The Matchmaker Bride (The Bride Series)

by Richards, Shadonna

  “How sweet. Her boyfriend saves her life. He’s hot!”

  -Nash107 6 minutes ago.

  “Cheesy. Staged.”

  -Peter H. 14 minutes ago

  “Get a grip. He’s so cute. And muscular.”

  -Lucy2345 22 minutes ago

  “You’re all just jealous.”

  -Meme987 45 minutes ago

  “He’s a babe. She’s a klutz”

  -Crystal 1 hour ago

  “Why am I watching these stupid staged videos must get a life. Nobody is that stupid to walk into a pool. Gah.”

  -Julie A. 2 hours ago

  She’s a slut and a boyfriend stealer. Straight up. It ain’t her guy.

  – Sandy D. 3 hours ago

  “Hmm. Interesting, don’t you think?” Mrs. Stone continued to taunt. She was clearly peeved. Sophie knew this would be the end of the road for her. She just knew it. At this point what could she do? She was angry. With herself. With Stone. With Sandy. With Carlos. Just peeved.

  Sophie sighed when she saw the video had already received 2,354 views. Oh. My. God. Thousands have seen this footage already. And of course they could be identified. The huge name tags. Ugh. Carlos. Sophie. Annual Barbecue in Toronto.

  She drew in a deep breath. “Mrs. Stone, it’s not quite what you think it is.”

  “Oh?” She raised her brow.

  “No….I…Look…I…”

  “Listen dear, I really don’t want to hear much more from you right now. Do you have the report?”

  “Yes, it’s right here.”

  She took the folder from Sophie and quickly glanced through it.

  “Very well, you’ll be paid for the work you’ve done so far.”

  “What?”

  “Oh, my dear, you’ve breached how many of the company’s policies? You really don’t expect to be employed here after today.”

  “But…”

  “Oh, and Sandy was furious by the way. She threatened to sue the company but I managed to tell her that I will see what can be done and that there must be a mistake. After all, it was supposed to be a marriage of convenience though if the lawyers for her father’s estate see this video, they may as well thought that she wasn’t serious about this future husband of hers kissing strange girls at pool parties for children of all places.”

  “You can’t just fire me like that.”

  “Oh, but I can and I just did. Please leave your company tools and take all your belongings with you on your way out. Oh, and don’t expect a reference ,dear. I told you not to mess this one up. Apparently you just couldn’t help yourself with the client. I noticed how you drooled over his photo the first day I presented you with his file but not even I could have imagined you’d go this far…”

  “Wait a minute, I will not have you telling me how far I’ve gone or what I’ve done. You know squat."

  Mrs. Stone gasped.

  “That’s right. I’m tired of you putting me down and making assumptions about me. He came onto me, not the other way around. And if you played the scene over you’ll see that he kissed me first…why am I even telling you about this?” Sophie got up from her seat shaken inside but trying to hold her cool. She drew in a deep breath. “Sorry it didn’t work out for you, Mrs. Stone. Good bye.”

  She walked out of the office barely looking at the receptionist on her way out. Her throat burned, her head pounded and her stomach squeezed. Tears moistened her eyes. She’d never been fired before. And with such indignity. She’d always been careful. Damn Carlos!

  As she walked out on the sidewalk she held her head up wiped her eyes with the tissue from her coat pocket and proceeded to the park. She could think clearer beside a body of water. All she wanted was her Starbucks coffee, a seat and the replaced smartphone that she got at a Rogers store yesterday at the mall. Thank goodness that store was opened on a Sunday.

  What on earth would she do now? She was finished.

  12

  Tessa Bradley sat in the lawyer’s office puffing away at her cigarette despite the No Smoking sign. She was unaware that her leg was shaking a mile a minute. She was eager to get this show on the road.

  “Mr. Jackson will see you now, Mrs. Bradley,” the receptionist called out.

  “Ms. That’s Ms. Bradley. I’m divorced remember?”

  “Oh, sorry, Ms. Bradley.” The young woman looked apologetic.

  Tessa got up from her seat eyeing the woman as if she’d done it for spite. Everything bothered her today. Everything. For instance that old goat she married left her with peanuts when they divorced. Okay, so she had a little fling with that sexy young gardener. What was he expecting? She was young and he couldn’t give her that in their marriage. She was nobody’s trophy wife. You would think that he would have invested in Viagra. Then of course, his son, Carlos, her supposed step-son never did like her. She was sure it was revenge why he was not letting go of custody of Bria. So what if he took care of her while she came clean off her habit. Bria was still her kid. And that money that sneaky old man left Bria before he died—well there was no way Tessa was not going to get her cut. She would do whatever it took to get her piece of the fortune. Even taking Bria back and hiring someone to take care of her. She knew she wouldn’t know what to do with a kid with autism but at least with the new money she’d hire someone else.

