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“I would like that very much.” She hesitated. “Does your family often meet your clients?”

“No. But my mother adores you, and she’s invited us over. It’s a family tradition that we have breakfast together on the weekend, when possible. And with my older brother in town, she’s determined to have all her children under one roof for at least a meal or twenty.”

Ellie’s face became nervous. “I’m not good around other people, Colin. You know I’m not. I fall all over myself, I spill things, I go silent and—”

He placed a finger over her lips to silence her, and he somehow managed not to flinch at the jolt that traveled up his arm at the contact. “You won’t be judged, Ellie. My mother would like to introduce her new friend to her husband and son. That’s all.”

Her face softened. “That’s a lovely thing to say. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. And while you’re in a thankful mood, I have a favor to ask of you.

” Ellie’s eyebrows went up, and he forged ahead.

“On Friday night, we’re holding a party for one of Celtic Connections’ clients.

He’s flying in from California, and we’re supposed to have ten women at this event for him. ”

“Oh, good Lord,” Ellie groaned. “That sounds so…what’s that show where one man kisses all the women and sends someone home without a flower?”

“Yes, I know, it sounds very reality TV-esque,” Colin agreed. “But the client requested it, and the women attending have all agreed. However, we are one woman short.”

Ellie’s eye widened. “Oh, please don’t ask me to fill in…”

He gave her his most charming, hopeful smile.

“Colin, I’m terrible in social situations! And dating a man who wants a plethora of options seems so…desperate!”

“You don’t have to be anything but yourself. Please consider it,” he asked before chuckling. “Look, you’ve reduced me to begging.”

“Oh, dear me. The all-powerful Colin O’Rourke is begging.” She rolled her eyes, but ruined the effect with a giggle.

“I’ll take you around Boston tomorrow,” he bribed. Then he wagged his eyebrows, and she laughed in defeat.

“Oh, go on then. I’ll do it. But only because I’m apparently a people pleaser. And because I want to see this city. But I’ve no interest in dating him.”

He grinned, relieved. “Thanks, Ellie. And who knows? Maybe you’ll like him.”

“Oh, from everything you said about him at dinner, he sounds delightful.”

“He’s a bit high maintenance,” Colin replied mildly. “Perhaps you’ll enjoy his personality?”

“Hmm. Perhaps. I won’t yet add this little escapade to my what-the-hell-was-I-thinking-agreeing-to-do-this list.”

“Is that list full?”

She snorted. “It’s getting there.”

A silence ensued, and he watched her face turn from relaxed to pensive. She glanced at him and chewed her lip.

“What’s on your mind?”

She turned to fully face him and drew her feet underneath her on the couch. “Forty universities.”

“Yes.”

She searched his face. “Why tell me, if you have no intention of pursuing me? ”

He understood what she asked. But explaining it to her was out of the question. Aside from his time traveling, her aunt was quite specific in her demands. He chewed on his answer for a moment.

She merely waited, her eyes never leaving his face.

He decided on a partial truth. “When it was just you and me, I wanted to see where it could go. We definitely had a connection. But I’m not a forever man, Ellie.

I’m already married…to my company. And my company is too important to me to not make a complete success of your match.

So I have to match you with someone who can make you happy forever.

” He dragged a hand over his face. “That’s not me. ”

She sucked in a breath. “Oh.”

He gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I like you. A lot. And that’s enough for me to want to see you happy not just for my own selfish reasons to do with Celtic Connections, but also for you.

You deserve someone amazing. Someone who can appreciate your perfections and imperfections, someone who would move heaven and earth to see your smile. ”

She smiled back at him, though it was tinged with sadness. “I see. Thank you for your honesty.” She slowly rose. “I’m to bed. Good night, Colin.”

“Good night, Ellie. Sleep well.”

She nodded, then disappeared up the stairs. Colin relaxed back on the couch and tried not to dwell on the gaping hollowness in his chest.

Colin irritably glanced at the clock. Time was ticking, but he was no closer to finding a date worthy of Ellie.

She needed someone who wouldn’t stifle her smart mouth. He knew she tended to go shy around people she didn’t know, but she was so intelligent that it would only take the right conversation piece to get her to open up.

“I know you don’t want to hear this.” Candice’s voice over the phone was hesitant. “But I think Reginald might be perfect for her.”

