Billionaire Matchmaker: Complete Series (Contemporary Romance) (2 page)

“The reason I hired you is because you are supposedly the
best in the business,” he began again once he had my attention. “I’m not
looking for love or my ‘soul mate’. What I want is someone who can hold a
conversation, won’t embarrass me at the various social functions I’m required
to attend, and most importantly, bear my children,” he stated coldly.

I raised my brows, shocked by the cold and calculated break
down of his future marriage partner. It seemed at odds with the earlier email
he had sent me with his list of preferences. Then again, he probably realized I
wouldn’t have taken him on as a client if I had known his true feelings, and he
would probably be right.

“I can see you’re surprised by my admission. You, like all
women must have had the idea that I wanted to fall in love,” he said mockingly.
“Let me disabuse you of that notion right now. I don’t want to fall in love. In
fact it’s quite the opposite. I’d prefer not to be in love with the woman I
marry.”

“You don’t need my help to find someone like that,” I
replied. “Hell, go put an ad in the paper or on Craigslist. There are tons of
women who would take you up on your offer.”

“You must think I’m a very cold heartless man,” he began. I
didn’t contradict him and waited for him to continue. “Each decision I’ve made
in my life has been thought out and calculated. It his come from a place of
logic, not emotion. If I let emotion rule my life, I would not be where I am
today. And don’t kid yourself, marriage is, if anything, a business contract.
As long as each person holds up their end of the bargain, then I consider that
a successful marriage. The reason I hired you is because I’m a very busy man.
Since you are the best in the business, I’m sure I can rely on you to find me
someone who meets my criteria.”

“I’m not sure I can help you. These women want to fall in
love and marry. They deserve a man who will love them. I can’t lie to them.”

“I’m not asking you to lie. By all means, tell them the
truth. Tell them everything I’ve told you and let them decide if they still
want to proceed,” he said.

“I can’t say I agree with you on your thoughts of marriage,
but that’s your choice. I’ll let the girls know what you have in mind and see
if they still want to continue with the dates.”

”I don’t have to tell you that my privacy is extremely
important in this matter. I don’t want the press or anybody else prying into my
private life. Now I’m sure you’ve vetted all the candidates you’ve shown me,
but I would like to look into their backgrounds myself with my own private
investigator.”

“Of course.” I was ready to leave. This whole conversation
left a bad taste in my mouth and I wanted the interview to be over as soon as
possible. Sensing my discomfort, Jake got up from his chair and grabbed both my
hands as he pulled me up to my feet. The sudden contact sent another jolt of
electricity running from my hands to my heart, and travelling down somewhere
near my stomach.

“Don’t look like that, Chloe,” he said flashing a
devastating smile. “You’re not misleading anyone. And if you feel that bad
about it, just think of the enormous check I’m writing you.”

I looked up at him offended, and drew my hands back. His
change in personality had my head spinning. How someone could go from cold
indifference to jovial and good natured in the span of seconds left me reeling.

“First of all, I’m a professional. You don’t have to dangle
money in front of me like a carrot to make sure I do my job well. I didn’t
build up my reputation by doing a half-assed job. Like I said, I don’t agree
with your views, but that’s none of my business. I’m going to do my job
regardless and have you married by next year.”

His smile deepened as he looked at me.

“For your sake, I hope you’re right.”

“You don’t have to hope. Just ask Don or any other of my
happily married clients. Though they do have a more conventional idea of
marriage, which I’m sure adds to their happiness,” I snapped.

“You certainly don’t hold back. I like that. I have a
feeling we’ll get along just fine.”

M
y stomach was in knots. Jake was going out with Sandra
tonight. I was anxious sitting at my desk. It was 1 am on a Friday night, make
that a Saturday morning, and I was alone in my office. I’d been sitting here
since 9 in the morning, not really doing any work, but not wanting to go home
yet either. It was kind of ironic that my job involved me setting people up and
yet here I was, alone for yet another weekend. No man, no dates and no other
plans. If I thought too long about it, I’d be sad. But I’ve trained myself not
to dwell on sad thoughts or things that make me uncomfortable.

The clock now read 2 am and I hadn’t heard anything from
either of them. Usually I had my clients and the girls I work with check in
with me to let me know how the date went, and if they felt like there was any
chemistry. A part of me hoped the date was a success, but another part, hidden
and buried, hoped the date was a disaster. Whenever those thoughts popped into
my head, I would squash it like a bug.

