Read Online Marrying Mister Perfect by Lizzie Shane - Free Book Online Page B

snorted.
    “If anyone scores less than fifty percent
compatibility, run , do not walk, away from that chick. The
host—Josh Pendleton, so dreamy—always tries to talk Mr. Perfect
into keeping one of them, and then she ends up having an on camera
meltdown and turning into a stalker by week six. Those
internationally renowned matchmakers they brag about know their
stuff. Flaunt the compatibility tests at your peril.”
    “What’s a ‘patability test?” Emma piped
up.
    “A test of how cuddle-able someone is.” Jack
squeezed Emma until she giggled and squirmed. “See? We’re very
compatible.”
    Kelly frowned absently, another bite of pie
dangling precariously from her waving fork. “You know, they
probably had to redo all the compatibility stuff, since you aren’t
the guy they originally picked all these girls for. Do you know if
they recast any of the women when the astronaut fell through?”
    Jack shrugged. “They don’t tell me anything.
I’m just Mr. Perfect.”
    Saying it out loud sounded odd and he
realized it was the first time he’d referred to himself that way.
Other people had called him that, but to say it about himself felt… wrong .
    “This is so cool,” Kelly gushed as she
bounced out of her chair and began clearing the desert plates,
oblivious to his sudden discomfort. “I know Mr. Perfect!”
    The last few weeks as he’d fielded dozens of
calls about the show, it had always felt like people were referring
to someone else when they talked about Mr. Perfect. He’d been
disconnected from the role he’d be playing, still Daddy to Emma and
TJ, still Jack to Lou, still Dr. Doyle to everyone at the hospital.
But starting now he would be Mr. Perfect to a few million people
he’d never met. That would be him .
    Jesus. What was he getting himself
into?
    Lou’s fingers rested softly on his wrist.
“You okay?” she asked, the low question just carrying to his
ears.
    And just like that he remembered why he was
going. Not so he could stake a claim to fame, relive his bachelor
days or “bang a bunch of hot women” as Peter had jokingly suggested
earlier, but to give Lou a chance for the life she deserved. And,
yeah, for himself too. He wasn’t a saint. This wasn’t entirely
selfless. The show would finally give them both a chance at
something that wasn’t temporary.
    A flicker of heady anticipation began to stir
in his blood. He’d been all work and no play for a long time. It
was impossible not to be excited by the idea of play being his work
for the next two months.
    He rolled his hand beneath Lou’s and linked
their fingers. “I think it just hit me,” he admitted, smiling
wryly. Emma wiggled and resettled herself in his lap, her head
tucked against his chest.
    Lou’s hand was warm in his, but her
expression was still distant. Already a thousand miles away.
“You’ll be great.”

 
     
    Chapter
Eight
     
    “Emma! TJ! Come say goodbye. Your father has
to catch his flight.”
    Jack handed his carry-on to the limo driver
the show had sent and turned back, hovering in the doorway. He
waited for the kids to run into his arms, but there was no sound of
a thundering herd. Just a pair of voices shouting, “Bye, Dad!” from
the living room.
    Lou smiled sympathetically and patted his
arm. “You’ve never gone away for more than a day before,” she
reminded him. “They don’t understand how long eight weeks is going
to be. That doesn’t mean they won’t miss you. And we’ll see you a
week from Saturday.”
    “I know.” It was probably easier this way
than if they were crying and begging him to stay, but the blithe
indifference still stung.
    These couple days he’d been trying to hold
onto every second, pack away each memory, but that only seemed to
make the time fly faster, the attempt to hold onto the moments like
holding a fistful of water. Things had been odd with Lou, too.
She’d been distant. Reserved.
    Normally the house echoed with shrieks of
laughter, but lately things had