An Unlikely Match (The Match Series - Book #1) (13 page)

Unless it was all
in her imagination. Something cold settled in her stomach. Was she feeling something he wasn’t? Was her rosy glow of arousal blinding her to his disinterest?

She swallowed.
“Fine. We’re doing fine.”

He gave a firmer nod. “
It’s kind of like riding a bike.”

She squelched her disappointment. “I guess.”

“Is there anything else I need to learn before we go?”

How to tell when a woman is throwing herself at you?

“No,” she managed. “I think we’re good.”

Morgan spent the rest of the week avoiding Amelia. It wasn’t difficult to do, since she worked every evening. But what proved impossible, though he summoned his strength, was to stop remembering how she had felt in his arms, soft, warm, sweetly fragrant. The urge to kiss her had been raw and strong.

As they traveled to Sacramento on Saturday, t
he urge intensified. Dressed in faded jeans, strappy sandals and a purple and blue mottled top, Amelia had chatted breezily along the way, sharing anecdotes from her job and her opinions on California. Morgan was reminded of how much he loved her voice. He also loved her laugh, and the occasional hint of vanilla scent from her shampoo. In the airport, men had gazed enviously and curiously. Morgan didn’t blame them. It was hard to figure why a woman like Amelia was hanging out with a guy like him.

They g
ot settled in their hotel rooms with just enough time to dress for the reunion dinner. He showered and shaved, put in his contact lenses, and dressed in the gray suit. On the way down in the elevator, a pair of fortysomething women checked him out. He gave Amelia points for the suit. It seemed to be working on some level.

When he exited the elevator, Amelia was already there. And she’d already attracted attention. A hotel manager was chatting with her, clearly willing to offer
any and all possible hospitality to such a stunning young woman. And she was stunning.

Her hair was twisted up in a
series of braids, partly up, partly down, curling softly around her face. Her makeup was subtle, but it brought a shine to her face and emphasized her dark lashes, highlighting the emerald-green sparkle to her eyes. The dress was spectacular, her shapely legs stretching down to impossibly high, delicately jeweled sandals that screamed sex.

For a second, he was afraid to approach her.
But then she caught sight of him. Her mouth curved up in a dazzling smile. The expression caused the hotel manager to look his way. Morgan couldn’t stop the smug nod he sent the manager’s way. Yeah, she was his date tonight. Suck on that, every other man in the city.

“Am I late?” he asked, putting an apology in his voice as he walked to her.

“I’m early,” she responded, placing her small hand on his shoulder and stretching up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

The envy in the manager’s expression went up a notch.
He offered his hand. “Good evening, sir. Welcome to the River Blue. I understand you’re attending the Pine Valley Collegiate event.”

“We are.” Morgan slipped his arm around Amelia’s slim waist. He knew it was supposed to be women who had
fairy-tale nights at a ball, but this felt like stepping into a superhero story.

The manager stepped back. “Enjoy your evening
, sir.”

“Thank you,” Morgan responded.

“Thanks,” Amelia called as the man moved away.

“You look fantastic,” Morgan told her, easing back a few inches to take in the full picture. “How did you do this so fast?”

“Me?” She laughed. “Look at you. There’s not an ounce of geek left anywhere.”

He couldn’t help but smile at that.
“I think you’re overly optimistic.”

She slipped her hand into his. “Let’s go find out.”

He pointed to a wide, windowed hallway. “The ballroom is down there.”

“Do you have the tickets?” she asked.

He patted his breast pocket. “I have the tickets. Are you going to be warm enough?”

“It’
s June.”

His nerves were starting to jump just a little. “Are you ready to do this?”

She squeezed his bicep with her free hand. “Don’t you worry, Morgan. We can take ’em.”

He started to walk
, drawing a deep breath. “Okay, we’re goin’ in.”

She giggled beside him. “This is going to be fun.”

“This is going to be excruciating.”

