The Favour. Cara Summers

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СКАЧАТЬ know,” Rory said, “it’s kind of like musical chairs. Remember the episode they did on Sex and the City with Miranda. She talked to each date for about ten minutes to see if something clicked.”

      “Whoa.” Natalie’s frown deepened as she studied Sierra. “You’re going to choose a lover during a ten-minute conversation?”

      “No. The speed date is step one,” Sierra explained. “Step two is to analyze the data I collect and then select a lover.”

      “Time out,” Rory said. “A speed date is just a prelude to a real date. How can you possibly gather enough data to select a man as a lover?”

      “By using the time efficiently. I see no reason to bother with casual conversation. After I tell them that I’m looking for a lover, I’m going to ask each man a few questions. Their answers will provide me with a profile of just what kind of lover they will make.”

      Rory and Natalie exchanged a glance, then looked at Sierra.

      Sierra began to chew on her bottom lip again. These were her sisters all right. She’d lost count of the times that Natalie and Rory had looked at her in just this way when she was growing up, as if she were the alien. “You don’t think it will work?”

      “No.” Her sisters spoke in unison, and then Natalie said, “That’s not it. We think it might work too well—especially if you tell them right up front that you’re looking for a lover.”

      “I don’t see why I should hide my intentions.”

      Natalie shook her head. “There are times when a little subtlety is…advisable.”

      “You don’t know what kind of men come here. They could take advantage of you,” Rory added.

      “But I do know what kind of men come here. I’ve been studying them for three months now. My research assistant and I have taken copious notes and written up several case histories.”

      “As a psychologist, you know that people lie,” Rory said. “They can easily pretend to be something they’re not.”

      Sierra frowned.

      “Right. We all wear disguises,” Natalie added.

      “During that speed-dating episode on Sex and the City, even Miranda lied,” Rory said. “Didn’t she tell one guy that she was a flight attendant?”

      Sierra set her clasped hands on the letter. “All right. Perhaps, I won’t tell them straight out that I’m looking for a lover. But I’m going to ask them some questions.”

      “Such as?” Rory asked.

      “They’re very simple—kind of like a Rorschach test without the pictures. Things like what kind of musical instrument or breed of dog would you like to be, or what three things would you take to a deserted island with you?”

      “And from that you’ll learn…?” Rory asked.

      Sierra could feel her cheeks redden. “The subject’s answers will provide a profile of his sexual preferences as well as indicate his style of lovemaking.”

      “Really?” Rory asked.

      “My research assistant, Zoë McNamara, and I have been testing it on volunteers. When we interview the test subjects, we’ve found that our profiles have been quite accurate.”

      Natalie tapped her fingers on the table. “What will you do with your results?”

      “I’ll take them home and run a match with my own profile. After that, I’ll contact prospective lovers according to how well they match up with me.”

      For a moment, neither one of her sisters said a word.

      “You don’t think it will work?” Sierra finally asked.

      Natalie drank some of her martini, then said, “I’ve no doubt that you’ll probably get an accurate profile of the parties involved. But what you’ve described is a very…cerebral process. And taking a lover—well, it’s a very physical thing. There has to be a certain…chemistry. I’m not sure you can predict that with a quiz.”

      Rory leaned forward. “I’m on the same page here as Nat. Did you ever give this quiz to Bradley?”

      “Well, yes,” Sierra replied.

      “How well did his profile line up with yours?” Rory asked.

      “Almost perfectly.”

      Rory turned her hands over, palms up. “There you go. A perfect match, but no chemistry. Your relationship has remained platonic. That’s not a recipe for success in a love affair.”

      “The up side is she’ll be right there at a table with them. She could shake their hands,” Natalie pointed out.

      “Right,” Rory said.

      Natalie turned to Sierra. “The important thing is not to over-think this whole thing. You have to learn to trust your feelings. If an electric shock goes up your arm and right down to your toes, then you might want to move that candidate to the top of your list—no matter what the quiz results tell you.”

      “Or if you look into his eyes and your knees turn to jelly, he’s another prime candidate for a lover,” Rory said. “The first time I met Hunter, it was his eyes. He looked at me as if he were the Terminator and I was his prey. I lost every thought in my head.”

      Sierra drew in a deep breath. “I don’t usually have that kind of reaction to men.” Except to the stranger she’d just kissed in the bar.

      “Then it’s high time you did,” Natalie said.

      “And under no circumstance should you take a lover unless you do,” Rory added.

      “One thing more,” Natalie said. “Once you’ve found a candidate, I want the name so that I can run a check on him.”

      Rory shot Sierra a sympathetic glance. “That’s what comes of having a sister who’s a cop.”

      “And if your experiment works, Rory will press you for an interview so that she can write the whole thing up in Vanity Fair. That’s what comes from having a sister who’s a journalist.”

      For the first time since she’d pushed her way through the front door of the Blue Pepper, Sierra felt some of her apprehension ease. Oh, the nerves were still dancing in her stomach, but she was going to go through with her plan, and she felt much better that she was doing it with her sisters’ approval. And Harry’s. Raising her martini, she said, “To chemistry.”

      “To chemistry,” her sisters repeated.

      “And to Harry,” Sierra added as she touched her glass to theirs.

      3

      THE BEATLES ratcheted up the rhythm on “Yellow Submarine” just as the first raindrops splattered against his windshield and the cars in front of him slowed to a crawl. Ryder slammed on the brakes and hit the button to put the top СКАЧАТЬ