Chapter 6
Chapter Six
T roy watched Michaela go. He could have sworn she was running away. Even if she hadn’t been running.
Was that pathetic or what?
Maybe not pathetic, just very interested.
The billionaire matchmaker was beautiful. She smelled good. Her skin had been smooth and soft beneath his every touch on Saturday.
And Saturday was why he’d agreed to the date.
Gabby had challenged him, and he would not forfeit this bet.
Michaela hadn’t found a match for her yet, and that made him the bigger sibling by taking the first date.
He couldn’t have Gabby get one up on him if he refused to go out with any woman Michaela selected for him.
But there was an even bigger reason he’d accepted. It was the look in Michaela’s eyes when he’d said yes.
She’d never admit it, but he’d seen the spark of jealousy.
Her lovely jade eyes had deepened to the shade of the green-eyed monster.
Jealousy . She hadn’t said anything. In fact, her words had said the exact opposite.
But he’d recognized the signs in her beautiful eyes and her sharp intake of breath when he’d said yes instead of no.
Of course he hadn’t said yes only to make her jealous. He might enjoy the date. He might be immune to love, but conversing with a beautiful, accomplished woman was always a pleasure.
Making Michaela jealous was a side benefit.
Thursday was a nightmare. Michaela couldn’t stop thinking about Troy’s date with Alice Fletcher. Despite her work, the calls she’d made, the research she’d done on perfect matches for clients, she felt as if she were losing her mind.
When she went home that night—while Troy and Alice were both getting ready for the perfect date that she’d set up—her mind slipped into catastrophe mode.
Thoughts rumbled through her brain. It would be love at first sight.
He’d take Alice to his magnificent home in the Los Gatos hills and make love to her until the sun came up.
He’d propose to her on the first date. He’d even give Michaela a bonus for finding the perfect match for him.
In addition to paying out a million-dollar bet.
The crazy thoughts went on and on until her mother said, “You’ve got a bee in your bonnet. What’s going on?”
Not one bee, but a whole hive.
Sitting in the family room, they were enjoying a pre-dinner glass of wine. It did nothing to soothe Michaela’s savage beast. Nothing would help except calling Troy and saying Alice had canceled. Or calling Alice to say Troy had canceled. Or calling them both.
If anyone found out, her reputation would be in ruins. But at least she wouldn’t go insane.
“Do you want me to make your favorite dinner?” her mother asked.
Flo always picked up on her daughter’s moods, knowing when Michaela had a hard day. But today was for a reason she’d never experienced before. Troy had her twisted up on the inside. She was fighting feelings she shouldn’t have.
“That would be great, Mom.”
Forty-five minutes later, they were sitting down to a delicious shepherd’s pie. Her mother’s was homemade, and the best Michaela had ever tasted. Almost as good as one served in a real English pub.
Over the second half of her glass of wine, Michaela spilled her guts. She always spilled her guts. “Now that I’ve set Troy up on a date, I actually feel jealous. It’s been driving me nuts for two days. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m jealous, and I don’t even like the man.”
Flo smiled, though Michaela couldn’t read anything in it. “Why don’t you like him? He was lovely at the art gallery.”
Michaela huffed out a sigh. “We already talked about this. You know my rule. I want to be with someone who understands me and where I come from and how hard we had to work to get where we are.”
“But that’s not about him . That’s about your rule.
He was so attentive on Saturday, introducing us to everyone, making sure we felt welcome.
He even sent that limousine for us.” She added another spoonful of shepherd’s pie to her plate.
“I don’t think he’s that different from us.
You always say you wouldn’t fit in that kind of world.
” Her mother stopped short of saying that Michaela didn’t think she was good enough, the way she had the other night.
“But you don’t actually know what his world is like. ”
Michaela lapsed into her usual reasoning.
“We have nothing in common. He owns a sports gear empire. His brother Dane is a resort mogul. Ava Harrington owns retirement homes all over the country. And she’s living with that celebrity chef Ransom Yates.
Clay created an app that sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and now he’s worth billions too.
And Gabby Harrington? She’s barely in her thirties and owns a bakery franchise with a café in every major city in the country.
And did you see all the celebrities and major Silicon Valley players at that gallery?
” she concluded emphatically. “That’s not my lifestyle.
I wouldn’t fit in. A relationship with all that would be destined to fail. ”
But Flo didn’t comment. Instead, she said, “I forgot to tell you I had coffee with Susan Spencer the other day.”
Michaela was delighted. Susan Spencer was lovely and down-to-earth. “That’s wonderful. I hope you had a good time.”
Flo laced her fingers. “Susan is amazing. You know, most of the Mavericks were foster kids that Susan and Bob Spencer took in even though they didn’t have much money at all. Back in Chicago, Bob was a baggage handler, and Susan was a waitress.”
Michaela had no idea. She knew them only as the billionaire icons of the Bay Area. The news was incredible—every one of them a billionaire, and now to learn they’d come from humble beginnings.
“But that’s the Mavericks, not the Harringtons,” she said.
“The Harringtons have a different story.” Ah, so her mother hadn’t changed the subject at all.
She’d been leading up to this. “They lost their parents, both of them dying in some sort of skiing accident, when Dane and Ava had only just started college. And they left behind huge debts. Dane is the oldest brother,” she said, as if Michaela didn’t know.
“And, along with his sister Ava, he quit university to go to work and take care of the younger kids. To pay off all those debts, Dane worked at a resort, and Ava was an aide at a nursing home.”
Michaela had known none of that. It was an astonishing story.
Her mother didn’t let up. “They’re more like us than you think.
They all had to work like hell, the way you and I did.
Do you know what it takes to become an Olympic athlete?
” Before Michaela could reply, Flo went on, “Hours and hours of training every day, from a very young age. It takes dedication and strict goal setting. It takes a single-minded human being to accomplish that.” Then she smiled.
“Just as it takes single-minded dedication to become the billionaire matchmaker.”
Michaela couldn’t say a single thing to that. Her mother had squarely put her in the same league as Troy Harrington.
“Not only that, but he gives all those talks to inspire young people,” Flo said as if she were president of the Troy Harrington Fan Club. “And he doesn’t get paid for them.”
Michaela wanted to drink in every detail, but listening was dangerous. It didn’t matter what Flo said. Troy Harrington was totally wrong for her. Okay, so he’d worked hard to get where he was, but now he was there, a billionaire. He had a lifestyle she could never dream of.
But she still felt heartsick at the thought of his date with Alice. She glanced at her watch. Seven o’clock. They’d be meeting in another hour. