me too well.

  Both Colton and Lincoln’s eyes shrewdly narrowed.

  “We’ll see,” they said at the same time.

  “Enough, boys.” Dad pushed them out of the way. His face came into focus. “Do you need anything? I could send you a little money.”

  I was always touched when he offered, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t take him up on it. I knew things were tight. “I’m good, Dad.”

  He paused.

  “I promise. I make a lot more money in my new position.”

  “You eating okay?”

  “I should ask you that.”

  “Nothing fancy, but we get by.”

  “I miss you, Dad.”

  “You’re where you belong.” That was his way of saying he missed me too, but he loved me enough to keep me away.

  “I know.” At least I did most of the time. “Love you.”

  “Right back at ya.” He wasn’t the warmest of men.

  The boys yelled their goodbyes in the background before the call ended.

  I scratched Jasper on his head. “Looks like it’s just you and me.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  It was the start of another work week and I was feeling weird about spending so much time over the weekend with my coworkers, in particular, the one. Not that he was The One, he definitely wasn’t. I woke up early to make cinnamon scones for our Monday scheduling meeting. I wondered if I should, in light of Eva and Cara’s attitude as of late, but Zander’s words rang in my head. It was hard to argue with his reasoning, but I hated the tension. I grew up with boys, and if they had a problem with you, they told you. There was nothing passive aggressive about growing up a Dawson. I would rather Eva and Cara come out into the open about whatever it was they felt like I’d done.

  I ended up making the scones. I was who I was.

  I pulled into Binary Search’s parking lot. Ellen, the event planner who owned the building and occupied the first floor, had Kenadie cornered by her car. Per Mrs. Marshall, Ellen’s company was coordinating the event, but it sounded more to me like Mrs. Marshall and her friends had taken it over. Ellen didn’t look all that happy. I felt bad for Kenadie, but I wasn’t sure what I could do except give her a sympathetic smile as I walked by. If Kenadie didn’t elope, it was going to be a miracle.

  I opened the lobby door to find Zander watching the scene.

  “What are you doing?”

  He kept his eyes on Kenadie. “Waiting to save the day.”

  “You better hurry. I think she could use the back up.”

  “We’re almost there.”

  “I won’t even ask how you know.” I headed for the stairs.

  “Hold up.” He grabbed my basket of scones and pulled me back. He helped himself to a scone and held it up. “I knew you would bake for me again.”

  “Those are for everyone.”

  “Keep telling yourself that.”

  “Bye, Zander.”

  “See you later, darlin’.” He headed out the door to save his best friend. He was probably going to sweet talk Ellen. I tried not to think about it, but he had overtaken my thoughts.

  Daphne wasn’t at the front desk when I walked in, so I left her a scone on a napkin. On the way to my office I noticed Eva’s door was open. I waved hello, and she hardly acknowledged me. I hated this. I liked it better when I was the receptionist and everyone in the office loved me. Eva and Cara would always stop by and give me the scoop on their love lives, which were much more exciting than mine. And back then I only had a mild crush on Zander, instead of the four-alarm fire of hormones I had raging now. I missed those days.

  Maybe I should seek therapy from Kate. She wasn’t one to blab. She kept to herself, but she was wicked smart and insightful. I had been trying for the life of me to figure out why I was so attracted to Zander. I didn’t have daddy issues or a traumatic past, other than my mom dying. I wasn’t codependent or addicted to any drugs or medications. I didn’t even drink. There was really no explanation for my horrible taste.

  I was going to see if I could take Kate to lunch. I would treat, in exchange for a diagnosis.

  The scheduling meeting was status quo. Kenadie was stressed out of her mind and a little touchy. Zander did his best to make it worse and Kate studied the pair’s dynamics. It worked in my favor. It meant Zander didn’t pay attention to me and it didn’t give Cara and Eva anything to talk about. That was until Kenadie asked me to stay after, something about a special assignment.

  Cara and Eva had their heads together as they walked out and I knew they were talking about me.

  Zander for once didn’t make a joke or say something sarcastic. “Don’t let them get to you.” He left me alone with Kenadie.

  “What was that all about?” Kenadie rubbed her temples.

  It seemed like a bad time to mention anything else that would add to her stress. “Nothing. What can I help with?”

  She sighed. “First, my momma wanted me to invite you to Thanksgiving dinner. It slipped her mind yesterday.”

  “She’s hosting Thanksgiving in the middle of all the wedding stuff?”

  Kenadie rubbed her neck. “That’s my momma for you.”

  “I don’t want to intrude.”

  “You won’t. Please say you’ll come or it will be something else for her to have a tizzy about.”

  “I would love to, but only if I can help.”

  “I’ll let you work that out with my momma.”

  “I’ll call her.”

  Kenadie gave me a forced smile. “I would also like you to do some research for me, but I need it to be kept secret—only Zander and myself know.”

