Miss Matched [COMPLETED]

7. Tayla

I sink into Ruby's couch in a daze. "I agreed to date him. For three weeks." After letting me in the house, Dean disappeared upstairs. Must have read the expression on my face. That man could take a hint unlike the man I left at the diner.

"What?" Ruby rushes out of the kitchen, a tea towel in her hand. "He didn't believe the letter?"

"Not one letter of it." I slouch deeper into the cushions. His smugness made me want to punch him in the face. Mostly. The flare of desire when he laced our fingers together and stared into my eyes was a fluke reaction. Like a muscle memory or a reflex. Same with the heat that had pooled in my core when his thumb grazed my palm. My body may react, but my mind isn't fooled. He's a hot mess. Literally.

Ruby winces. "So, if that didn't work, did you lay on the guilt? Nice and thick?"

"I tried." Not hard enough. How could I ever make him understand the depth of sadness, anger, and humiliation I felt? I started to tell him, and then I couldn't bear the sympathetic expression on his face. He didn't care enough then, and I don't need his sympathy now. He may be the reason I'm not married to someone else, but that isn't because he's my soulmate.

Ruby sits beside me on the couch folding the tea towel. "How'd you get from a guilt trip to three weeks of dating?"

"The simple answer? Blackmail."

She doesn't miss a beat. "He threatened to email them if you didn't agree to date him?"

"To give him a second chance, yeah." I twirl my finger in my hair and sigh. "Half the money back is no joke. If it's half or zero and the result is still having Simon as my match, I can put up with seeing his face for three weeks."

I forced myself to believe the money was gone when I got Simon as my match. Lesson learned—data science isn't real science and doesn't work. When Cade revealed the loophole in the contract, a flicker of hope lit. Half the money was better than no money.

After my conversation with Ruby on Thursday, I looked up veterinary exchange options, and I mentally marked off the refund for pursuing a new goal. Up to a year in another country in a straight swop of houses, cars, and veterinary practices. A fresh start. Why not? Put all this bullshit with Simon behind me once and for all. Maybe my soulmate really is in Australia.

"Fucking Simon," Ruby mutters. "You're not mad? You don't seem mad."

"I was mad at Arnold's. Now, I'm just numb. You know how sometimes you just want to be able to hit fast forward on your life? That's me right now." I mime hitting a button on an invisible remote. "Boom. Three weeks, done. My life is back to normal. No more Simon. I've got more money than I have now." Even if it's less than I had a little over a week ago. Some is better than none.

Ruby's brow furrows. "What's he getting out of this?"

I scoff. "Ease his conscience, maybe? I didn't ask. I don't care."

Ruby braces her back in the corner of the couch and stares at me. "This isn't about him feeling bad. If he wanted to ease his conscience, he'd let you get half your money back with no hassle. Hell, he might even contact GameSetMatch and ask for them to re-run the algorithm."

"He did say if we're clearly not meant for each other after three weeks that he'll do everything he can to help me get back all my money. I'm not going to hold my breath on that one."

"I wouldn't either." Ruby laughs. "Cause he wants you back. Regret is running through Simon Buchannan like a wildfire, and he wants you to play firefighter."

"I'm not doing any role playing with him." I cross my arms. The moment when our fingers slid against each other and our gazes locked flickers in my memory again. My body warms. "He left me, Ruby."