Putting It to the Test

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Well, he might have that.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped back and clasped her hands into fists. “Well, I won’t keep you any longer. I just wanted to apologize for yesterday and…”

“No problem.”

She nodded. “Good. Well, I’ll see you around.”

Then she turned and walked—make that scurried—away. He watched her backside as she rushed quickly down the aisle before disappearing into the sea of cubicles, then he shook his head and settled back in his seat.

In his two years at Hall Technologies that was officially the strangest conversation he’d ever had, but at least it did one thing—it had momentarily taken his mind off the idea of her naked in his bed.

Now his thoughts were consumed with what exactly Carly Abrams was up to.

4

“THANKS FOR LETTING me use your computer.” Carly tossed the comment over her shoulder to Bev, who was stretched out on the recliner in her den. “I really didn’t want to do this at Mom’s place with Jodi tagging at my heels.”

When Carly bought her house and moved out of her mother’s apartment, she didn’t have the heart to take her computer with her. Jodi had grown attached to the games and her mom used it for schoolwork, and Carly knew if she took it, they’d go without, her mom barely affording the Internet service, much less the cost of a new machine. So Carly had insisted they keep it, reminding them she had a better machine at work and that she could come by and use hers whenever she needed to do something too personal for the office.

And changing her survey answers to coincide with Matt’s definitely qualified as too personal for the office. It also qualified as too personal for her mother’s apartment given that Carly knew the woman wouldn’t approve of her little scheme.

Though Carly adored her mom, Carol Abrams was too idealistic for her own good. She thought hard work was all a woman needed to get ahead, that honesty was always the best policy and that good things came to those who waited.

Right. This from the woman who also thought that a cheating, irresponsible husband who waltzed in and out of his family’s life would eventually come around once he’d sufficiently matured.

Carly’s respect for her mother’s ideals stopped about two clicks short of that one, and she’d also learned that sometimes to keep things fair a girl had to occasionally bend the rules.

“No, I don’t think you want to explain some of those questions to Jodi,” Bev said. “But I’m dying to see them myself. Did he fill out the whole survey?”

Carly unfolded the sheet of numbered answers Brian had given her and scanned the list. “He filled out everything.”

“Then hurry and get to the good stuff. I can’t wait to see what our hunky coworker has to say about sex.”

Carly frowned and turned to Bev. “Don’t forget you’re married.”

Folding her hands at her chest, Bev shrugged. “So. That doesn’t mean I’m not curious. You’ve got to admit the guy’s a hottie. Haven’t you ever wondered what he might be like between the sheets?”

Carly’s ears heated, and before she gave her secret away, she quickly turned back to the PC—a second too late.

“You have!” Bev gushed.

“I have not,” Carly denied in a tone so unbelievable even she hadn’t bought it.

“Yeah, right.” Bev pushed out of the recliner and stepped over to the plate of cookies Carly had brought as thanks for the use of the machine. Picking one up, Bev eyed both sides of the chocolate-studded cookie.

“There’s no nuts,” Carly said.

“I was supposed to start a diet today, you know.”

“It’s Wednesday. No one starts a diet on a Wednesday.”

“Mondays weren’t working for me. I thought I’d give midweek a shot.”

“Then put the cookie down and I’ll take them home.” Eyeing her friend sincerely, she added, “Really. I’m sorry. I thought your plan was to start with exercise this week, then diet next week.”

Bev took a bite of the cookie, grabbed two more, then moved back to the recliner. “It is now. Besides, I need sugar to go with this new revelation about you and Matt.”

“There’s no revelation.”

“You don’t turn red as a cherry over a guy you’re not interested in. I obviously hit a nerve.” She flicked her brows. “I’m only wondering how deep it goes.”

“Skin-deep,” Carly affirmed. “I think he’s attractive, that’s it. And what woman wouldn’t? The man’s beautiful, but he’s also a jerk, which makes him fun to look at and nothing more.”

“He’s not that bad, just a little driven. He might not mingle at the office much, but Adam says he’s a great guy once you get to know him.”

