His touch caused a rush of electricity to radiate from her fingers up her arm and throughout her body.
He stood so close she could feel the heat from his body against hers. If she leaned up on her toes, she could brush her lips across his. How would that feel?
Tag cupped her cheek in his palm and lowered his head.
Her gaze on his mouth, Leslie watched as he grew closer.
Instead of his mouth claiming hers, he altered course and lightly touched his lips to her forehead. “Goodnight, Leslie.”
Then he stepped away, leaving her feeing like she’d missed something very important.
“Do you want to come in for a drink?” she blurted out.
“I’d like nothing better,” he said. “But I actually have to go to a meeting first thing in the morning.” He gave her a quick smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
She nodded. “Tomorrow.” Leslie entered her house, closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Had he almost kissed her? And if he had, would she have liked it as much as she thought she would?
Chapter 3
Tag arrived fifteen minutes early at the BODS office building and sat in his truck, waiting for the exact time he said he’d be there. While he waited, he called Coop.
“Getting cold feet?” Coop asked without preamble.
“No way. I’m ready for this.”
Coop snorted. “If you’re so ready, why did you wait so long to give BODS a chance?”
“The timing wasn’t right,” Tag said. None of his buddies in the Billionaire Anonymous Club knew about his love for Leslie, and he preferred they remain clueless until his plan came together.
“Have you been going through your little black book, breaking the news to all of your former girlfriends?” Coop asked.
“Don’t have one. Don’t have any.”
“Hmm. That’s right. You have been single for a while. No wonder you’re ready.”
“I’ve been busy with work and the ranch. No time for relationships,” he explained, knowing his answer was a bit simplistic.
“You had plenty of time to work with Leslie getting the rest of us involved in relationships. It’s about time you worked on you.” Coop paused. “Is Leslie going to help you like she helped us get set up?”
“That’s the plan.” Tag glanced at the clock. “I’m at her office building right now, about to go up and enter my data.”
“And you called me for moral support?” Coop chuckled. “All I have to say is BODS worked for me. As far as I can tell, it worked for Gage, Sean and Moose, as well. You’ve got nothing to lose.”
Oh, he had a lot to lose, if Leslie chose another man over him. Again.
“Look, Tag,” Coop said. “The best thing you can do is to enter the truth about yourself. BODS will come up with your perfect match. Trust the system to get it right.”
“Thanks, man. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
“Good. I’m anxious to meet the future Mrs. Bronson.”
“Gotta go,” Tag said. “Thanks for your support.”
“Anytime.”
Tag ended the call and slipped out of his truck at exactly five minutes before he was due to show up in Leslie’s office. The ride up the elevator was short with no stops along the way to delay his arrival.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Bronson,” Ava greeted him as he stepped into the office.
Tag shook his head. “Ava, you know me. You don’t have to be all formal.”
She grinned. “I know. It’s just that you’re here to use the BODS system. You’re a client now, not just a friend.” She rounded the corner of her desk and gave him a hug. “Don’t be apprehensive about this part of the journey. It’s easy.”
“That’s right,” Tag said. “You’ve done this before.”
She nodded. “I have. If not for BODS, I might never have learned Sean was my perfect match. Not only my match as a date, but as a father to Mica.” She smiled. “We couldn’t be happier.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” He hugged her back. “Sean loves you and Mica. It’s pretty obvious.”
“And we love him.” She waved a hand toward a hallway. “Leslie asked me to show you into the conference room where you two will be working to enter your profiles and start the process.”
“Where’s Leslie?”
“She’s in her office, talking to a client. She’ll be right with you.” Ava opened a door and walked into the conference room where two computer monitors and keyboards were set up for their use. “I think I’m more excited about her giving her system a try than she is,” Ava said.
“Is she nervous?”
Ava laughed. “Terribly.”
“Why? She doesn’t have to go out with anyone she doesn’t want to.”
“I know that, and she knows that, but it’s been a long time since she’s been on a date.”
His lips twisting, Tag nodded. “Tell me about it.”
Ava cocked an eyebrow. “You, too?”
“Yeah,” Tag said. “I’ve been pretty busy with my work.” Getting all the right people in the right place to manage his businesses and allow him the time he needed to woo the woman he loved.
“Let me get the application up.” She started to take the seat behind the keyboard.
“No need,” he said. “I’m pretty familiar with the system.”
Ava laughed. “That’s right. You helped Leslie get it up and running. Silly me.” She held out the chair. “Then I’ll leave you to it. I believe Leslie’s already entered some of her data. She said something about helping you with yours.”
“I’ll get started, and she can help when she’s ready. Thanks.”
Ava left the room, closing the door behind her.
Tag sat in the seat in front of one of the monitors, clicked on the mouse and brought up the initial data entry screen.
What he hadn’t told Leslie was that he’d entered data anonymously, bypassing her background checks. He’d also entered a blurred image that would make it impossible for her to know it was him.
The name he’d used was one he’d picked up from a romantic comedy his mother and sisters had forced him to watch with them when he was a kid—the movie, You Got Mail, about a man and a woman who met online and fell in love through their messages. He’d chosen the lead character’s name, Joe Fox, as his alternate ego name on the BODS systems and manipulated the data to get around the background checks.
As soon as Leslie had all her data and preferences entered, Tag would match her preferences and start an online conversation with her while she was going through her dates. He liked the idea of her falling in love with the man behind the curtain. When the time came, he’d reveal himself as her online pen pal.
It all sounded like a good plan. He just hoped he had enough time to build the relationship before she found someone else through BODS matching algorithms.
Tag drew in a deep breath. No matter what happened, he hoped Leslie found love. She deserved to be happy. He prayed it would be with him.
To maintain a modicum of privacy, he entered his nickname into the system as Tag Bronson. The only people who called him Tag were his BAC friends, their ladies and Leslie. The media knew Taggert Bronson as the Texas billionaire and one of the most eligible bachelors in the state. He didn’t want any of his dates to be with groupies who were only after his money. He didn’t want the press to create a media circus out of his experimental dating.