He might have a good job, an expensive suit, and the world’s hottest babe on his arm, but he was still Morgan
Holbrook, geek extraordinaire.

Too quickly, they made it to the sign-in table. He recognized Mandy Pascal and Jody
Deeks sitting on the other side, guest lists in front of them, name tags at the ready. They’d both been on the cheerleading squad. Mandy’s parents had money, and Jody was the longtime girlfriend of Rudy Quentin, Pine Valley Collegiate’s own Captain America.

His steps reflexively slowed, but Amelia gave him a shove.

He stepped up to the long table, and Jody looked up. There was no recognition in her eyes. She glanced to Amelia and smiled, obviously recognizing a kindred spirit. “Are you a grad?”

Amelia turned to Morgan. “I’m dating a grad.” She waited.

“Morgan Holbrook,” he put in.

Jody’s mouth pursed in puzzlement.
She glanced to her list. “Morgan...” She glanced back up. “Really?”

“Really,” he
answered in a monotone.

“I’m his date,” Amelia piped in. “Amelia
Camden. I don’t know if I’m on the list, or if you’ll have to handwrite a name tag for me.”

“You’re on the list,” said Jody, gaping at Morgan for a moment longer.

He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Then she seemed to recover, looking to th
e array of name tags beside her, extracting two of them to hand over to Morgan. “You each get two orange drink tickets. The speeches start in about fifteen minutes, and dinner is at seven. Seating isn’t assigned, so pick a table anywhere.”

“Thank you,” said Morgan.

“No problem,” she responded, still staring at him in obvious confusion.

Amelia curled her arm around his as they walked away. “Well,
that
went well.”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean you shocked the hell out of her.”

“
She couldn’t believe it was me.”

“I believe that was the point of our exercise,” Amelia noted.

“It’s still a bit demoralizing.”

“Oh, no
, you don’t,” she singsonged. “You are Morgan Holbrook, PhD, Caltech researcher, tall, handsome, buff, hottest guy in the building.”

“Buff?” he couldn’t help but laugh. He wasn’t even going near her
hottest guy in the building
claim. What a crock.

She put her hand on his stomach, and he sucked in a breath of shock, every nerve ending jumping to instant attention.

“Rock hard,” she declared.

He might have responded, but he’d been robbed of the power of speech.

They affixed their name tags and entered the big, dimly lit ballroom. Conversation rose up in the faint purple glow. There was a dance floor in the middle, tables set for eight with fine china and crystal. The chairs were draped in rose, the tables bright white. Each floral centerpiece held a flickering candle inside a hurricane lamp. Gauzy streamers draped the ceiling and pillars, while massive, balloon-bedecked wall signs welcomed the grads back to Sacramento.

“I don’t know
who will sit with us,” Morgan observed, struggling not to feel intimidated by the crowd.

He spotted a
few familiar faces. But nobody smiled. Nobody greeted him. It was like being transported back in time. He was overcome with an urge to walk back out the door. There had to be a sports bar nearby where they could catch a baseball game.

Amelia squeezed his hand. “I’ve done this before.”

Before he could protest, she was towing him along, marching to the middle of the room, zeroing in on a table with six occupants and two empty chairs. Where, to his horror, she smiled brightly at Chad Rawlins and Rudy Quentin. “Do you mind if we join you?”

Both of the men
were so dazzled by Amelia, they’d said yes to her before they realized she was with Morgan. When it dawned on them, their expressions faltered, but there was no going back. She plunked herself down, took a drink from the water glass, and began introducing them to the table.

Morgan quickly realized he was drawing more attention standing than if he sat in the last chair.

“Nina Rawlins,” said the woman sitting next to Chad. “Chad and I have been married for nearly a year.”

“Congratulations,” said Amelia. She touched Morgan’s arm. “Morgan and I have been together since I moved to Pasadena. He’s an astrophysics researcher at
Caltech. I’m originally from Arizona.”