It made me uncomfortable to examine the feelings behind my
thoughts. I couldn’t be attracted to Jake, wanting him for myself. No, I
definitely couldn’t be thinking like that. Instead I distracted myself reading
profiles of the other girls I planned on setting him up with. I ordered a more
thorough background check on them after Jake’s warning about his privacy. So
far nothing turned up in their background that was a cause for concern.

Tick tock, tick tock, 3 am and still nothing. I was feeling
restless and started to get annoyed when my phone rang.

“Hello,” I answered

“Chloe? I didn’t know you were still at the office. I was
just going to leave a voicemail.”

“How did the date go, Sandra?” I asked, cutting to the
chase.

“Oh my gosh! It was amazing!” she gushed. “He was the
perfect gentleman the whole night.”

“That’s really great,” I replied, even as my heart sank a
little at her admission. “What happened?”

“I don’t even know where to start. It was the best date of
my life,” she said.

“What did you guys do?” I asked, biting back the urge to
reach through the phone and strangle her. I needed details now, and she was
acting like some giddy teenager.

“Well, let me see. He picked me up at my place in a limo.
And he’s so handsome,” she giggled. “I just never expected him to be that hot.
I mean I’d seen him in magazines but they really don’t do him justice.”

“Yes, yes. Then what happened? Where did he take you?” I cut
in. If I wanted to get any answers out of her, I would have to direct the
conversation.

“He took me on his private jet and we went to his vineyard
in Sonoma! Can you believe it?”

“You went all the way to California? That’s quite dashing!”
I replied.

“Oh I know!” she agreed. “Let’s see what happened next? Hmm...He
took me on a tour of his house and we had dinner prepared by his private chef.
And then...”

“And then...?” I asked, on the edge of my seat.

“Uh, well we had sex,” she whispered.

“You WHAT?!”

“Shh Chloe, what are you yelling for?”

“How can you have sex with him? On the first date?” I was
incredulous.

“Have you seen him, Chloe? How could I not? He’s like
walking sex.”

“You know how I feel about having sex on the first date,
Sandra. We discussed it. How can you expect him to take you seriously after you
sleep with him on the first date?”

“I take offense to that, Chloe,” she shot back. “First of
all, I’m a grown woman and can sleep with whomever I want. Secondly, it’s none
of your business.”

“Actually, it is my business,” I replied. “I’m the one who
set you up on this date. You’re actions reflect on my company and you are
giving my business a bad reputation. People come to me to find their life
partners, not a one night stand.”

“What makes you think this is just a one night stand? Jake
and I have this amazing, indescribable chemistry and one thing led to another.
It felt very natural and right,” she said.

“Oh honey,” I replied, pity in my voice.

“Besides, it’s not like that,” she said. “You make it sound
cheap, but it’s not like that. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Who are you talking to babe?” I heard the deep familiar
voice on the other end of the phone and my body froze.

“Are you still with him?” I asked in hush whispers as if he
could hear me.

“Uh...yeah. I’m going to have to get going now,” Sandra said
and hung up on me.

I wasn’t sure how to feel. I didn’t expect them to still be
together. My anger and shock from before was settling to a little ball of
disappointment. For some reason I thought Jake would be different. But I
shouldn’t have been surprised. Why wouldn’t he sleep with Sandra? Hell, I was
the one who set them up! She’s gorgeous and intelligent. He could certainly do
a lot worse. “Like me for example,” a little voice in the back of my mind
whispered.

I had to stop taking this so personally. My job was to find
Jake Powers a wife—woman who would bear his children. If that person was
Sandra, then great. It made things easier for me. I had to remind myself of
that each time that disappointment would crop up. I couldn’t have these
feelings for a client. Especially a jerk as cold, and heartless as Jake Powers.

T
he next day I called Jake to get his side of the story. I
had an idea of what to expect since I already spoke to Sandra, but I’m nothing
if not thorough.

“Powers,” he answered abruptly. His voice sounded impatient
and demanding.

“Uh, hello Jake,” I stumbled.

“Who is this?” he barked.

I was caught off guard by his rude attitude, which quickly
turned to annoyance. It always surprised me how easily Jake could push my
buttons and make me nervous and annoyed from one second to the next.

“This is Chloe, from Elite. I’m calling to check in on how
your date went.”

“Oh yes, Chloe.” His voice instantly softened and took on a
silky tone. “The date was tolerable, but it wasn’t anything special.”

“Excuse me?” I asked, surprised by his answer. “What do you
mean, you weren’t ‘impressed’?”

