Page 6 of Dating the Rebel
“If you like tall, dark and handsome.” A wistful sigh slipped out now.
Grant leaned farther over her narrow desk. “I don’t,” he said. “I actually prefer petite, blonde and beautiful.”
Her mouth dried out so much that it was as if her tongue was stuck to the roof of it, trapping her words inside so that she couldn’t come up with a snappy reply to his comment. Was he flirting with her?
Her heart pounded wildly at the thought of any of her teenage fantasies about him coming true. Was it possible?
But until he’d walked into her office, he hadn’t known what she looked like now, so he probably hadn’t come here to ask her out.
“Just what the hell are you up to, Grant?” she asked him point-blank, refusing to be drawn into his games.
He played for stakes much higher than she was willing to pay anymore. She wasn’t the rebellious teenager she’d once been. She was a woman trying to turn around a business. She had her sisters relying on her.
Maybe not all that much had changed, because she’d always had her sisters relying on her. They hadn’t been able to rely on their mother, who’d always been chasing her next great romance.
Miranda had learned young that there was no such thing as a great romance; any romance was too risky. And nobody was riskier than a flirty Grant Snyder.
Just what the hell was he up to? Grant wasn’t sure himself. But he knew that he wanted to see more of her, and not just as a member of her damn dating service. He’d really had no intention of joining.
But just as he committed to a bluff, he committed to the lie, persisting, “I want to join Liaisons International.”
She snorted again, which somehow turned him on that she looked all elegant and ladylike but could still snort like that. She was so damn sexy...and sassy.
Her silvery-blue eyes glittered with all that sass as she patronizingly remarked, “I had no idea you had so much trouble getting a date.”
“I don’t,” he said.
“Then you have no reason to join.”
He had every reason to join.Shewas every reason.
“I saw what you did for Blair and Teo,” he said. “Don’t you think you’re good enough to get those results twice?”
“I’m saying you’re not good enough,” she replied, as blunt as she’d ever been.
It used to annoy the crap out of him when she’d talked to him like that; now he found it intriguing for some damn reason, just as he found every single thing about her intriguing.
He pressed a hand to his chest, which still tingled from where her palm had touched him. “Oh, you’ve wounded me. I had no idea you thought so little of me.”
“I know you, Grant.”
“You know I ditched a prom date to gamble with the chaperones,” he said. “That was a long time ago. I would never treat a woman that way again.”
“One of the most important promises I make to the members is that everyone will be open and honest with each other,” she said.
“I won’t be giving a false name,” he said. Like his sister had given Teo Rinaldi. He knew, though, that Blair had had no intention of falling for anyone. It was Miranda pushing her to go out with the billionaire that had gotten her into the awkward situation, which had been just the latest of all the awkward situations she’d gotten her into over the years. And, like in the past, Grant had had to help her out of it.
Miranda sighed.
“Give me a chance,” he said. “Give me a trial run, see if I meet your dating standards.” His heart began to pound as he considered what he was about to do. This might prove one of the greatest gambles he’d ever taken.
“What kind of trial run?”
“Let me take you out and show you that I am the perfect date,” he said.
She laughed and shook her head.
“And here I thought nothing scared Miranda Fox...” He clicked his tongue against his teeth and sighed. “I’m so disappointed.” He turned for the door.
