Along Came Mr. Right

by Gerri Russell

  Paige bit down on her lower lip. “I’m not really sure why I stole the mascara. I wanted it. Even though I had money in my pocket, I stole it instead.”

  Paige’s eyes were puffy and red. Her cheeks were streaked with dried tears.

  “There is a deeper reason, Paige, and you know what it is.”

  Angry blue eyes snapped to Olivia’s. “Fine! I failed my geometry test. I’m stupid. I’m never going to get it.”

  Olivia remained calm, even though her insides were twisting into a tight knot. “You’re one of the smartest young ladies I’ve ever known, Paige. Smart enough to know there’s an even deeper reason behind what you did today.”

  “No, there’s not. I’m just mad. I hate not being a better student. I hate the Millers for trying so hard to care about me. I hate that I’m alone. There’s nothing good inside me. Eventually I’ll end up just like my dad, hurting the people I’m supposed to love.”

  Olivia touched Paige’s cheek in a gentle, intimate gesture meant to comfort, but she realized it wasn’t enough. Instead, Olivia pulled the teenager into a desperate hug.

  They sat that way for a long time, holding each other until finally Olivia pulled back. Gazing down at Paige, Olivia smiled. “That’s the reason I was talking about. I know that pain. It feels like it consumes you, but there is a way to get rid of it.”

  “How?” The question was more a strangled sound than a word.

  “You free yourself and your fears with trust.”

  Paige flinched. “I don’t know.”

  “This will be hard to hear, but bear with me for a moment.”

  The teenager settled back against the sofa, absentmindedly pushing a pillow out of the way.

  “You couldn’t control what happened to you before now. You never asked to be born to parents who hurt you. You never asked to be tossed around from house to house like you were a piece of scratched-up furniture no one wanted.”

  Paige swallowed roughly and nodded.

  “What you did today, you did all on your own, through your own choices. Those actions led to a path where you must now choose how to proceed. Everything in this life happens to us for a reason—the setbacks, disappointments, even the terrible things. There is a higher purpose to our lives that we may never understand.”

  Paige’s mulish look returned, but she remained silent.

  Olivia drew in a calm breath as she continued. “The trouble you created today has set you on a path where you can either continue into self-destruction, or allow the event to point you in a new direction—to use what you learned today to prepare the way for change. And, above all, you have to trust what happens will be what you need.”

  The belligerence in Paige’s face slowly faded.

  “Olivia, I don’t even trust myself. How is this going to work at all?”

  “You can start by trusting me.” Olivia reached up and lifted the girl’s chin.

  “I do trust you.”

  “Then tell me what happened with the tests today.”

  Paige told her about her test anxiety and about how when she finally cleared her brain of the fog, there hadn’t been enough time to finish the test.

  “I’m certain if we ask Mr. Right, he’ll give you more time to finish,” Olivia offered. “I’ve heard he’s a pretty fair guy.”

  “But that’s cheating.”

  “No it’s not. As Mr. Right told you from the start, everyone has a different learning style.” She shrugged. “So what if you need accommodation in math by taking more time for each test? If that’s what you need to succeed, no one will think anything of it, not the other students or the other teachers.”

  “Really?” Paige asked, her voice tinged with hope.

  Olivia nodded. For a second they just sat there, looking at each other. The mix of relief and fear in Paige’s eyes almost brought tears to Olivia’s own. Holding them back, she reached out and brushed the hair away from Paige’s hidden eye. They still had a long way to go, many more discussions to have, before Olivia could say everything she wanted to the teen. Today was at least a start in the right direction.

  Paige released a ragged sigh. “I really have to try now, don’t I?”

  Olivia felt a surge of pride. “Yes, Paige. That’s all you really control, how much you try.”

  “I might fail.”

  Olivia shrugged. “You might, but there’s just as good a chance you’ll succeed. And no matter what, I’ll be here for you. We all will.”

  Paige smiled. “I want to try.”

  “That’s all any of us can do,” Olivia replied as her thoughts moved beyond Paige to Max. Should she take a bit of her own advice and trust that Max would be honest with her?

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Right at six o’clock, Max knocked on her door. Of course, the doorman had rung Olivia in advance, which gave her time to run her fingers through her hair and apply a little lip gloss. She tried to act casual as she opened the door. “Hi, Max.”

  “Hiya,” he replied. “As promised, I brought dinner.”

  His smile hit her like a blow to the solar plexus, as it always did. He’d changed into a long-sleeved, black T-shirt that hugged his broad shoulders, and he’d pulled the sleeves up to reveal his forearms. The effect on her pulse was instantaneous.

  “May I come in?”

  “Of course.” She waved him inside. As he strode past, she noticed he carried two large paper bags and his computer bag. “There are only two of us. It looks like you brought enough to feed a family of twelve.”

  He laughed. “I knew you liked pie. Beyond that, I realized you and I know very little about each other. So I brought a variety.”

  Olivia closed the door and followed him into the kitchen. Her place was easy to navigate. Aside from a bathroom and bedroom, it was really just one large room for the kitchen and dining table, the living room, and a nook off to the right for her computer. All of it designed to capitalize on the view. He stopped at the table and set his bags down, reached in, and pulled out three pies from one bag and two more pies and a salad from the second.