“Hell no,” Colin replied. “He’s had only a handful of second dates in the year he’s been with us, and despite all the advice and coaching we gave him, the man is still a beast to his matches! If we encourage this without giving her another option, it could be disastrous.”

“You know that he’s a British citizen,” Candice pointed out. “And though he lives in Los Angeles most of the year, he still owns a home in England…on his ancestral estate.”

Colin shook his head, though Candice couldn’t see him. “I know what you’re getting at. Still no.”

“Boss, he’s everything that both of them asked for. He’s an as-yet-untitled Brit, who will receive his barony once his father passes. He has a steady job, a very nice income, intelligence, good hygiene, and is an avid reader. I believe that ticks all the boxes on this particular match.”

But he didn’t deserve her smiles. Reginald had done nothing in this lifetime that would ever make him worthy of her.

But Candice couldn’t possibly know Colin’s feelings for Ellie, and she, at least, was acting in the best interest of their client. Of both their clients.

She continued, oblivious to Colin’s inner struggle, “Mike convinced him to take the etiquette courses, you know. You really should consider offering those to more of our clients, they’re a game-changer.

And the interpersonal relationship course, too.

He’s taking them now and when I spoke with him yesterday, he was pleasant.

Polite, even. And Mike said he’s been respectful, too. ”

Colin snorted. Reginald was usually an ass on his best days. On his worst, Colin wouldn’t let the man anywhere near his staff.

Candice groaned in frustration. “Colin. We have to give the man a chance to prove he’s serious about changing his ways.

We’ve been at his matching for weeks, and you’ve denied every potential match for Miss Carberry that Mike and I have sent your way, despite your asking us to help.

You said yourself that you couldn’t find anyone suitable.

She’s already agreed to go to Reginald’s mixer.

Is she so difficult to work with that there’s no one you’d match her with in our system? ”

She’s the sweetest woman I’ve ever met was on the tip of his tongue, but instead he bit it back and closed his eyes.

Ellie deserved a man who would treat her well, and love her, and hold her, and make her forget about her worries.

His whole world would be devoted to bringing forth her smile and laughter, and he would see how kind and wonderful she was.

And you are not that man.

“See if he’s willing to travel and eventually relocate to England,” Colin capitulated, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. “If so, I’ll see it done.”

“Of course he will be. But I’ll confirm with you in the morning.”

They hung up, and Colin felt an acute pain in his chest. Rubbing it vigorously, he slowly closed his laptop and stared sightlessly at the papers in front of him. He knew he had to let Ellie go. Though it almost killed him to do it, he had other priorities that couldn’t be usurped.

Reginald Montgomery damn well better appreciate the pearl he was being given. Colin would personally see to it that the man was nothing but appreciative.

Ellie closed the book she was reading and glanced around the library restlessly. Colin was again at the office, and it was raining just hard enough to make her want to stay inside.

The trouble was, she was bored.

She’d been through each shelf in the library, almost figured out the coffee maker, and made small talk with the neighbors.

She experienced Boston’s subway system, which they called the T, which made her seriously rethink her hatred of the Tube.

The T was a tangle of lines in which she became so turned around the week prior that she’d ended up somewhere called Quincy.

Colin came and got her, laughing at her indignant exclamations.

But today, she had no desire to go anywhere. It was just past lunch, and Colin wasn’t due home for another two hours at least. Evelyn promised to stop by before dinner, but that too was hours away.

She chewed her lip, then glanced at the closed door at the back of the room. It sat just next to the staircase leading down to the kitchen, and she knew it led up to Colin’s bedroom.

She could admit to being curious about it. He didn’t offer to show it to her on the initial house tour, and she hadn’t thought to ask. When she finally remembered he needed a place to sleep and asked him about it, he merely replied, “It’s on the top floor.”

She really, really wanted to see it. She promised herself she wouldn’t go through his underwear drawer, no matter how tempting it might be, and gave a nod. Yes.

To the bedroom.

Maybe it would offer some insight as to the inner workings of his mind , she rationalized, as she opened the white paneled door. The steps were the same as the rest in the house—white and oak, with Oriental runners. Silently, she climbed higher, her eyes on the open door at the top of the stairs.