  I was more than intrigued. “Okay.”

  She shut the conference room door and lowered her voice. “Do you know who Nicholas Wells is?”

  I thought for a moment. “The name sounds familiar.”

  “He starred in a popular crime drama show about a decade ago, On the Edge.”

  “I think I’ve seen it on Netflix.”

  “It’s on there. It’s not a bad show, you should check it out. But anyway, I need you to do some research on Nicholas. I need to know everything about him, especially any relationships he’s had.”

  “Okay. He’s going to use our service?”

  I noticed a hint of a gleam in her eye. “I can’t really say right now, but I’ve been approached with an interesting idea that could be a huge thing for Binary Search, something that may give us national exposure.” She was practically giddy, which was so not her.

  “Do you have a timeframe in mind?”

  “Let’s say by the first of December. I’m meeting with . . . uh, some people when I return home from my honeymoon in January. Sorry to be so cryptic.”

  “I understand. I’ll get right on it.”

  “I knew I could count on you. Zander wouldn’t take it serious enough to do a good job. And I don’t have time right now.”

  “I’m happy to help.”

 
; “Remind me you need a raise.”

  “I won’t forget.” I headed for the door.

  “Meg.”

  “Yes?” I turned around.

  Kenadie was biting her lower lip. “Is there anything going on with you and Zander?”

  My heart pounded. “Did Zander say something?”

  She shook her head. “He’s just been acting a little out of the ordinary.”

  “How so?”

  “Maybe a little less self-centered, and he came to church.”

  “I don’t think that has anything to do with me.”

  “Hmmm. I wouldn’t be so sure. I know I’ve said this before, but be careful.”

  “We’re just friends. Maybe not even that.”

  “I used to say that about Jason.” She turned away from me and gathered up her files. I guess that was me being dismissed.

  I walked back to my office feeling a mix of emotions. Elated that Kenadie trusted me with an important assignment, intrigued about what exactly it was for, hurt because of Cara and Eva, and confused and angry at myself for my feelings in regards to Zander. And now I had my boss asking me about him.

  It was a good thing Kate agreed to have lunch with me.

  I hurried and sent out date requests to all my new clients and returned emails. I had a couple of clients who wanted to try someone new, so I had to do some research and add them to our Friday connection meeting. It made the morning breeze by. I needed a girl’s lunch.

  Kate was coming from an appointment, so she met me at a deli near the office. I watched her walk in and several men’s heads turned. She didn’t notice. I was sure she had no idea how beautiful she was or that she had this aura of goodness that followed her. I wasn’t sure how to explain it, but you could tell she was a good person by looking at her. She caught my eye and smiled while walking over.

  “I’m glad you asked me to lunch, it’s been a while.”

  She had no idea how much that meant to me under the current circumstances. “It has. Thanks for coming.”

  She picked up a menu.

  I had already decided on what I was having—a club sandwich on whole wheat. “How are your parents?”

  She looked up from her menu and sighed. “My dad is driving my mom crazy. He still thinks he can eat and do whatever he wants after his heart attack. He decided over the weekend he was going to knock out the wall between the kitchen and the family room like my mom has been begging him to do for the last twenty years. I had to go over and calm her down and talk some sense into him. If I could bill them for all my hours of counseling as of late, I would be able to retire.” She gave me a small grin.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “They’ll be fine. I may need a vacation when it’s all said and done.”

  “I’m glad your dad is recovering.” I knew it had been touch and go, and Kate had been beside herself about it. It was the only time I had seen her defenses down.

  “Me too. So, how are you?”

  I held that thought while our server took our order, but as soon as she left, I focused back on Kate. “I’m good.”

  “Really?”

  “Am I that obvious?”

  “You seem . . . troubled.”

  “Maybe confused.”

  “What about?”

  “You see, I have this friend.”

  She grinned. “Uh-huh.”

  “And she’s great. She’s smart, well at least mostly, except maybe when it comes to men.”

  Kate’s nod had a great deal of empathy in it.

  “You see, she may be falling for a man who is definitely not the kind of man a woman like her should even think about being involved with, and to top it off, she works with him.” I cringed and squinted my eyes.

  Her eyes illuminated with understanding. “I see.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I wondered if there was something going on between your friend and, shall we say, Mr. G?”

  “There isn’t because there can’t be. That would be ridiculous, I would be . . . I mean she would be foolish to think there could be.”

  “It’s smart of her to recognize that.”

  “So why does she feel this way?”

  “I have just the thing for you.” She grabbed her bag and rummaged through it. She pulled out a small book that looked like it had been read dozens of times and handed it to me.

  “The Science Behind Why Good Girls Love Bad Boys.” I met her eyes.

  “Read it; it’s life changing.”

  “Do you really think that Mr. G. is a narcissist?”

  She thought for a moment. “No. He does have tendencies, especially how he carefully controls his emotions. But just because someone is conceited doesn’t mean they are a narcissist.”