  “We have chicken potpie, broccoli quiche, sweet potato pie, lemon chiffon, and chocolate cream.” He gave her a hesitant look. “And a salad.”

  She laughed at his unexpected dinner menu. It felt good to laugh after a day so fraught with tension.

  “Is Paige doing okay?” he asked.

  “When I left her at the Millers’, she’d fallen asleep on the couch.”

  “After the day she’s had, that kind of makes sense. Did she ever tell you why she stole that mascara?” Max asked, leaning casually against her counter. He made her kitchen look good.

  “She was certain she failed her math test.”

  He frowned. “I looked at her test. The three problems she did were perfect, but she never finished.”

  “She has test anxiety,” Olivia said. “Paige panicked when you handed out the tests and only settled down in time to answer the three questions she did.”

  “I would have given her more time had she asked.” Disbelief echoed in his tone.

  “She knows that now. I’ll work with the school to see she gets time accommodations for testing in her classes.”

  Compassion filled Max’s eyes. “I hope this is an eye-opener for her. She got a fresh start today.”

  Olivia’s lips tipped up into a half smile. “I told her the same thing. Tomorrow she starts a different kind of group counseling. Let’s see where all this takes her. She may need an individual education program.”

  “I could start the process for you—a number of children in her grade have them. Now, how can I help with dinner?” Max asked.

  Olivia retrieved plates from a cabinet and set them beside the pies. She motioned him toward the silverware. When he was done collecting knives and forks, she handed him two glasses. He filled them with water and set them on the table. “What’s your favorite pie?” Olivia asked.

  “Potpie.” Max said, using a knife to cut a big slice. “And yours?”r />
  As if on cue, Olivia’s stomach grumbled. “The quiche looks great,” she replied with a sheepish grin. “It’s been a long day, and with all the chaos I forgot about lunch.” She helped herself to a thin slice and, with tongs, added some salad to her plate.

  Max did the same before carrying their plates to the tall wooden table. She sat in one of the bar-stool-like chairs. He joined her. “Now, about Paige . . . what else can I do?”

  Olivia picked up her fork and helped herself to a bite. When she’d finished the bite she replied, “For starters, offer to let her retake the test. Any chance you can contact her English teacher and see how she did on the Shakespeare test?”

  “Consider it done.” He took a bite of his pie and chewed it thoughtfully. They ate in silence for a few minutes before he set his fork down. “You okay if we continue where we left off earlier?”

  Olivia set her fork down, too, no longer hungry for anything but information about Max’s relationship with Annalise. “I’m listening.”

  This time the smile that reached his eyes was sad. “Annalise and I go way back. Our families moved in the same circles. It seemed only natural that we would become high school sweethearts. She was the cheerleader, and I was the math geek, but somehow it seemed to work. I’m not sure either one of us had feelings stronger than friendship, even back then.”

  Max pushed his plate away. “Annalise always seemed to need my help—with her homework, covering for her when she wanted to do things she knew she shouldn’t, and telling her father she was with me or my family. I covered for her once when she’d had an accident to make it look like I was driving.”

  “You accepted the blame for her mistakes?”

  He shrugged. “Still do.”

  She arched a brow at him. “Does this have something to do with her pregnancy?”

  “You know about that?” he asked, his words clipped.

  “Someone named Ms. Pickles keeps sending things about you and Annalise to my Facebook feed. Her pregnancy was there yesterday.” Olivia hesitated. “Is the baby . . . ?”

  “Mine? No, but she asked me to say it was so her father wouldn’t cut her out of the family fortune.”

  Olivia took a deep breath and asked an even harder question. “Do you love her?”

  Max reached out and curled his fingers around hers. “Isn’t it obvious who has my attention these days? It’s not Annalise.”

  Olivia stared at their entwined fingers. She wanted so desperately to believe Max was telling her the truth and that he really did have feelings for her, not Annalise. “If you want out of this arrangement, then why are you still engaged to her?”

  “This is why.” He released her fingers to bend down and retrieve his computer bag. Drawing out his laptop, he set it on the table before turning the machine on. “Matchmaker 2.0 needed funding.”

  “Oh. How much are we talking about?”

  “A million dollars. I had no other way of getting my hands on those kinds of funds. The banks didn’t want to talk to me. And I refused to go to my father for money.”

  The confession wrapped around them, connected them. “I knew it was a bad business practice to borrow money from friends, but I believed in the math so strongly that I took that gamble.”

  “That’s a lot of money.”

  “App development is expensive, and taking it to market even more so,” Max explained. “I couldn’t do it alone. I needed the help of a design firm to help me make my product look great. When Annalise offered to help in exchange for me posing as her fiancé, I agreed.”

  “It looks like you’re more than ‘posing’ as her fiancé. Annalise has hired my friend Ellie to coordinate the wedding.”

  “We needed to make our arrangement look real.”

  “What would her father do if he finds out this has all been a lie?”