Morgan couldn’t help but notice how smoothly and naturally she’d bragged for him.

“Go Wildcats,” said Nina with a bright grin.

“U of Arizona?”
Amelia asked her in delighted surprise.

“
A few years ago now. Nursing.”

“I graduated in May.
Fine arts.”

While the two women grinned at each other, Morgan forced
himself to step up. “Nice to see you again, Chad.”

“Hello, Morgan.” Chad’s greet
ing was polite, if cool.

Morgan looked to Rudy, who immediately looked away, whispering something to his girlfriend who glanced to Morgan and giggled.

“You weren’t by any chance on the cheerleading squad?” Amelia asked Nina.

“Basketball,” Nina answered.

“Football,” said Amelia. “I had a chance to try out for Seattle.”

“No way.”

“I decided I’d rather have the California sun.” She touched Morgan’s arm again. “Thank goodness. If I’d gone to Seattle, Morgan and I never would have met.”

“You mentioned
Caltech?” asked Nina, her gaze going to Morgan.

Amelia nudged him under the table.

“Yes,” he quickly put in. “I’m working at Caltech.”

He could feel Chad’s gaze on him and couldn’t help but wonder if he objected to Morgan
talking to his wife.

“We’ve been in Pasadena for four months. I’m at the hospital, and Chad is
interning at Hemmings Tech.”

“Engineering?”
Morgan found himself asking.

“
Mostly robotics,” said Chad.

Rudy tapped Chad on the shoulder, tipping his chair back to say something behind Nina.

Mercifully, the announcer stepped up, and speeches began. Although Morgan struggled through conversation at dinner, Amelia was quite obviously in her element. He began to wonder if the pecking order of high school wasn’t random. Maybe it was simply a first taste of life to come. He’d be willing to bet you could drop Amelia into any situation and she’d make friends. While you could plunk Morgan into any situation, and he’d feel awkward and uncomfortable. Unless it was a physics lab. He was fine in a physics lab.

Once again, he fought an urge to simply walk out of the event.

o o o o

As Amelia made her way back from the ladies room, she did a double take of their table. Morgan was gone. She knew he wasn’t having the best of times
. Rudy was obviously snubbing him. But the man was an obnoxious boor, pretending he was a mover and shaker in concert promotion. He dropped names like Alabaster Fang and Sweet Isolation, claiming to have been backstage at their latest LA concerts and to have their managers on speed dial. If she’d had to bet, she’d have put money on him being the guy who brought coffee.

Chad
, on the other hand, seemed somewhat interested in Morgan’s career. Not that Rudy gave him a moment to ask anything, monopolizing all of Chad’s attention. Nina seemed great, and Amelia found it interesting that the couple lived in Pasadena.

As Amelia glanced around to locate Morgan, Rudy appeared beside her.

“Acting,” he drawled. “I may know some people who can help you out with that.”

“Really?”
Amelia pasted a smiled on her face. “Do tell?”

“
I’ve got a buddy down at International Studios. One phone call, I can have your picture in front of the president.”

“Does the president do casting?” she challenged.

The question seemed to throw him. “He makes all the final decisions.”

The president might make the final decision on the disposition of a
thirty-million-dollar budget, but he wouldn’t go near the casting of minor rolls. Unless it was his daughter or niece. Or maybe his one-night stand. If he’d made the promise of a role to get her into bed.

“Dance?”
came Morgan’s voice, as he appeared beside her and slipped his hand into hers.

Amelia
turned, her smile genuine this time. “Love to, sweetheart.”

Morgan shot a glare at Rudy and turned her away.

“What was that all about?” he asked as they wound their way toward the dance floor.

It was a DJ rather than a band, but the music was lively and the dance crowd enthusiastic.

“He says he knows people who know people in show business.”

“I’m sure he does,” Morgan muttered.

“No, he doesn’t,” Amelia countered. “He’s a loser and a boor. He offered to put my picture in front of the president of International Studios.”