Meeting His Match

Chapter 5-1

Chapter 5

Over the next week, Natalie did everything she could to give the women lessons in flirting. They needed to learn how to attract men before they could fall in love with them. She didn’t believe in manufacturing a connection like Malcolm did. Speaking of Malcolm, she hadn’t seen him at all, so she almost sighed in relief. The girls told her he was off picking out suitable men. Typical of a man to think he would know what’s best for a woman.

Melissa, Ashley, and Jennifer should be picking out their own men. Natalie was proud of their progress. She was excited to take them out in the world to test out their new skills. Unfortunately, the producers decided Malcolm’s parties with the women had to be filmed first.

No, she wasn’t feeling like second string. Not at all. And it didn’t make her bitter. She’d expected as much, right? Malcolm was the star. So he got to choose the clients, except Ashley. He met with them first. Now he got to have his little dating party. Whatever.

Even as she had the thought, curiosity had gotten the better of her. She wanted to see who Malcolm picked for the women to date. Melissa had told her the name of the bar where the party was being held. A small cocktail, get-to-know-you gathering in a small room in a swanky bar.

Natalie debated crashing. Jillian cautioned her against it at first, but then when Natalie explained the party was at Slate, she changed her mind. Jillian had been wanting to check the place out and a bit of recon was a good enough reason. So they dressed up and headed out.

The place was packed and as Jillian shimmied toward the bar for a drink, Natalie strode toward the back room. A guy stepped in her path. “Sorry, ma’am. Private party.”

Nat tried not to grind her teeth at being called ma’am. Like she was old. “I know. I’m part of the show.”

He offered a slight shake of his head. “I was told everyone was here. No one else gets in.”

Just then the intern she’d flirted with stepped out.

“Hey, how are you?”

“Uh, fine.”

Natalie looped her arm around his. “This guy won’t let me in. He doesn’t seem to understand that I’m part of the show.”

“She is.” But intern guy didn’t look so sure of himself.

She blew a kiss to the doorman and eased past him before anyone else could stop her. Inside the private room, she waited to check out the situation. She didn’t want to burst into the middle of the party and draw attention. She just wanted a peek.

Cameras and crew were set up around a dance floor. In the middle was a high top table where Melissa sat. Natalie stayed in the dark behind the crew so she could go unnoticed. The guys standing around Melissa seemed to have her attention, so at least Malcolm listened to what Melissa wanted.

As her eyes tracked to Melissa, Natalie saw red. There was Melissa, using every tip and trick Natalie had designed for her to use in a bar. But not this bar. She was using the skills Natalie taught her to help Malcolm win. Nat took a half step forward before she caught herself. She couldn’t barge in and cause a scene.

She edged back to leave before she made a mistake, but her movement itself was the mistake because suddenly Malcolm’s eyes were locked on her. He whispered something to a woman at his side, and he made his way around the edge of the dance floor. He headed straight for her. Natalie sidestepped to try to get out the door before he caught her. Although there had been nothing in her contract that prevented her from watching what Malcolm was doing, they both knew it was a sneaky move.

Her hand landed on the door leading to her escape at the same time firm fingers wrapped around her elbow. f**k.

She turned to face Malcolm.

“Spying on the competition?” His voice was low and if she had heard it in any other situation, she’d think it was seductive.

“Yes.” His eyes widened and she realized her honesty caught him off guard, so she plowed on. “Good thing I did. Now I know who I’m dealing with.” She paused and added, “A cheat.”

He released his grip on her arm and his eyebrows lowered over his eyes. “What the hell are you talking about? How could anything I’ve done here be misconstrued as cheating?”

“All you’ve done is fill a room with eligible bachelors. At least as far as I know. You haven’t given the women anything they need.” She poked at his chest. “Melissa is over there using every technique I taught her this week. Techniques I knew would specifically work for her because I took the time to get to know her.”

Malcolm inhaled, causing his chest to push back against her finger. She should move. Definitely. It took an extra minute for her hand to get the message before she finally dropped her finger.

“I spent plenty of time with our clients. I can’t help if Melissa decided your games were a good idea to use here.”

“Games?” Her voice rose a notch before she caught it. “This isn’t about playing games. I’m teaching them to use their God-given tools so they can find a man to fall in love with and find their happily-ever-after crap. I’m not telling them who they should want.”

“Neither am I.” He stepped closer and lowered his mouth to her ear. “I’m doing my job just like you are.”

Her heart picked up and thundered in her chest. His breath was warm on her neck and he smelled wonderful.

And she didn’t like this reaction to him. At all. With a palm flat against that hard chest, she gave a shove. “You better get back to your little party. Watch what Melissa does. You might learn a thing or two.”

“About what?”

“About how women work.”

“I already know quite a bit about that. I definitely don’t need tips from you.”

“I doubt it.” Nat pressed her lips together. If she continued to talk, her mouth might get away from her. She reached behind her back and twisted the knob. With her eyes on his, she slipped back through the door.

On the other side, she took a deep breath and still smelled Malcolm. Infuriating man. She muscled her way through the crowd to the bar to find Jillian. As she squeezed past people she scoped out her options. It was automatic. Even though she hadn’t come to the bar tonight to find a partner, her eyes took in the crowd.

She forced her gaze back to the bar to find Jillian. The last thing she needed right now was a guy to mess up her anger. Jillian caught sight of her and pointed to a stool beside her. She had a drink waiting. It was one of the many reasons that made Jillian such a good friend.

“How’d it go?”

“Don’t ask.” Nat gulped her martini and held up her hand to order another.