  “Annalise says he’ll become violent toward the baby’s father. I have my doubts about that. But I do believe he’ll force her to fend for herself and the child, making her daily life difficult.”

  Olivia’s jaw went slack. “But the child is his grandchild, regardless of who the father is.”

  Max shrugged. “The man holds a grudge.”

  An awkward silence fell between them until Olivia asked, “What happens next? Will you break things off with her? Wait until your app is launched and sold, or until the baby’s born?”

  His eyes darkened and he looked away. “I’m trying to end things now. But Annalise has other plans.”

  Olivia went cold. Why was she doing this again? Max had the power to hurt her as much as Damien ever had. Damien betrayed her trust with his lies. Max could do the same thing. She’d given him that power because, regardless of the situation with Annalise, she could think of nothing she’d like more than to feel his arms holding her, to feel the warmth of his lips on hers.

  He turned back to her. A painful look reflected in his eyes. “I know I have no right to ask anything of you—”

  “Yes,” she replied before he could finish his sentence. He wanted her to wait for him to be free. She wasn’t sure how long she would wait for them to have a chance together . . . probably forever.

  There was no denying the satisfaction that came over his face. “Since I’m on a roll, can I ask you something else?” At her nod he scooted his laptop her way. “Will you take the Matchmaker test again? I found the corruption and recoded everything.”

  “Wow,” she replied with a smile. “You really are pushing your luck.” She pulled the laptop to her and started the test.

  While she answered the questions, Max slid off his chair and gathered their plates, moving to the sink to wash them off. When she paused, Max turned to her. “Are you done already?”

  She shook her head. “Taking the test just got me thinking. Have you ever considered using this application for other purposes?”

  “Such as?”

  She pursed her lips. “Something like this would be very helpful in trying to match kids with foster families. But so much of children’s information is protected that it might be too difficult.” He gave her a smile that brought out the hint of a dimple in his left cheek. How had she never noticed that before?

  “Is that a challenge?”

  She laughed. “Think of it any way you’d like. I know an app like that would make my job easier.”

  His smile faded. “I’m hoping the damn thing will keep working after Annalise’s sabotage.”

  “Why would she do something like that? She obviously knows how much this app means to you if you were willing to stake your future on its success.”

  “Only Annalise would know the answer to that question.”

  She saw the agony in Max’s eyes. She slid off her chair and stepped into his arms. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she drew him to her. Raw hunger reflected in the stormy depths of his eyes. The moment slowed to the space between a breath and a heartbeat. She tipped her face up to his. She knew she shouldn’t, but she suddenly couldn’t seem to stop herself.

  A hint of oranges invaded her senses as she brought her hand up and laid it against the flat of his chest. His mouth came down until a thin sliver of air separated them. It was more than she could take. She lifted up on her toes a fraction more and touched her lips to his.

  Max’s hands splayed against her back and hauled her tighter against his chest. Where thought once existed, longing took over. Passion curled through her as his lips firmed and he took command and changed the kiss. He skillfully parted her lips and invaded her mouth, laying claim, sending her senses soaring. Heat invaded her limbs, leaving tingling sensations in its wake as her body warmed. She could feel it in him, that same helpless reaction as he stole her breath and gave it back.

  Olivia fought the urge to reach up, to tunnel her fingers through his hair, to hold him against her until the need she’d stripped bare could be satisfied. She had to hold back that one small piece of herself in order to survive. Until he was truly free, she could never give herself to him in that way again. />
  He must have sensed her hesitation. He broke the kiss and pulled back, staring into her face. “I’m not being fair to you, am I?”

  “No,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “But I understand.”

  “That’s more than I deserve.”

  She gave him a hopeful smile. “How about I get back to that test of yours?”

  With a final kiss on her forehead, he released her. While she answered the remaining questions, Max kept his hands at her waist, as though unwilling or unable to let her go. A fresh wave of sparks raced through her body at the intimacy of the touch until she came to the last question. “I’m done.”

  Her heart in her throat, Olivia turned the computer screen back to him and waited for the results. She and Max would be a match this time. They had to be.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Max drove back to his house after leaving Olivia, damning his Matchmaker app the whole way. For the second time, his own invention had failed him. Instead of a 10 percent match, now he and Olivia were a 50 percent match. It wasn’t enough. With results like that, their relationship stood as much chance for failure as it did success.

  And as if that news wasn’t bad enough, there were seven other profiles that matched Olivia with an 85 percent or higher score. Seven other men were more suited to her than he was. The thought rubbed him raw.

  How could he and Olivia be a failure when he could still see her face in his mind’s eye, still feel the rightness of her touch and warmth of her kiss, smell the clean, fresh scent of her skin?

  He’d never wanted a woman so badly in his whole life. He’d felt only the occasional stirrings for other women he’d dated. And he’d never had such feelings for Annalise.

  What was it about Olivia that he craved so much? He knew so little about her except that she had a great sense of humor, forgave easily, and loved with her whole being. Maybe that was it. Olivia wasn’t afraid to risk her heart with the kids in her program, or with him. He’d made her no promises, and yet she’d agreed to wait for him until he was free of Annalise. They needed no contract between them to validate their promise.