  “I see you wanted to see me urgently.” The lawyer showed her to her seat in his office.

  “Yes, I want you to see something.”

  “What is it?”

  “Just log on to YouTube. I’ll show you. I still think the video is still up there.”

  The lawyer and Tessa looked on while Tessa continued to puff away at her cigarette. She eyed him with a smirk hoping for some good news. Something she could use against Carlos to prove he’s a womanizing unstable guardian for Bria if the mediation didn’t work out and it had to go to court.

  “Well,” the lawyer said, shaking his head as he pulled off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. “I’m afraid this doesn’t really show much except he’s helping a woman.”

  “Yes, but kissing her at a kid’s party? And someone wrote that she’s with someone else’s man. So he’s two-timing some girl. One of his many women probably.”

  The lawyer sighed, he’d only agreed to take her on as a client when she was married to Carlos Bradley II and her ex-boyfriend had a video that he was trying to blackmail her with. He was getting much too old for this now. It was time to retire. Bradley Senior was an odd character who preferred to marry instead of date but he still cared deeply for his women except for the money part, he just was born a miser in his blood. But he still felt sorry that Tessa had a rough upbringing and wanted her to be okay. She after all, gave him his second child, the old man would rationalize. Though he cut her off from her money when he learned she had a drug habit and an infidelity problem.

  “We’ll see what we can do about this video. I’m not promising anything but…we’ll see.”

  She smiled a wicked grin and drew another puff of her cigarette despite being politely told that it was a no smoking zone, she carried her own ashtray with her. That was satisfying enough. She would stop at nothing to get part of that inheritance.

  13

  “You got what?” Trina gaped at her friend, Sophie, across the table at Starbucks.

  “I got fired.” The lump in Sophie’s throat almost closed off her airway as she uttered those painful words. She felt as if she would suffocate in her regret. Damn that Carlos! Why did they have to have a chemical attraction to each other? Why?

  “But how? What happened?”

  “Carlos happened. That’s what happened.” She held on tight to her coffee cup not feeling up to putting it to her lips. She didn’t think she could keep anything down right now.

  Sophie explained everything to her best friend in the busy café amidst the noise of lunch time patrons. She’d been there all morning. She called her friend to meet her there on her friend’s lunch break so that she could talk and have co
mpany.

  “Girl that is so messed up. I’m sorry to hear that. That old goat woman can’t get away with firing you like that.”

  “Oh, yes she can. And she did. I violated their policies and I’m on probation. Right there in the clause it says either party can terminate the agreement within the probationary period without warning with one week’s pay.”

  “Oh? What are you going to do now?”

  “If I had enough money, I’d skip town. But I love my volunteer work at the centre,” she said in a low voice.

  “Wow, what a coincidence that his sister is a new client there.”

  “I love working with little Bria, but Carlos is just….not for me.”

  “Whoa there, sister. This man is perfect for you. You yourself even said so. It’s not your fault he chose you over that heiress. You talk about him a lot and it seems as if you think about him nonstop. I’d say go for it.”

  “Go for it? Are you crazy? I can’t do that!”

  “And why not?”

  “Because…”

  “Listen, you already got fired for smooching with the guy may as well go all the way now. What have you got to lose?”

  My heart to this guy I fell in love with and it scares the bejeezus out of me.

  “Wait a minute. Does he even know what happened to you this morning?”

  Sophie gave her friend a look that said it all.

  “Okay, Sophie, first thing’s first, call him. Visit him and get this out in the open.”

  “But it’s his fault I got fired. Sort of. I mean what am I going to say? You got me fired can you help me out now?” Though it hurt like hell to be fired from a job, the matchmaking agency was still a way to survive and fund her real dream. She hoped to gain her Master’s degree then open up her own school for children with special needs, particularly autism spectrum disorders.

  “No, girlfriend. You’re going to admit everything you feel for him. You’re going to start over.”

  “Start over? What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Trina gave her a knowing grin as she narrowed her eyes. Trina had an idea. Her ideas made Sophie very, very nervous.

  14

  Sophie sat in the open reception area of Bradley Inc. flipping through a magazine. Her eyes glossing over the pages not taking anything in. She was just killing time or perhaps calming her nerves.

  “Mr. Bradley will see you now, Ms. Wilson,” the young receptionist with beautiful braided hair down her back called out to her. Her smile was as wide as her desk. She was very pleasant and eased the tension. She was a new receptionist. Last week, Carlos had another woman at the desk. “His office is straight down the hall.”

  “Thank you,” Sophie answered quietly as she gathered her bag and her nerves.

