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confirmed that there was nothing disgusting hanging out of my nose and no food dangling from my lips. What the fuck?
    I looked back at the woman who made my heart beat erratically with a bewildered look. I was highly offended that she found me lacking. And totally not used to that feeling. I wholeheartedly hated it.
    With eyebrows raised and a voice that was unnaturally high, I repeated, “Absolutely not?”
    She had the grace to look away. As she did, her cherub face went up in flames. Her flawless alabaster skin turned a lovely shade of rose. The flush started at the base of her neck and climbed all the way up to the tips of her cheekbones. I wanted to trace the pattern with the backs of my fingers, and then follow it with my lips.
    Addressing Stan, she murmured, “I’m sorry.”
    Okay, now I was seriously agitated. She wouldn’t even look at me! I crossed my arms and started tapping my foot on the floor. When she finally looked my way, she couldn’t quite meet my eyes.
    “I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that I need someone a bit more plain looking. I need an average Joe, not a perfect ten.” The agency’s crest hung on the wall behind Stan’s desk, the words Perfect Ten seeming to mock me. She flicked her fingers in that general direction. “And certainly not the Perfect Ten!”
    A perfect ten. Even though she said the words with contempt, I couldn’t help but smile. When other women told me how hot I was, it made me want to go bathe, but when she said it, I felt different—in a good way. Like I was warm all over. Or I finally knew what peace felt like. I know I’m not saying this very well, but it was nice to have a girl look at me without immediately undressing me. She had no agenda; she just needed a date for a wedding.
    “Oh, I can be average. I can be whatever you want me to be.”
    She snorted aloud, which I found strangely endearing. With a look of degradation in her eyes, she indicated her own luscious body with a wave of her arm, and said, “Come on. No one would ever believe this ,” then she waved her arm over at me, “could get a date with that. ”
    The silence was deafening. I was confused as to what she was talking about, and doubly confused as to why Stan was nodding at her. “Huh? You’re joking, right?”
    Stan touched her arm to gain her attention. “Okay, Ms. Graham. Let me see if someone else is available for you.”
    “No!” It was out of my mouth before the thought even left my head, but fuck no. I wasn’t letting one of the other guys get their hands on this beauty. She was not going on a date with some horny bastard from the escort service. Yeah, yeah, pot meet kettle.
    My beautiful goddess jumped at my rather loud exclamation. “Um, excuse me?”
    “Everyone else is booked. It’s me or no one.” Those two sentences came out of my mouth so fast, they sounded like one long-ass word. As she looked down at her clasped hands, I gestured to Stan that I’d slit his throat if he found her someone else. His frown was so fierce, I thought he might get a cramp in his forehead, but he got the hint.
    Pretending to look through his schedule, he agreed that I was right. “I’m sorry, Ms. Graham, but it looks like Joe’s right. It’s him or no one. He’s the only one who isn’t scheduled to work that day.”
    She held up a single finger and pulled out her cell phone. “Can you give me a couple of minutes? I need to make a quick call.”
    Without waiting for an answer, she turned tail and almost ran back out into the outer office.

    * * *
Faith
    “Pick up, pick up…” I needed to talk to Gracie! She had to answer her phone.
    “Hey, Faith, how did it go?” Grace asked as she finally answered my call.
    Oh, thank God. “I’m still here. I can’t do it, Gracie. He’s gorgeous. I mean like Ashton Kutcher, Adam Levine, and—I don’t know—Hugh Jackman all thrown together. He’s over the top.”
    “Faith, he sounds perfect.”
    Perfect? Was she insane? “No.