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Baby, It's Cold Outside
Contents
Searching for You BY JENNIFER PROBST
It’s a Wonderful Tangled Christmas Carol BY EMMA CHASE
Saving Grace BY KRISTEN PROBY
Safe in His Arms BY MELODY ANNE
Rekindle the Flame BY KATE MEADER
Searching for You
BY JENNIFER PROBST
chapter 1
Kate Seymour studied the computer in front of her, squinted, and read the entry again.
And again.
Her heart beat faster and that familiar electrical buzz tingled under her skin. Impossible. They were completely different—a match made in literal hell, not heaven. Yet numbers like this didn’t lie. Time to bring in the troops.
She hit the intercom button. “Hey, Arilyn? Can you come in here? And bring Ke
“Sure.”
A few minutes later, her business partners and best friends joined her in the office. Her face softened into a smile at their presence. Their drunken plans years ago to start their own matchmaking agency in Verily, upstate New York, sounded impossible, but they’d made it work. More so. With over a dozen marriages, and endless statistically proven committed happy relationships, they’d made the dream a reality. Ki
Ke
Arilyn shook her head in sympathy, her strawberry hair streaming down her back in pin straight strands. Green eyes shone with concern. She was both counselor and computer guru, and dedicated her life to living a natural, healthy pathway to happiness. She wore her usual outfit of organic cottons, and spent her free time in yoga classes or with the rescue shelter. “Do you need some chocolate, sweets? I have a Kashi bar in my purse.”
Ke
Kate tapped her finger against the desk. “We can’t be one hundred percent all the time. We’ll rematch them and maybe find a better fit.”
“I guess.” Ke
“Which brings me to why I asked you in here.” She swiveled her Apple screen around so her friends could look. “Remember I told you about my neighbor Riley Fox?”
Arilyn nodded. “CEO of Chic Publishing. Named Fortune’s woman of the year, gorgeous, smart, and completely kick-ass. Can’t believe she still lives in Verily. Aren’t her offices in Manhattan?”
“Yes, but Riley prefers to stay out of the limelight. She’s been a longtime resident here. I’ve been trying to convince her for years to sign up with Ki
Ke
“Guess again.”
Arilyn let out a small sigh as an i
Kate gri
“Ticktock,” Ke
Kate’s lips tugged in a grin. “How many times has Nate proposed this month?”
Her friend grunted. “A few.”
Ke
“Well, Riley has a different approach. I’ve done her intake, and she’s refused counseling and makeover.”
“The woman was on the cover of Fortune. She doesn’t need a trip to the mall,” Ke
Arilyn pursed her lips. “But everyone could use some counseling. What is she looking for, Kate?”
This was where it got delicate. Kate steepled her fingers and stared at her friends. “She was the most thorough client I’ve ever met with. Knows everything she wants, everything she doesn’t, and is so specific I thought we’d never be able to match her. I used that new computer profiling system you built, A, and the craziest thing happened. I got a full match.”
Ke
The room grew quiet. The system of matching people with the computer was a delicate balance of science, gut instincts, and social networking. A top-rated match was 80 percent, and they already had three marriages from the statistic. But this time it was different.
Arilyn’s face lit up. “That’s wonderful. We found her perfect match. Who is he?”
Kate tapped a key and pointed to the screen.
Arilyn and Ke
“Full name: Ryan Dylan McCray,” Kate a
Arilyn looked pale. “There must be a bug. That’s impossible.”
Ke
Kate motioned again to the screen. “I know! I checked it numerous times, pulled their files, and manually went over each point. Their personalities are completely contradictory, yet the computer assigns them a perfect match.”
Arilyn shivered. “Maybe there’s something bigger going on here. The universe is trying to tell us something.”
Ke
Kate groaned. Her ability she termed the “touch” had been passed from generation to generation. She was able to sense an immediate electrical co
Arilyn chimed in. “She’s right. No using Kate for a shortcut. I say we set them both up on a date. They have nothing to lose. If it doesn’t work, we know there’s a glitch in the system and I’ll rework it. If they fall for each other, it’s a win-win.”
Ke