  “Do you believe people can change?”

  “Professionally speaking, yes. My job would be pointless if I didn’t believe that, but be careful with that line of thinking. You can’t change anyone. Change comes from within.”

  I knew that. I really did.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I started reading the book Kate gave me. It was insightful, but I didn’t know if everything pertained to my situation. For instance, I wasn’t always ovulating, which apparently makes bad boys temporarily more attractive. I was attracted to Mr. G twenty-four-seven. And I wasn’t really sure I had a need to be with someone reckless and exciting. I wasn’t sure Zander was even reckless. He was actually very precise and almost cautious in how he approached life. Take his car and office for instance—they were both spotless, everything was in order. But there were some studies done for the book that suggested that the bad boy traits were such a turn on because of evolution. We wanted our offspring to have evolutionary advantages, and these studies were saying men with these traits were more successful and made more money.

  I guess I could blame it on evolution. I was going with that.

  I hadn’t gotten to the part on how to overcome these feelings I was having. And it didn’t help when I got texts like this . . .

  You’re skipping church on Sunday because I scored seats for the Falcons and Broncos game.

  I thought about declining for at least five minutes, but I had never been to a live game, and well, I would be there with Zander. You know, the guy who helped me get an A on my test and the one who had me bring him my textbook. He inserted specialized notes in each chapter to clarify where needed. He wanted real kisses for the effort, which wasn’t happening. But I did want to kiss him for it.

  So that’s how I found myself at the Georgia Dome Sunday afternoon sitting next to Zander in seats on the fifty-yard line. I was wearing a Broncos jersey and he wore a Falcons t-shirt. I got a lot of sinister stares, but my guys were playing and I was proud to wear orange and blue.

  “You might want to put on your jacket, darlin’.” Zander also noticed the dirty looks.

  “No way. Go Broncos!” That cheer didn’t earn me any brownie points with the Falcons fans I was surrounded by.

  Zander put his arm around me. “I think you’re going to need some protection.”

  “I can hold my own.”

  “I know that about you.”

  I returned his gaze. “You know, sometimes I can’t figure you out.”

  “Are you trying to?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Any conclusions?”

  “Only that there’s more to you than you let on.”

  He leaned in. “The same could be said for you.”

  The temptation to close the gap swelled within me, but I fought against evolution. “I don’t know about that.”

  “Take my word for it.” He sat back, removed his arm, and went back to himself. “I shouldn’t act like I know you.”

  “Fine by me. I’ll be over here enjoying myself watching my Broncos kick the trash out of your so-called team.”

  The guy sitting next to me—who reeked of stale beer—thought that was his invitation. He put his arm around me, stunning me. “Don’t worry, honey, I don’t care which team you�
�re rooting for. I’d be happy to—”

  He didn’t get to finish his thought. Zander forcibly removed his arm. “Keep your hands and your eyes to yourself.”

  “Sorry, buddy, just having a little fun.”

  Zander ignored him and stood up. “Switch places with me.”

  Without a word, I did as he asked. I had never seen fury in his eyes before.

  Zander took my seat and gave the guy next to him one more hard stare before turning back to me. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Are you?”

  “I am now.” He relaxed in my old seat.

  I leaned into him. “What kind of people come on to you when you are potentially with someone else?” I gave him my best smile. “He and Yolanda would be perfect for each other.”

  He didn’t acknowledge me other than to smirk.

  I stood and shouted as my Broncos rushed onto the field. “Let’s go, Orange Crush!”

  No one, except maybe Zander, appreciated my enthusiasm. I was a one-woman cheering machine for my team. And I was a wreck the first half. My team wasn’t playing all that well. There were fumbles and interceptions. I was yelling at the refs for bad calls—all to the dirty looks of my fellow spectators. By halftime I was exhausted and threw myself down in my chair. I sighed. The score was fourteen to three. My team was losing.

  Zander smiled smugly at me. “I told you so.”

  “Hey, there is still the second half.”

  He reached up and tucked some hair behind my ear. I liked it when he did that. “Do you want some hot chocolate?”

  “Yes, with whipped cream.” Though the dome was climate controlled and I wore a long-sleeved shirt under my jersey, it was a tad nippy.

  “I’ll be right back.” He used his eyes to tell the man next to him to not even think about it. You would almost think he was jealous.

  I pulled out my phone while I waited for Zander to return. I had several text messages from my brothers.

  You’re such a liar.

  Who is the guy you’re with at the game?

  You were just on the screen.

  How did you score tickets?

  Oh crap. What were the odds? Maybe not that bad, considering I was the only person anywhere near me who was crazy enough to wear a Broncos jersey to the game. Nothing to see here. We work together and he came into the tickets and invited me because he knows I like the Broncos. That was true, except I had a hunch he paid a lot for the tickets. I’d offered to pay for mine, but he’d refused.