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E llie’s breath hitched.

Aside from the fact that the man in front of her was easily the most beautiful one she’d ever seen, it was his charisma and charm that had her falling half in love with him as they sat in the Irish garden.

When she finally shook off the stupor from the earth-shattering kiss they shared, it was well past midnight and she had a sneaking suspicion she was well past the halfway mark.

Ellie’s thoughts were consumed by him for the last week, during which she wished she had given him her real name and career.

In her fantasy, he would’ve stopped at nothing to find her.

When he stepped into her bookstore, he would declare passionate love for her, and claim he couldn’t continue without her.

He would approach her gently and his lips would meet hers.

Then, aware that she had a crap history with men, he would vow to be careful with her heart, and guard it forever.

Reality, however, was a far cry from fantasy.

She gulped. “That night…” Her voice trailed off, and she prayed she didn’t sound as pathetic as she felt.

Colin raked a hand through his hair. “Eleanor— ”

“Ellie, please.”

He continued, “Ellie. I’m not upset about the circumstances we find ourselves in today. Not at all.”

Her chest expanded, and hope spread throughout her chest. Why she felt such a strong connection to this man didn’t matter, even though it flummoxed her.

He was about to tell her that she wasn’t the only one who felt something, she just knew it.

Perhaps his thoughts had centered around her, as well.

The thought further robbed her of breath, and her stomach erupted with butterflies.

“You don’t?”

“No. It means that you can talk to me, candidly and honestly. That’s going to help a lot in finding your perfect partner.”

Her heart constricted into a tiny fragment of itself, then cracked. He added quickly, “We had a great conversation. And a kiss, of course, but it was only a single kiss. Nothing that can’t be overlooked for the sake of the greater good, right?”

She nodded vehemently, as though that would dislodge the acute (and wholly unnecessary) pain in her chest. She fought to form words, but again came up blank.

Suddenly, the why of her attraction became very important. Why was she so drawn to him? What was it that made her look at him and see a future?

And how was she to let it go, since it clearly wasn’t reciprocated?

Colin cleared his throat. “Well, I’m glad that’s settled. It was a real surprise seeing you sitting at my table with your aunt. I’m very grateful you’re not the type of person who would hold something like this over my head.”

Finally, finally , she found her voice. “Right. If you weren’t willing to forget about it, that would’ve been terribly awkward.

I’m quite thrilled you feel the same way.

So, the answer to your question is yes, of course, I’m certainly ready to find love.

” Already did. She mentally slapped herself, carefully unclenched her hands, and forcefully relaxed her shoulders, then gave as much of a smile as she could muster.

No, I didn’t. I just found a handsome man with charm and kindness.

He let out an audible breath. “Excellent.”

She smiled back, but it felt hollow. It figured that the first man that made her feel anything in years wanted to help her find love…with someone else.

“So when do you expect I’ll go on the first date?” she asked, twisting her hands in her lap. “You should probably know that I’m a little, um…not good at first dates.”

Colin paused. “Not good at first dates?”

“Nope. In fact, I am terrible at them. I always say the wrong thing, or trip up the stairs, or break lightbulbs with my head. Don’t ask,” she advised when he opened his mouth.

“Even if you were to find the perfect man for me, I’m about a thousand percent certain I’ll run him off without even trying. ”

“We can fix that,” Colin replied, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. “Etiquette classes.”

“Excuse me, but I was raised British,” Ellie exclaimed, affronted. “We know our etiquette quite well.”

He laughed then, the sound reaching into her soul and wrapping around it. “No, Ellie. I meant dating etiquette. Help for those who might need a little more guidance as to what to say, how to act. That sort of thing.”

A knock sounded, and Emma poked her head in. “Can I come in?”

Colin nodded, and she slipped back in. “Where were we?”

“Mr. O’Rourke is offering up dating etiquette lessons,” Ellie said, slightly peevish.

Emma clapped her hands together in delight.

“Oh, Col, that is amazing! Candice told me all about it. Was it Bri who figured it out first, or did you work on it together?” She turned back to Ellie.

“Sorry. Candice works for Colin as one of his matchmakers, and Bri is… was his cousin who started Celtic Connections. If Colin offered you etiquette lessons, you’ll be fighting men off with a sword! ”

“Don’t you mean stick?” Ellie asked. “And I don’t need his lessons.”

“The company’s dating lessons—” Colin started to explain.

