Maya tilted her head, a playful smirk on her lips. "And what does the data say, Architect?"
"The data says that my life without this specific variable is significantly less functional," he stepped closer, abandoning his rules about personal space. "I don’t want to download a solution. I want to stay in the program." Download Kiss Quotient Helen Hoa02MR epub
By the night of the wedding, the "fake" part of their arrangement was failing. Standing under the glow of fairy lights, Elias didn't care about the board of directors or his sister’s approval. Maya tilted her head, a playful smirk on her lips
"Maya," he said, his voice steadier than he felt. "I’ve run the simulations. I’ve looked at the data from the last four weeks." I want to stay in the program
Maya didn't laugh this time. She reached up, her hand resting against his cheek—a sensation Elias hadn't accounted for, but realized he never wanted to delete. "Then stop calculating," she whispered, "and just be here."
"First rule," Maya said, sitting across from him in a booth at a quiet diner. She didn't smell like the clinical office Elias worked in; she smelled like vanilla and old library books. "Stop checking your watch. It makes people think you’re calculating how much longer you have to endure them."
Maya laughed, a bright, messy sound that didn't fit into any of Elias’s spreadsheets. "In romance, Elias, efficiency is the enemy. You have to learn to linger."