“Simply that I was not blown away by the lady you set me up
with. Sure, she is attractive, and initially I found her appealing, but it
quickly wore away as the evening progressed. By the end of the night, I was
rather bored, to be honest with you.”

“What do you mean, you were bored?”

“If you’re going to keep asking me what I mean every time I
say something, I’m going to have to hang up on you,” he replied. “This
conversation is getting tedious.”

“Don’t you dare hang up on me,” I shot back, pushed to my
limit. “What you’re telling me is completely at odds with what I heard from
Sandra. I, quite frankly, am shocked at your callousness.”

“Well, what did Sandra tell you, exactly?” he asked.

“She implied that you two hit it off and the date went
well,” I answered. I didn’t want to give him the full breakdown of what Sandra
told me in confidence.

“Obviously her idea of a successful date and mine do not
match up,” he answered simply.

I was on the verge of losing my temper. His attitude was so
cruel and unfeeling, I wanted to drive over to his house and smack some sense
into him. My earlier annoyance at Sandra quickly turned to pity. She thought
Jake and her had something special, and here he was dismissing her like she was
nothing.

“I think most people would agree that when the date ends in
the bedroom, it’s pretty successful. If you didn’t feel anything for her, then
why did you sleep with her?” I snapped.

The phone went silent for what felt like hours.

“She told you that, huh?” he finally replied.

“Yes. I told you that I always check in with my girls after
dates.” It was standard procedure at Elite. We wanted to get their reaction
while the date was still fresh in their minds, before they started to
overanalyze everything, but also, to make sure they were safe. It wasn’t like I
would ever allow a girl to go out with someone I thought was deranged or
dangerous, but it never hurt to check in.

“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised Sandra would kiss and tell,
though I am disappointed.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” It was a good thing we
didn’t have the meeting in person, or he would really be in danger of a smack
upside the head, courtesy of yours truly. Here he was sleeping with girls and
then tossing them away like nothing, and he was acting like the victim here? It
really was unbelievable.

“Are you jealous?” he asked.

This man was a piece of work.

“You’re being ridiculous,” I replied. “And you still haven’t
answered my question.”

“Yes, I did sleep with her, though that’s really none of
your business,” he finally answered.

“Actually it is my business. I’m running a matchmaking
service, not an escort service. I can’t allow you to sleep with these women if
you have no honorable intentions towards them.”

“Honorable intentions? Have we gone back in time? Can you
remind me what century we’re in?” he mocked. I could almost feel Jake smile
over the phone.

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“What can I say? I can’t help it if women throw themselves
at me. I think it would be quite rude to turn them down,” he answered lightly.

“I don’t understand how you can be so heartless. You knew
Sandra was hoping for something more and you just lied to her and led her on,”
I lashed back.

“I never lied to her or misled her. She drew her own
conclusions,” he answered coldly.

“Oh so you told her you had no interest in her? That you
found her company ‘tedious’ and she still decided to throw herself at you?” I
asked sarcastically.

Silence.

“That’s what I thought,” I said. “You know, there’s a reason
you’re still single and had to come to me for help. This pattern of behavior is
what’s the issue. If you’re serious about finding a woman to settle down with,
then you have to change.”

“Ms. Harper, I am not accustomed to being spoken to like
this. My patience is wearing thin. You do not dictate how I am to behave, is
that clear?” he replied icily.

“No that is not clear. You’re the one who came to me for
help. If this is how you’re going to behave, then you’re going to have to find
someone else to set you up. I don’t care how much money you have, I’m not going
to allow my girls to be used like that.”

I’d never been so angry in my life and never spoke to a
client like that before, especially someone of Jake’s reputation. My anger was
quickly subsiding, to be replaced by an indescribable feeling. Was it fear? No,
I wasn’t afraid of Jake Powers. But still, maybe I was too harsh. He wasn’t
used to being challenged, and I certainly chewed him out just now.

“This is...unfortunate. I apologize if my actions have put
you in a difficult position,” he answered after a long pause. “It was not my
intention to lead anyone on. I’ve been so used to acting how I like; it’s
become a habit for me. No one has ever questioned my actions before. I see that
you’re right, I do need to change if I want to settle down.”

I was shocked. I expected anger, even sulkiness, but not
capitulation. I felt a sense of triumph that I had stood up to Jake Powers, and
won. Maybe he wasn’t so heartless after all.

“If you still want my services, you’re going to have to
change your behavior. You have to agree not to have sex on the first date with
the women I set you up with,” I said.

“I will agree to your terms,” he replied.