Mismatch Read online

  Table of Contents

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Mismatch

  Lisa Lace

  Contents

  1. Ethan

  2. Lily

  3. Ethan

  4. Lily

  5. Ethan

  6. Lily

  7. Ethan

  8. Lily

  9. Ethan

  10. Lily

  11. Ethan

  12. Lily

  13. Ethan

  14. Lily

  15. Ethan

  16. Lily

  17. Ethan

  18. Lily

  19. Ethan

  20. Lily

  21. Ethan

  22. Lily

  23. Ethan

  24. Lily

  25. Ethan

  26. Lily

  27. Ethan

  28. Lily

  29. Ethan

  30. Lily

  31. Ethan

  32. Lily

  33. Lily

  34. Ethan

  Epilogue

  Auxem

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Ayrie

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Anders

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Alien Prince’s Mate

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Avren

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Your Free Audio Book

  Newsletter

  Also by Lisa Lace

  Ethan

  Another camera flashes. Another reporter waves his hand. I try not to look bored as I nod toward one journalist, her pen hovering above her notepad.

  Press conferences are all the same.

  Her eyes widen at the opportunity, and she poses a question. “Mr. Steele, what has made you take such a leap from cyber security to a dating app? It’s a little out of your ballpark, isn’t it?â€�

  “Not at all. In fact, there’s quite an overlap between the technologies. Online dating should be exciting and fun, but it’s also important that users are safe.â€�

  “And how does your app do that—keep users safe?â€�

  I lean forward and raise my eyebrow at the journalist. She’s a petite, young woman who is trying too hard to look the part, with her hair tied back into a tight ponytail and her legs wobbling in heels that are too high. She flushes when I lo
ok at her and lifts her chin defiantly, to prove she’s got the guts to hold her own.

  “Miss…?â€�

  “Evans.â€�

  “Miss Evans,â€�—her flush deepens when I call her by name— “the uniqueness of this app is that it doesn’t match you with merely anyone who feels like signing up. It carefully profiles each user and analyzes their background, likes, dislikes, personality, and attractiveness.â€� I pause. “And it matches each person with only one user, whoever is the most compatible. In answer to your question, Miss Evans, security is built into our profiling process. We ensure that the people who use the app are who they say they are. This helps us build the best profile, and confidently provide the best love match.â€�

  Evans scribbles furiously on her notepad.

  I’m uncomfortable behind the lectern at the front of the conference room. The glaring lights are too bright, and too many people are squashed into the venue. It seems like every B-rate journalist in New York is here to cover the release of Destiny.

  Some of the writers work for relevant magazines, like Technology Today and CyberWares. Others are gossip columnists, more interested in my dating status than the work that has made Destiny a cutting-edge program.

  Another reporter shouts out his question. “Mr. Steele, has this switch to dating been inspired by your romance with Lorina Valencia?â€�

  I glare sternly at him and force a smile. “What can I say? I suppose love is in the air.â€�

  I see my assistant, Jennifer, standing at the conference room door. She makes a face at my answer. She catches my eye and shakes her head disapprovingly, although I can see she’s holding back a smirk.

  Considering she’s met Lorina, her reaction is natural. My latest love affair has been a strategic PR move and a pain in my ass. Miss Valencia, the prima donna trust-fund baby who’s wrapped herself around my credit card, is a spoiled brat in the body of a supermodel. I’ve tolerated her only for the brownie points. Love is in the air.

  “You’ve named your app Destiny. Is it fair to say you’re a romantic yourself, Mr. Steele?â€�

  “I’ve been a romantic many times, according to the New York Insider,â€� I say.

  A spatter of laughter spreads through the reporters. Yes, ever since I made my fortunes in the technology industry, my private life hasn’t been private. Every woman I bring back to my place for the night is splashed across the cover of some magazine the next day. A few of them, I suspect, came home with me hoping precisely for that: instant fame from fucking the billionaire playboy, Ethan Steele.

  Many glamorous and beautiful women have hung from my arm during my years in the Big Apple. Lorina is the latest—alluring, gorgeous, and the most spoiled-rotten terror I’ve ever encountered. She is a raging toddler, her inner ugliness almost destroying her outer beauty. Almost.

  “How successful has beta testing of Destiny been? It’s a bold claim that your app can—â€� he shuffles through his notes, and reads a direct quote from one of our press releases, “—‘make finding your soulmate as easy as filling out a resumé.’â€�

  My team tells me the science is there, not that I truly believe it. Destiny was simply an attempt to cross over into a new market—a younger, more commercial one.

  The cyber security software we make is typically targeted at niche and established Fortune 500 companies. Now that we’ve cornered that market from almost every angle, it’s time to lean toward new avenues. My market research team concluded that online dating is the perfect crossover venture from cyber security to the youth market. And admittedly, they have more in common than you’d think.

  “I don’t believe it’s a bold claim at all. The science is there. Certain qualities draw us toward one another—some that are conscious, and some we don’t even realize we desire. The magic of this app is that its series of intuitive self-assessment quizzes creates a profile of the user that tells us not only who you are, but who you want—even if you think you don’t know. It’s revolutionary.

  “On most dating apps, you tell the computer what you want. Destiny tells you what you need. It reads between the lines of your answers to figure out which personal characteristics will get your heart racing. It stops you from being too sensible. ‘Does he make good money?’ ‘What will Mother make of her?’ ‘He must like dogs.’ ‘She must like children.’ Forget it. This app takes all of that away and matches you based on what gets you going, and what matters most. The rest is up to you.â€�

  “What do you mean, ‘what gets you going’?â€�

  “Exactly that. With online dating, people tend to go searching for one of two things: true love, or a thrill. Why can’t it be both? We prioritize compatibility in three areas: conversational compatibility, humor compatibility, and sexual compatibility. The perfect partner is someone you can talk with, laugh with, and who fills you with desire. Nothing else matters.â€�

  “Does this app match people based on anything practical, like social or economic status?â€�

  “You can’t make love to a credit card—although a few women I’ve known have tried. A love match, a real love match, isn’t based on earnings, status, or any of those superficial things. It’s about the way you feel when that person walks into the room.â€�

  I say the words, and I feel darkness come over me. Only one woman has ever turned my world upside down like that, and Lorina isn’t her.

  “You’re saying that you’ve found the formula for romantic chemistry?â€�

  “We’re pretty damn close.â€�

  The press conference lasts another twenty minutes, and when it’s over, I am relieved. I leave the conference room. Jennifer is waiting for me in the lobby of the building.

  I hold up my hands. “Well?â€�

  “You couldn’t have kept the sarcasm out of your voice when talking about soulmates? You’re meant to be promoting the app, not telling everyone how true love is a scam.â€� She’s crossed her arms in front of her and is trying to keep a straight face as she scolds me, although that smirk is still hiding beneath her frown. She’s wearing a tan-colored pencil skirt with a dark blue silky blouse, her long strawberry-blonde hair is perfectly straight, and her bangs are level like a razor’s edge.

  “They were eating it up when I was talking about Lorina.â€�

  “Ah, yes. Love is in the air.â€�

  “Now who’s being sarcastic? Lorina is the light of my life, love of my heart.â€�

  “Press conference is over, Ethan. You’re making me sick with that stuff.â€�

  I smile. Jennifer has been by my side for so long now, she knows me better than I know myself. Perhaps she and I could have made it work if she hadn’t been in such a desperate situation when I first met her. In the end, she met her current partner, Bill, and she is happy. I am glad she’s found someone, and I’m content to keep her as my personal assistant—and my closest and bluntest friend.