Page 10 of Forbidden Match

She announces that she’s matched us all and that we should be ready to fall in love because she’s never been wrong about finding a person’s soulmate. The woman next to me gasps and grabs my hand. I’m just as swept up in the suspense as she is as dramatic music begins to surge from speakers hidden amongst all the flowers. The first match is announced and the couple find each other right away, waving and rushing toward each other with big smiles. Someone from the resort hands them their room key and a piece of paper, and they leave the banquet hall with their arms around each other.

I stand on my toes, looking at the other men there, seeing one of them half hiding behind a rose-festooned pillar. Who will be mine? I think I’m going crazy when I hear the hologram call out my name and another, all too familiar one.

“Molly and Levi, you’ve been matched.”

My heart seizes in my chest. It’s not a common name, but it’s not really uncommon either. This could be a coincidence, right?

My eyes skate over the men but no one waves at me or rushes forward. Instead, a man who was hidden behind the pillar steps out, not smiling or waving. One brow is arched and he shakes his head.

It’s not a coincidence. Am I dreaming?

Gotcha, his brilliant blue eyes seem to say as he moves toward me like a big cat stalking his prey.

Why does he have to look so perfect? Instead of a suit like the other contestants, he’s wearing dark jeans, a black shirt, and a rugged, oversized work coat that does nothing to diminish his broad shoulders.

I want to kill him. I want to sink into the floor, or maybe shout at Madame Amour’s hologram that she’s wrong for the very first time and she needs to try again.

Except … what I really want to do is launch myself at Levi’s strong chest and hug him until he realizes maybe, just maybe, she’s right. That we do actually belong together.

Maybe if he was here for the right reasons that might be possible, but I should have known the second he clocked me picking the ticket out of the trash that he’d do something like this. Far from the right reasons.

He’s not looking for his soulmate, he’s here to try to ruin my chances of ever getting over him.

Chapter 5

Levi

Holy crap. She really matched us. The weird hologram lady actually thinks Molly and I are soulmates.

I shake off my shock and step out from the place I’ve been lurking so Molly won’t see me until the last second. The stunned look on her face when she sees me quickly flashes with anger, then settles into disappointment, making my heart twist in my chest.

God, am I really going to ruin this for her?

Recalling the appreciative looks on the other guys’ faces when she sauntered in makes me double down on my resolve.

OfcourseI’m doing this, because there’s no way she’d be paired up with any of them. Not looking as enticing as she does in a curve-hugging dress that looks so soft I want to sink my fingers into it to feel her warmth as I pull her to me. Her hair is already breaking free of the knot she tried to tie it into, and I can see myself helping all those tresses tumble down her shoulders. But will I push it back so I can nuzzle her neck or just go straight to claiming her lush red mouth?

Christ, Levi, calm down.While I don’t intend to ruin her time here, I can’t let things get out of hand. Sam would kill me if he knew how I felt about his sister. If he knew how long I’d been having these feelings, I’d already be in my grave.

She looks like she wants to murder me when I take her arm and lead her over to the eager-looking woman who gives us the key to our room. As soon as we’re out of the banquet hall, she turns and starts laying into me.

“What the hell, Levi? Why are you here?”

I try not to look too smug. “I guess I’m your soulmate,” I say, tugging her toward the elevator. At least we’ll be in private if she starts throwing punches.

The mirrored elevator doors slide open and I follow her as she stiffly steps inside. Even vibrating with anger, her taut little ass looks much too good in that tight dress.

“Right,” she says, crossing her arms. The motion pushes up her breasts so that I have to gaze straight ahead to avoid looking at her. Doesn’t help since the inside of the elevator is mirrored as well and I have a full view of her beauty. “Try again. Why are you here?”

At least she hasn’t askedhowI’m here. I hold up the single, golden skeleton key. “Uh, this for one.” Her cheeks turn red—she knows she can’t argue because she would have been sharing a room with a complete stranger. Then I shake the welcome goodie bag and start to pull out some of the contents. “And this for another.”

Her cheeks go from pink to scarlet when I pull out a pair of fluffy, fake fur handcuffs. “We aren’t supposed to open those until later,” she says.

I laugh. “You’re not opening yours at all.”

To make a point, she stares down at me as she tears into her goodie bag. “It’s not just …thatkind of thing, it’s beautyproducts too.” She holds up a tube of lotion and I turn it around so she can read the label with me.

“Hmmm, self-heating massage oil. That’ll come in handy for my shoulder I pulled the other day on the site.”

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