Page 20 of Matched By Mistake
Maggie took a sip of her chardonnay. “What do you mean?”
“Just that you might be able to help your family out. We know there is something dirty going on with Winters’ latest business deal.”
“How do we know that?” Maggie asked. “You know I just do the graphics for the De Rio Group’s promotional material.”
Cecily took a sip of her vodka tonic and nodded. “Of course. It’s just when you’re with Jericho, he might let things slip.”
“I doubt that man will let anything slip,” Maggie said.
“I saw the way he was watching you. I’m pretty sure you could coax some information out of him,” Cecily said.
Maggie didn’t really like the sound of that. She had pretty well decided to try to get Jericho to break and kiss her but trying to get information... She wasn’t even sure what kind of info Cecily expected her to uncover. “I don’t know.”
“I get it. I’m asking you to do something you’re uncomfortable with. But we think that some of their investments aren’t aboveboard and are being funneled through Winters Industries. All I’m saying is keep your ears open. If you hear something that doesn’t sound right, then just let me know.”
“Sure, I can do that,” she said, not wanting to let her family down. And she was also fairly confident that Jericho wasn’t going to let anything slip. He’d been pretty clear where his allegiance was and it wasn’t with her. He might want her in his bed but he wasn’t ever going to trust her.
She was confident of that because she knew she’d never trust him. How could she? This dinner was a perfect example of why she couldn’t. Their families. As much as she was glad they had an agreement for those dates to help out Misha, she knew it was going to be difficult.
This was part balancing family with her personal desire for Jericho. She wondered if she could do it. But honestly, after this, dating should be a whole hell of a lot easier. She hadn’t thought of Randall and his douchey dumping of her. And she wasn’t really dreading being seen with a man in public again the way she had been before she’d been matched by the k!smet app.
She finished her dinner with Cecily and went home. She found herself at the art studio she had in the back of her house. She blasted music and sat in her favorite chair with her tablet open to the drawing app. She started sketching, just trying to unwind, and wasn’t surprised when she saw the lines taking on the shape of Jericho’s strong jaw and piercing eyes. It was just a pencil sketch and she worked on getting his nose right.
His mouth wasn’t an issue.
She remembered the intimate feel of it against hers and as she sketched it became clearer. She stopped as she realized what she was doing. Closed the app and left her studio.
Her phone pinged and she glanced down, surprised to see it was the k!smet app alert.
She opened it to a private message from Jericho.
Jericho: Thoughts on the fifth date?
She felt disappointed that his comment was about their family-approved dates. She thought about a fifth date. They were going to go to dinner at Sheen in two days. So something sooner?
Maggie: I’m hosting a wine and paint night tomorrow evening. Want to join me?
Jericho: Sure. Where is it?
She texted him the address. And he thumbs-upped it.
Maggie: Disappointed to see you’ve dropped into Winters clone mode.
She hit Send before she could second-guess herself. Their planned dates would only last for two weeks. So if she was going to make him break and win the challenge he’d set for her, she needed to move on it.
Also that sketch... It didn’t take a genius to figure out she had him on her mind. She wanted more than five agreed-to dates. She wanted to actually be that woman whom she was going to pretend to be. Someone who had somehow become whole again and was ready to take on the world. Ready to stop hiding in her work and pretending that she wasn’t affected by being dumped. She wanted to be strong again and stop hiding.
Jericho: Thought that’s what you wanted.
Maggie: Really? You look smarter than that.
Jericho: A smart man knows when to back down.
Maggie: A smart woman knows when to push.
Jericho: What do you want from me?
Maggie: I don’t know but not someone who’s simply going through the motions.
