Free Cool Cache by Patricia Smiley Page A

be good advertising?”
    “I’m sure it would be.”
    “Are you with anybody right now?” she said. “If not, maybe you could be my test case.”
    Her smile was mischievous and appealing. I smiled, too, just so she knew I got the joke.
    “I’m afraid I’d be more of a challenge than you need right now. So, tell me about your company. What’s it called?”
    She hesitated, unsure of herself. “Luv Bugs.”
    I felt myself do a mental cringe. My negative reaction must have played out on my face, because she looked crestfallen.
    She took off the jacket she was wearing, exposing toned arms. “You don’t like it, do you? Me neither. In fact, I think it sucks. I considered Happily Ever After, Mixed-and-Matched, Strangers to Soul Mates. All of them were terrible.”
    “Naming a company isn’t easy.”
    She planted her elbows on the desk and held her face in her hands. “It’s harder than falling in love.”
    “How long have you been in business?”
    “Not long.”
    “How long is that?”
    “About three months.”
    “How much working capital do you have?”
    She stared out the window behind me, avoiding my gaze. “It’s sort of depressing to talk about that.”
    I leaned back in my chair, frustrated by her cryptic answers. “Just so you know, Elizabeth, I charge for my work.”
    Her expression seemed pained. “I know that. Don’t worry. I have enough money to pay you.”
    “Do you have a business plan?”
    “Not a good one. That’s why I need your help.”
    “What are your goals for Luv Bugs?”
    Her eyes sparkled with youthful exuberance. “I want to make love happen. So many people make bad relationship decisions. I see it everywhere. People who should be together but aren’t. People who shouldn’t be together but are. I want to fix all that, give people a chance to find real love.”
    If Elizabeth Bennet had been any sweeter, I’d be suffering from insulin shock. While she talked about her plans to save the romantically challenged, her long, graceful fingers were in perpetual motion, punctuating each sentence with swoops and loop-de-loops. Her voice danced up and down the scales, stopping with a sudden squeak that doubled as an exclamation point. She was serious one moment, laughing the next, sometimes all in the same sentence. Even her nose was expressive, wrinkling to make some point or another. She was mesmerizing. I didn’t want to take my eyes off her for fear of missing something delightful. Her naïveté would probably doom Luv Bugs, but by the time she’d finished talking, I was ready to bail water from the deck of her sinking ship.
    “It’s an interesting coincidence,” I said. “Your name, I mean. Elizabeth Bennet is the woman who tamed Mr. Darcy.”
    Her cheeks flushed.
    “I’m sorry,” I said. “You’ve probably heard that a million times before. What I meant was, it’s a lovely name.”
    She fidgeted with the neat stacks of papers on my desk, making them neater. “I have a confession to make. My name isn’t Elizabeth Bennet. I told you that because I didn’t think you’d help me if you knew my real name.”
    The possibilities flashed through my head, but I couldn’t think of anybody I disliked enough to turn down business because of an association with this young woman.
    “My name is Riley.” She studied my reaction with her earnest blue eyes. “Riley Deegan. You used to date my brother, Joe.”
    I felt my muscles grow tense. Joe Deegan was the man who had driven me to seek solace on that bicycle trip in France. There had been some trouble for him a few months back, for which I was partly to blame. A disgruntled ex-lover had filed a complaint against him, accusing him of selling confidential government information to a private investigator—Charley Tate. It was a lie. It was also a felony. Not only could Deegan have lost his job; he could have gone to prison. I offered to help clear his name, but instead he chose to end our relationship.
    I stared at Riley Deegan,