“Right, stick! Ha! Being in England, and especially this office, makes my mind go right to medieval things. I studied it quite a bit at university,” Emma said.

“How lovely,” Ellie exclaimed. “I don’t know very much about medieval anything, but the time period seems so romantic. Candlelight makes everything romantic.”

“Not everything,” Colin grumbled. He cleared his throat. “Back to our discussion. I’m not going to be—”

Emma’s cell phone rang again, the sound trickling in from the reception area. She grimaced. “Sorry. It’s probably Mike. Their flight from Los Angeles is canceled, and it looks like they won’t get back to Boston until next week.”

Emma hurried back out into the reception area.

Colin let out a frustrated sigh and shoved some papers toward Ellie. “Sign the contract and we’ll get underway.”

Ellie raised her brows. “If this is all too much trouble for you, I promise, I have no issue returning to my quiet life, free from all this.”

“And admit failure? Never.”

She shrugged. “It’s not failure if you didn’t start it. And not all failure is bad, Mr. O’Rourke.”

“I think we’re past the formalities, Ellie. And the word ‘fail’ isn’t in my vocabulary. I’ve yet to leave a client unmatched…and now that you’re a client, you’ll be happy too, just like the rest of them.” He practically spat the last words.

“You make it sound so appealing,” she deadpanned .

“Sorry. I just wasn’t expecting…”

“Me?” she supplied.

He nodded. “I also wasn’t expecting to give any lessons. I haven’t done those in years.”

“I. Don’t. Need. Lessons,” she ground out.

He glanced at the still-unsigned contract in front of her. “I’ll be honest with you. Your aunt’s article did a lot of damage to us here. Matching you would go a long way towards undoing that damage. But it’s not Celtic Connections that is at stake, Ellie. This business does just fine stateside.”

“Then what’s at stake?”

“Happiness.”

“I am happy,” she insisted.

Colin leaned forward, resting his elbows on the smooth table. He steepled his fingers and rested his lip on the tips for a moment, regarding her with a look she couldn’t decipher, before using one hand to pull a newspaper out from one of the manila folders spread before them.

The British Tea Times. Her aunt’s paper.

Finally, he spoke. “You might be. But I wasn’t talking about you.”

Her aunt’s picture smiled back at her, and Ellie was effectively chastened. She took a deep breath and signed the contract in front of her.

“Excellent. If you don’t want any lessons, we can make your first match tomorrow night. I have just the person in mind.”

As Ellie stared in abject horror at the stunningly beautiful man in front of her, she made the very sensible decision to be done with men.

“Eleanor, don’t look at me like that. I can see the back of your teeth, and it’s not your best look.

” Bruce Hereford, heir apparent to the Lyttelton viscountcy, sighed in frustration.

“Listen, all I’m asking is that you drop a stone or so before our next date.

I’m not paying for that dessert,” he added.

She risked a silent glance down at the chocolate sformato (with whipped amaretto cream) in front of her, then raised her eyes back to her date for the evening.

He was sipping his low-calorie cabernet (Ellie was shocked such a thing existed—it seemed so wrong ), and she wondered how this man made it through Colin’s “stringent” interview process.

The silence stretched.

“Who said there will be another date?” Ellie asked, finally finding her voice.

He smiled, a slow, seductive lifting of his lips, fully practiced. She narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, Eleanor…” He raised a corner of his mouth a bit more.

It was the same smile she’d seen in the file Colin gave her at the office, when he had insisted Bruce checked all the boxes on her list. “Plus,” Colin had added, “he’s smart, good looking, and single. There’s a couple other things, but I’ll let you discover them on your own.”

Ellie narrowed her gaze even further. One of those things was that Bruce was in line for a title. And he wasn’t above mentioning it six or seven times.

“Eleanor, Eleanor, Eleanor,” he said on a sigh.

Ellie briefly wondered if he repeated her name to help him remember it.

Bruce sighed again . “Your weight troubles aside, you are easily the most beautiful woman I’ve been out with since Gina What’s-Her-Name.” He pretended to ponder her last name for a moment before shrugging. “You know, the duchess’s second cousin. Only once removed.”

She tried not to roll her eyes. Truly, she did. “Perhaps we should discuss what made you interested in becoming a part of the Celtic Connections database? ”

“Of course. My mother’s encouraging me to branch out some. She has an idea that new blood will reinvigorate our lineage. So, we’re looking at wealthy commoners with strong potential for breeding the next heirs to the viscountcy.”