Free The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren Page B

really big deal, on several levels.”
    Jess stared at him, giving him the benefit of the doubt that he was allowing for at least one of these levels being human emotion. “Uh, yeah, I get that. But we don’t have to consider anything. I mean—there’s no way, River. We both know it’s an error, right? Or if not an error, that the compatibility paradigm doesn’t apply to us.”
    â€œWhy is it your first assumption that the technology is wrong?”
    â€œWhy isn’t it yours?”
    He laughed dryly, looking past her. “The DNADuo has been validated thousands of times. If we got scores of ninety-eight all the time, I’d be more skeptical.”
    â€œI can’t imagine being less skeptical. Every thought in here”—Jess pointed to her head—“is either ‘LOL no’ or ‘Surely you jest.’ ” She paused, taking him in. “How can you look at me with a straight face right now?”
    He reached up, running a hand through his hair. “Biological compatibility is independent of whether or not we like each other.”
    A horrified laugh ripped out of her. “Is that the company slogan or your best pickup line?”
    â€œListen, I’m not—” River broke off, exhaling a long, slow breath. “How do we proceed?”
    â€œI’m not even sure what that means, ‘proceed.’ ” Jess hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “I’m going to head home.”
    â€œIt means we see if the science has made an accurate prediction.”
    â€œYou’re client number one ,” she reminded him. “If we’re having this conversation, I’m guessing you’re single and none of your other matches worked out, either. Let’s assume this one will follow that trajectory.”
    â€œYou’re my first,” he said matter-of-factly, adding, in response to her baffled expression, “I haven’t had any other matches. I set stringent criteria.”
    â€œHow—what does that even mean?”
    River took a cautious step closer. “I selected to see only Diamond Matches.”
    Jess maintained eye contact with him for five… ten… fifteen seconds. His gaze was steady, unblinking, and rational, and an abrupt thought crashed into her mind: I bet he’s good at everything he sets his mind to. What if, just for one minute, I let myself imagine that this is real? What then?
    His eyes dipped briefly to her mouth, and Jess had the feeling he was asking himself the same question. Her thoughts were unexpectedly hijacked by a flashing image of him staring down at her, shirtless, watching her reaction to the pressure of his hand between her legs.
    Jess had to blink—hard—to clear the image away. “Why would you set your criteria that strict?”
    She knew her reasons, but what about his? A romantic soul would say that they were only interested in true love, but River’s beat of hesitation told her his answer was grounded in something much more logical. “Initially because the goal wasn’t to find myself a partner,” he said. “It’s been a protracted longitudinal study, and we’ve all been focused on getting to this point. I stopped thinking about my own client information a long time ago.”
    It wasn’t the worst answer; Jess could understand how much focus it took to keep a business afloat, let alone one with employees. This all just seemed completely impossible to her.
    She heard Pops’s old clunker turning into the parking lot, and River’s angular face was briefly illuminated by the headlights. His guarded scowl made his profile aggravatingly more handsome.
    Something in her expression must have softened, because he took a few steps closer. “Let’s talk about it some more,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be tonight.”
    â€œI’ll think about it.”
    â€œIt’s exciting,” he