If he had to be cooped up on a plane with one of his matchmakers, he would have preferred Tinker Bell. He could have bullied her into leaving him alone. Portia’s appearance this morning had nothing to do with a sudden urge to visit Tampa. He’d explained the new arrangement to her over the phone last night then hung up while she was still in shock. Obviously, she’d recovered.

She contented herself with general chitchat until they were in the air, but once the breakfast service started she began working her way to the point. “Melanie really enjoyed meeting you. More than enjoyed. I do believe she has a bit of a crush on you.”

“I hope not. Nice person, but I didn’t feel any real connection with her.”

“You were only together for twenty minutes.” She gave him the identical sympathetic smile he used when a client was being difficult. “I understand exactly where you’re coming from, but the time limit you’ve set is a bit of a problem. I’ve been in this business long enough to recognize when two people need to give themselves a second chance, and I think you and Melanie qualify.”

“Sorry, but it’s not going to happen.”

Her forehead remained smooth, her expression composed. “This won’t work, you know.” She toyed with the yogurt carton on her fruit plate. “I never put down the competition, especially when it’s a tiny operation like Marriages by Myrna. It smacks too much of bullying. But—”

“Perfect for You.”

“What?”

“She calls it Perfect for You, not Marriages by Myrna.” He couldn’t imagine why he felt the need to clarify this, but somehow it seemed necessary.

“A wise decision,” Portia replied, with only a whiff of condescension. “But let me just say this. I resent the way people think a trip to Kinko’s to get business cards printed up is all it takes to be a matchmaker. But then, as a sports agent, you know exactly what I mean.”

She’d scored a field goal with that one. Annabelle had no depth of experience, only enthusiasm.

Portia pushed aside her tray, although she’d only nibbled at the corner of a honeydew cube. “Is there something we’re not providing that makes you feel the need to expose my candidates to an outsider? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t the tiniest bit threatened, especially since I offered to sit in on these initial interviews myself.”

“Don’t worry about it. Annabelle lacks the killer instinct. She liked Melanie better than she liked her own candidate. She tried to talk me into seeing her again.”

That caught her by surprise. “Really? Well …Ms.Granger is an odd little duck, isn’t she?”

It must have been the engine noise because, for a moment, he thought she said “odd little fuck,” and he was hit with a vision of Annabelle naked. The notion took him aback. Annabelle amused him, but she didn’t turn him on. Not really. Maybe he’d thought about her sexually a couple of times, and he’d made a couple of smarmy references to fluster her. But nothing serious. Just messing around.