  Carlos looked annoyed as he glared at the letter in front of him. So his stepmother was playing hard ball was she? Digging up new dirt on him, or at least trying to dig up damaging information to insist that he would make a terrible guardian for Bria. He winced. Last year he was a perfect guardian to the little girl and took a load off Tessa. This year, after the reading of her late husband, his father’s will and the fact that Bria and whoever was her guardian in trust would inherit millions, he’s no longer fit to be in the same room with her. He crumpled up the paper and tossed it in the bin angry. He’d just come off the phone with his lawyer. This was going to be a nasty battle. He would be up for it, if it didn’t involve Bria. But still, while Tessa was in rehab, he’d noticed some odd behaviour and withdrawal in Bria and had her assessed by a friend of his who is one of the top pediatricians in the province. She was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder then. Obviously, Tessa had no idea at the time or what’s involved and how much care she would require. She was in rehab herself during that time.

  A polite knock at the door derailed his thoughts. Sophie. He was glad she showed up this morning at his office. She had a calming effect on him. There was just something about her presence, her aura, her charm that set him straight. He just couldn’t get enough of her. Funny thing, he was glad they met during this time in his life. He needed a good woman by his side.

  “It’s open.”

  Sophie peaked her head around the corner of the door. “Hi, Carlos. Sorry to barge in on you like this.”

  He stood up. “You my dear, are a pleasant interruption if you could call it that. I would never see you as barging in anywhere.”

  He offered her a seat surveying her body language. “You’re tense. What happened?” His tone turned serious and protective.

  Sophie told him everything that happened to her that morning.

  “She did what?” Carlos muscle twitched in his jaw. He whipped up the phone and dialed a few digits but before he could get far, Sophie sprung up from her chair and stopped him by placing her hand over his and her other hand on the base of the phone to hang it up.

  “Please don’t. I’m in enough hot water as it is.”

  Before she realized, her hand was on his and there was a magnetic reaction. The heated chemistry between them was electrifying. A spark ignited as their eyes locked briefly. God, his skin was deliciously smooth and soft. Sophie was breathless but for more than one reason. His irresistible aftershave and his dark, sexy penetrating eyes held her close.

  “I…” she removed her hand off his. She noticed that he seemed to enjoy their brief touch as he replaced the phone on the receiver.

  “I’m sorry. I just…” she fumbled her words. Damn Carlos. Why did she have to be so attracted to him? There was something there she just could not deny. Waves of desire swept through her entire body at the thought of their touch and the memory of their delicious kiss over the weekend. Her body craved him. Every inch of him. She glared at his undeniably sexy features and wondered how many other women have been pleasured by his lips. She felt troubled and torn. This was not the way it was supposed to work out.

  “No need to be sorry, beautiful. I’ll deal with the Stone lady later. But are you going to be alright?” He offered holding her gaze. He lifted his finger to stroke her chin gently and waves of pleasure coursed her veins. Her spine tingled at his soft touch.

  This was too crazy for her. She was off the assignment now, so what was stopping her? Carlos. He wanted to help her clearly but her pride just wouldn’t accept out right.

  “I’ll be fine. I have enough in my savings to get by…”

  “Until tomorrow,” he finished for her with a sly grin as she paused forever. Damn him! He knew everything about her including her financial situation of course. How could she lie to him?

  She turned and looked out the tall glass window overlooking the street with a view of the lake in the near distance. The water seemed to sparkle, the sky was cloudless blue. This should have been an ordinary Monday, not a disastrous start to the week.

  “How much do you need? Never mind,” he said as he reached into his pocket and grabbed a pen and his cheque book. He scrawled her name on the cheque with the date and left the figures and amount blank. “You can cash this at my bank down the street. You’ll need your ID.”

  “Carlos, no! I…I can’t. I won’t take money I haven’t earned.”

  “Nonsense, it’s a friendly gesture,” he said. “Not many women would walk away from a blank cheque, my dear.”

  “Well, I’m not many women,” she gave a nervous laugh, she really needed a way out but it felt wrong this way. She would feel as if she was being bought. She didn’t come to him for money. She didn’t know what brought her back to him.

  My heart.

  “Sophie, I want to help you. Besides, I contributed to this fiasco didn’t I?”

  “It wasn’t your fault, Carlos. I knew the rules up front. I should have refused your…advances.”

  “Then why didn’t you?” he challenged her in a voice so deep, low and silky it slid into her veins and caused a reaction in her body.

  “Because…” There she was fumbling with her words again.

  “Because you couldn’t resist me any
more than I can resist you.”

  “What?”

  “Are you denying you have feelings for me?”

  “No, I’m…I mean…yes…no…”

  “Well, which is it? Can’t be both.” His seductive grin was enough to stir her crazy. She had to keep her composure.