“Well,” Carly said, picking up a cookie of her own, “I can get to know him pretty well right now.”

She clicked into the Singles Inc. Web site and logged on to her profile. The sheet Brian had given her contained only letters and numbers for the answers, but Carly was able to translate them with ease by comparing her own survey results to the questions on the screen. It was a simple matrix of one through five, one being Strongly Disagree and five being Strongly Agree. True and false answers were coded using one for true and zero for false, and multiple-choice answers were recorded A through D. The Hall Technologies employees had been instructed to leave the narrative section blank, as well as the demographic data on marital history, race, income and other personal information not appropriate for this exercise. It was all straightforward. All she had to do was determine how closely she should match Matt’s answers without going overboard.

“Start with the section on sex. How kinky is lover boy?”

Carly did as Bev suggested, curious herself. Would he be wild and naughty or was he a traditional kind of lover? Was he wine and roses or sun and fun? It hadn’t occurred to her that she might not want the answer until she looked at the first question and the moisture drained from her mouth.

I tend to be conservative when it comes to sex.

He’d strongly disagreed, taking about a half dozen of her fantasies and throwing them into a big puddle of reality.

She double-checked the numbers, making sure she’d read them right, hoping she’d mixed them up. She didn’t want Matt Jacobs to be the exact kind of lover she’d been looking for. If this worked out and she landed the project, she’d have to work with this man, speak coherently around him, possibly put in late hours…just the two of them…alone….

“Well?” Bev urged. “What does it say?”

Carly gulped. “That tall, dark and hunky has a wild side.” And when she read his response to the next question, the temperature in the room crept up. “He’s apparently open to all things kinky, too.”

Bev let out an evil chuckle while Carly squirmed in her seat, the cookie in her mouth drying into pasty crumbs. She tried to tell herself this didn’t mean a thing, that maybe Matt had simply followed her lead when she’d mentioned toying with Mr. Hall, but the fire in her cheeks and the tingling between her thighs kept calling her bluff. No matter how she turned this over in her mind, the survey stated clearly the last thing she needed to know right now—that Matt Jacobs could very well be the kind of sex toy she’d been looking for.

The cookie in her mouth turned to mortar, and, no longer hungry for food, she placed the remainder back on the plate.

“Does that surprise you?” Bev asked. “What man isn’t into kinky sex?”

Pretty much every man she’d dated. At least it seemed that way. None of them had even mastered the straightforward kind of sex; what they’d do with a vibrator and a jar of chocolate body paint was anybody’s guess. Needless to say, she’d never suggested it.

As if to torture herself, she eyed the next question. I don’t mind giving control to a trusted partner. Being dominated can be just as fun as holding the reins.

He’d strongly agreed, lending even more weight to her little daydream involving feathers, a leather bustier and a pair of fuzzy handcuffs.

Her pulse kicked up a notch. Images sped through her mind, most notably one of Matt tied up spread-eagle on her bed while she worked his stiff cock with her tongue, then finished him off with a reverse cowboy—

She choked on a chocolate chip and Bev laughed.

“This isn’t funny,” Carly attempted, her brain going numb from lack of oxygen. A trickle of sweat beaded between her breasts. Why was it so hot in here?

“I think it’s hysterical. You should see yourself—you’re red as a beet. And don’t rip a hole in my chair. We just bought that a few months ago.”

Carly looked down to see her hands clasped tightly to the corners of the vinyl seat cushion. No wonder her fingers ached. Releasing them, she rubbed her sweaty palms on her jeans and attempted to brush it all off. These were just answers to a few silly questions.

In fact, this could simply be Matt’s ego talking, a typical man with all bark and no bite, wishful thinking by a guy no better in the sack than half the other men in Marin County. Just because he claimed to have a fetish for kinky sex didn’t mean he knew how to do it.

But you know he does.

She tried to shut out the little voice, the one that reminded her she’d always had that feeling about Matt, that he knew his way around a woman’s body. He hadn’t starred in a few fantasies for nothing. It had always been there, under the surface, the way he carried himself, the way he spoke with easy confidence, that casual calm one only walked around with when he knew he could deliver whatever he was dishing out.

