"Look Erik, another couple credited our dating service with introducing them." Marilyn pointed to the photo of a bride and groom in the newspaper. "I’m glad we opened Matches Made In Heaven. We’re a great team."

"How do you figure we’re a team? You do the work when you select tapes for the clients to watch." Erik grinned. "I’m just a video tech."

"Just a video tech?" Marilyn smiled. "You create the best videos I’ve ever seen."

"You’re only saying that be cause you’re my best friend." Erik chuckled. "Don’t forget how good you are at the matchmaking end of this business. Six newly-married couples owe their happiness to you."

Marilyn sighed. Each glance from Erik’s smoky gray eyes and flash of his seductive smile set her dreaming of things unrelated to his job performance, at least his job performance at Matches Made In Heaven. If only he knew how much she wished for a match between the two of them.

Erik stayed on Marilyn’s mind long after he’d left her office. She paced around the small room, rearranged the pile of folders, and drank two bottles of water before giving in to the urge to ignore the mountain of work heaped on her desk. Closing her eyes, she gave in to the fantasy of Erik’s hands pulling her close as his lips covered hers.

"Marilyn, are you all right?"

Her eyelids snapped open. Erik stood beside her desk, frown lines creasing his brow.

Heat suffused her body as she met his gaze, and she was glad he couldn’t read her mind.

"All right? Of course I’m all right," she stammered.

Erik’s warm breath caressed her cheek as he leaned over her. "Are you sure? You had the strangest look on your face. What were you thinking about?"

She racked her brain for something to say. Telling him the truth wasn’t an option. They’d been buddies for so long he’d probably think she was teasing him and laugh in her face.

Her gaze landed on a pile of plastic cases on her desk and she decided to distract him by changing the subject.

"I imagine you’re here to pick up the last batch of videos. I haven’t had a chance to go over them yet. I’ll do it right after lunch," she mumbled.

"I didn’t come for the tapes. I wanted to tell you I’m leaving for a few hours."

A sheepish smile danced over his lips, the lips she wanted to feel against her own. She shoved her chair back and rose before she did something stupid like kiss him.

"I’m meeting someone for lunch in half an hour," he continued. "I’ll be back sometime this afternoon."

Marilyn’s heart landed somewhere around her knees. Erik’s lunch companions were inevitably tall, leggy blondes, something she’d never be unless she grew seven inches taller and colored her chestnut hair.

He cleared his throat, then said, "I suppose you could join us if you’re not busy."

Join him and one of his drop-dead-gorgeous dates?

"Not in this lifetime," she whispered under her breath before forcing a smile. "Uh, thanks for the invitation, but I’ve got a ton of work to do today. You’re going to have to survive without me."

Determined to actually do some of the work she’d cited, she turned toward the pile of folders on her desk as soon as he left. Her gaze fell on the newspaper photo of the bride and groom who’d met at Matches Made In Heaven.

"If we were clients, I’d make a tape Erik couldn’t ignore," she mused. The idea grew as she tried to concentrate on the tapes he’d left. Making a tape of herself would be easy, but what if Erik laughed when he played it? Worse, what if he decided he couldn’t work with her anymore?

A picture of Erik with another woman appeared in her mind, and she realized that while making a tape might destroy their friendship, hiding her feelings was breaking her heart.

She raced to the small interview room and rehearsed what she planned to say, then positioned the camera, sat down and told Erik what was in her heart. Her fourth attempt captured her feelings perfectly. She was setting the tape on Erik’s desk when he sauntered through his office door.

His brows rose when he noticed her standing beside his desk.

"Lose something?" he asked.

"No, I was just checking to see if you were back yet."

He tossed his jacket onto a nearby chair. "Back and ready to get to work. Did you accomplish anything while I was gone?"

Marilyn’s heart raced when he leaned close and traced her cheekbone with a fingertip, but settled to a slow thud when he reached up to ruffle her hair.

"I did a few things," she mumbled, "but I’ve still got a mountain of work to take care of." She bolted from his office before he could notice the tape and question her about it.

He appeared in her doorway ten minutes later, the tape clutched in his right hand. His determined expression sent a shiver of foreboding up Marilyn’s spine as he crossed the room and leaned over her.

"Why a tape? Why didn’t you just tell me?"

"I couldn’t," she whispered. "I was afraid..."

"Afraid? Mari, you’re my best friend. You should know you can tell me anything."

"That’s the point. I don’t want to be just your friend."

She gasped when he pulled her from her chair and lifted her like a small child.

"Erik, put me down. What on earth are you doing?"

"Not earth," he whispered. "Heaven. I love you. I’ve been waiting for a sign that you feel the same way. I took this job because I figured being part of your life as a friend was better than not being around you at all."

"You love me?" Tears of joy filled Mari’s eyes. "I love you too, Erik. You’re the most incredible man I’ve ever known."

"We’re a match made in heaven," he said softly.

"Heaven," Mari agreed, covering his lips with hers.