LITMIR.BIZ

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what came out of his mouth. “Are you out of your goddamn mind, Lucy? I’m a headhunter—not a matchmaker. Even if I was, getting married to secure a promotion is bullshit.”

      “Is it?” She shrugged. “People get married for much less valid reasons. I almost married for love before, and we both know how that ended. There’s nothing wrong with handling marriage like a business arrangement—plenty of cultures do exactly that.”

      “We aren’t talking about other cultures. We’re talking about you.”

      Another shrug. As if it didn’t matter to her one way or another. He loathed that feigned indifference, but he didn’t have a goddamn right to challenge her on it.

      She met his gaze directly. “This is important to me, Gideon. I don’t know about kids—I love my job, and having babies would potentially interfere with that—but I’m lonely. It wouldn’t be so bad to have someone to come home to, even if it wasn’t a love for the ages. Especially if it’s not a love for the ages.”

      “Lucy, that’s crazy.” Every word out of her mouth cut into the barrier of professionalism he fought so hard to maintain. “Where the hell would I find you a husband?”

      “The same place you find people to fill the positions normally. Interview. We’re in New York—if you can’t find a single man who’s willing to at least consider this, then no one can.”

      Gideon started to tell her exactly how impossible it was, but guilt rose and choked the words off. He thought this plan was bat-shit crazy, and the thought of Lucy in some loveless marriage irritated him like sandpaper beneath his skin, scratching until he might go mad from it.

      But it wasn’t his call to make.

      And he was partially to blame for her single status right now.

      Fuck.

      Gideon straightened. No matter what he thought of this plan, when it came right down to the wire, he owed Lucy. He knew that piece of shit Jeff had cheated on her, and Gideon had kept his mouth shut for a full month before he’d told her the truth. That kind of debt didn’t just go away. If she was coming to him now, it was because she’d exhausted all other options, and his saying no wasn’t going to deter her in the least—she’d find a different way.

      Really, he had no option. It might have been two years since he’d seen Lucy Baudin, but that didn’t change the fact that he considered her a friend, and he’d never leave a friend hanging out to dry when they needed him. Gideon might have questionable morals about most things, but loyalty wasn’t one of them.

      She needed him. He’d have found a way to help her even if he didn’t owe her.

      At least if he was in the midst of this madness, he’d have some ability to keep her as safe as possible. He could protect her now like he hadn’t been able to protect her from the hurt Jeff had caused.

      If she was crazy for coming up with the plan in the first place, he was even crazier for agreeing to it. “I’ll do it.”

      * * *

      Lucy couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of his mouth. It was too good to be true. Attempting to rope Gideon Novak into this scheme had been her Hail Mary. She was desperate and he was the only one she trusted enough to even attempt something like a search for a husband. But she hadn’t thought he’d actually agree to it.

      He said he’d help. Shock stole her ability to speak for a full five seconds. Say something. You know the drill—fake it until you make it. This is just another trial. Focus. She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry—did you just say yes?”

      “Yes.” He studied her face with dark eyes lined with thick lashes, which she secretly envied. Gideon had always been too attractive for Lucy’s state of mind. His dark hair was always styled in what she could only call “rakish,” and his strong jaw and firm mouth would have kept her up at night if he wasn’t firmly in the friend zone.

      At least, he used to be.

      She set the thought aside because going down the rabbit hole of despair that was her relationship with Jeff Larsson was out of the question. It had ended, and her friendship with Gideon had been a casualty of war.

      Until now.

      Gideon shifted, bringing her back to the present. “How exactly were you planning on going about this?”

      This, at least, she had an answer for. Lucy had spent entirely too much time reviewing the steps required to get to her goal with minimum fuss—a husband and her promotion. “I thought you could come up with a list of suitable candidates, I could have a date or two with each, and then we could narrow the list down from there.”

      “Mmm-hmm.” He tapped his fingers on his knee, dragging her attention south of his face. He wore a three-piece suit, which should have been too formal for this meeting, but Gideon managed to pull it off all the same. The pin-striped gray-on-gray gave him an old-world kind of feel, like something out of Mad Men.

      Thankfully for Lucy, he had better morals than Don Draper.

      She fought not to squirm in her seat under the weight of his attention. It was easy enough to be distanced and professional when she’d laid out her proposal—she’d practiced it the same way she practiced opening and closing statements before a trial. Getting into the nitty-gritty of the actual planning and actions was something else altogether.

      “I’m open to suggestions, of course.” There—look at me, being reasonable.

      “Of course.” He nodded as if deciding something. “We do this, we do it on my terms. I pick the men. I supervise the dates. And if I don’t like the look of any of them, I have veto rights.”

      Veto rights? That wasn’t part of the plan. She shook her head. “No. Absolutely not.”

      “You came to me, Lucy. That means you trust my judgment.” He gave her an intense look that made her skin feel too tight. “Those are the terms.”

      Terms. Damn, she’d forgotten the most important thing.

      It doesn’t have to be the most important thing. He doesn’t know it was part of the plan, so it’s not too late to back out.

      But if she backed out, the deep-rooted fear from her time with her ex would never be exorcised. She’d spend the rest of her life—and her prospective marriage—second-guessing herself and her husband. It would drive her crazy and ultimately poison everything.

      She couldn’t let it happen, no matter how humiliating she found asking for Gideon’s help with this.

      Lucy managed to drag her gaze away from his. She pulled at the hem of her skirt. “There’s one more thing.”

      “I’m listening.”

      She smoothed her suddenly sweating palms over her desk. “Are you seeing anyone?”

      “What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

      It had everything to do with things. She’d never known Gideon to hold down a relationship longer than a few weeks, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t somehow changed in the last two years. The entire second part of her plan leaned heavily on the assumption that he hadn’t changed.

      The Gideon she’d known before had been her friend, yes, but he’d also been a playboy to the very definition of the word. He hadn’t dated seriously. He’d never mistreated women, but he hadn’t kept them around for long, either. Lucy had heard the whispers in college about his expertise in the bedroom—it was legendary enough that most women ignored the fact they had an expiration date from the moment he showed an interest in them.

      To put it simply, he was perfect for her current situation.

      She just had to find the strength to speak the damn words. She forced her hands still. “I’m going to need...lessons.”

      “Lucy, look at me.”

      Helpless, she obeyed.

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