Matt Jacobs would be good in bed, the best she’d ever had. If she’d been clinging to any doubt, these survey answers obliterated that chance. And thanks to it, she’d never be able to look the man in the eye again without choking on her own saliva.

“What about that question on the ideal romantic evening?” Bev asked.

Carly didn’t want to look, now feeling as though she should leave this section alone and concentrate on the rest of the survey. Something told her he’d probably answered enough of the sex questions identically to hers anyway. Plus, she doubted Singles Inc. would even utilize this portion of the survey in their results. Most of the employees had probably skipped the section entirely.

But that didn’t stop her eyes from darting down to the question Bev was referring to, the multiple choice which asked how the person would spend their ideal romantic evening.

He’d picked answer C: take-out dinner, candles and a bubble bath for two.

The exact same answer as hers.

Oh, man, she was a goner.

She tried to answer Bev’s question but couldn’t quite move her lips, and luckily she didn’t have to. Like a knight in shining armor, Bev’s husband, Kurt, stepped into the doorway, shifting the mood in the room and giving Carly a badly needed change of focus.

“I thought that was your car in the driveway.”

She smiled and hoped her red cheeks weren’t as obvious as they felt. “Hi, Kurt!” she squeaked.

His eyes drifted toward his wife. “Cookies for dinner?” he asked, teasing.

Bev smiled wide and motioned to the plate at Carly’s side. “Help yourself.”

“No, thanks.” He rubbed his stomach. “What’s really for dinner? I’m starving.”

Rolling her eyes, Bev pushed up from the chair and made her way toward the door. “Let’s go see what we’ve got,” she said.

And then Carly was alone. Not wanting to interrupt Bev’s and Kurt’s dinner, she opted to skip the rest of the section on sexual habits and preferences and concentrate on the other parts of the survey to get this done as quickly as possible. It shouldn’t take long to go through the answers and sync them up closely enough. If she just focused and hurried through it, she could be out of there in a matter of minutes.

She went back to the top of the survey and began running through Matt’s answers, and it wasn’t long before she noted that, aside from their sexual compatibility, she and Matt Jacobs had absolutely nothing in common. Practically every one of her answers had to be shifted from one end of the spectrum to the other, and Carly realized if she hadn’t acquired his answers, she’d never have come close to being the most compatible.

He’d all but confirmed every impression she’d had of him—his selfish arrogance, his disinterest in others, his insistence in coming first in every aspect of his life. Matt Jacobs clearly cared about one thing and one thing only: Matt Jacobs.

I like helping others. Disagree.

I care what people think of me. Strongly Disagree.

I consider myself more intelligent than most. Agree.

I am attractive. True.

I’ve made sacrifices for my loved ones. False.

It went on and on, question after question painting the picture of the narcissistic, self-serving jerk she always suspected Matt was, and though a small piece of her felt the tug of disappointment, in general the survey brought her a giant breath of relief. Where his answers to the sexual profile had her wondering how she could come near him without tearing off his clothes and doing him on his desktop, the personality profile shriveled up her attraction and left her stale.

In part because she’d seen this man before—the striking good looks, the charming smile, the sultry voice, countered by a complete and total disregard for anyone but himself.

Matt Jacobs seemed to be a carbon copy of her father, and if Carly had one central goal in life, it was to never, ever end up like her mother.

A flood of relief swept through Carly, easing the tension in her neck and leaving her ripe with a giddy sense of elation. She’d caught Matt’s number well before she did something stupid like act on her attraction. She was officially empowered, this survey handing her the emotional tool she needed to focus on the job and forget this latent lust she’d had for the man, kinky sex drive or not. He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and unlike her mother, she wasn’t fooled by the disguise nor ignorant enough to believe he could change.

The right man for Carly would be sexy and rugged but also caring and dependable. He’d put his family first, place her needs on the table right next to his and accept a partnership that involved both give and take. And if there was anything this survey screamed loud and clear, it was that Matt Jacobs clearly wasn’t that man.