The Mastermind Project

“I have calculated our compatibility.”

Sloane Evans slid a printed spreadsheet across the desk.

“We are an eighteen percent match.”

Ethan Sterling looked at the chart, then at her.

“You’re giving me a statistical breakup speech for a relationship we’re not having.”

“Correct.”

Sloane Evans understands numbers.

Numbers are honest.

Numbers follow rules.

Numbers don’t expect her to decipher hidden meanings.

As a high-functioning autistic woman, Sloane has spent her entire life navigating a world that seems to run on instructions everyone received except her. She misses social cues. She takes people at their word. She never understands why someone says one thing while meaning another.

People call her awkward.

Blunt.

Difficult.

Weird.

Sloane prefers the term accurate.

After getting fired for informing a CEO that his projections were “statistically delusional,” she lands a new job working for Ethan Sterling—a billionaire executive with too much money, too much charm, and absolutely no organizational skills.

To Sloane, Ethan is simply an inefficient employer with an unhealthy dependence on coffee and a disturbing inability to answer emails.

To Ethan, Sloane is unlike anyone he has ever met.

She doesn’t flirt with him.

She doesn’t care about his wealth.

She doesn’t laugh at his jokes.

Half the time, she doesn’t even realize he’s flirting with her.

When Sloane admits that dating has always felt like trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces, Ethan makes an offer that sounds surprisingly reasonable.

He’ll teach her.

How to recognize flirting.

How to read social situations.

How to navigate dating.

How to understand the relationship rules nobody ever bothers to explain.

For Sloane, it’s a practical educational arrangement.

A research project.

A way to increase her chances of eventually finding a compatible partner.

For Ethan, it’s supposed to be harmless.

A little fun.

Nothing serious.

Except somewhere between practice dates, late-night conversations, and lessons that start feeling dangerously real, Ethan discovers a problem no spreadsheet could have predicted:

He’s falling in love with her.

Unfortunately, Sloane has already done the math.

According to her calculations, they are fundamentally incompatible.

And convincing a woman who trusts data more than emotions might be the only challenge Ethan Sterling can’t buy his way out of.

Because for the first time in his life, the billionaire who gets everything he wants has fallen for the one woman who believes the numbers say she should never choose him.

Teaser

“It’s Friday. Do you have any plans tonight?”

“Yes.”

Ethan leaned back in his chair.

“Well?”

“I intend to finish my book.”

Ethan sighed.

“Sloane, when I ask if you have plans, I mean actual plans. Are you meeting friends? Going out? Doing something fun?”

“No.”

“Nothing at all?”

“I purchased groceries yesterday.”

Ethan blinked.

“What does grocery shopping have to do with tonight?”

Sloane looked genuinely confused by the question.

“It eliminates the need to leave my apartment.”

For three full seconds, Ethan just stared at her.

Then he laughed so hard he had to cover his face with one hand.

“Oh my God.”

“What?”

“You planned your entire weekend around avoiding human interaction.”

“I planned my weekend around efficiency.”

His shoulders shook with another laugh.

“You are unbelievable.”

“You say that frequently.”

“Because you keep saying things like this.”

Sloane considered that.

“That seems statistically consistent.”

Ethan groaned.

“I can’t tell if you’re joking anymore.”

“I’m not.”

And somehow that made it even worse.

Or maybe better.