Free Harte Strings: The Billionaire Matchmaker, Part Two by Gina Robinson

gets one point for each of yours.”
    “What do the winners get?” Lazer stared at me with his darkly amused expression.
    “The thrill of victory,” I said without missing a beat.
    “Not good enough.” He stared me down.
    The men had all gone silent, watching us spar.
    I gestured toward the men. “What do you want?”
    Lazer didn’t wait for them to answer. “If my team wins, each of us get a one-time pass on one of your dating rules.” He turned to his guys. “Huh? What do you think?”
    “What are the rules again?” Austin frowned, clearly trying to remember them all.
    Before I could reply, Lazer jumped in. “All you need to know is the most important one—no sex on the first date. With a recommendation to wait five dates or three months or until you’re exclusive.” He shook his head and did the upward glance.
    I shook my head right back at him and rubbed one finger against the other at him. Naughty, naughty. “Those rules are for your own good. Created after watching my clients and their dating mishaps and misadventures over the years. Break them at your own peril. Do your really want to risk killing a relationship that is progressing nicely? You could lose the one .”
    Lazer’s expression said he clearly wasn’t buying my explanation. “Just one pass. To take the pressure off.” He stared me down.
    I was hard to intimidate. I’d had plenty of practice facing clients who wanted to bend the rules and still succeed at the game of love. I swore to myself. “This is an icebreaker, just a friendly competition.”
    “Everything’s more fun if there’s a prize.” His answering grin was adorable and sexy.
    I sighed. “And if I win?” I couldn’t believe I was even contemplating this.
    “What do you want?”
    He needs a cold shower. I glanced at the pool. There was another great way to break the ice—seeing your leader dunked.
    “We toss you into the pool fully clothed.” I crossed my arms.
    The men hooted. I knew I’d chosen the right reward.
    “Done.” Lazer jumped from his chair and extended his hand for me to shake on it.
    I held up a finger. “If we’re playing for a prize, I have one condition. I get a handicap. Five answers.”
    “Three.”
    “Done.” I grabbed his hand and shook, heart pounding. “All right, then, let the games begin. Gentlemen, you have ten minutes.” I nodded to Lottie. “Start the timer.”
    I jotted my responses down within minutes and looked around the group, laughing to myself at their concentrated, thoughtful expressions. I’d had the advantage of knowing about the game and thinking of my responses beforehand. But these men supposedly knew each other well. And had hopefully learned something about me. I was prepared for them to try to take an obvious, mundane response and spice it up. For example, This person plays with matches every day . Lazer particularly amused me. Several times he was about to put pen to note card, then backed off, and thought about it some more. What was he so unsure about sharing?
    Finally, he wrote whatever it was down with such decision and force that I was afraid he was going to snap his pen and rip the note card through with his writing.
    Lottie called time and collected the cards. Earlier I’d instructed her to sort through them and put the easy ones first. Which she did. We ran through those quickly. Lazer’s team got them all right. As did I. Judging from their expressions, my skill surprised them.
    This was their first dating lesson—ask questions when you meet someone new. Show interest in them. And remember what they tell you. Those seemingly innocuous get-to-know-you questions I’d been asking all night? Yeah, you got it. To make a point.
    “One of you dated a supermodel.” Lottie wiggled her brow, pointedly looking away from Lazer.
    “That’s easy . When are we going to get to the interesting questions?” Cam shook his head as he slapped a note card down in front of him. “Couldn’t you guys come up with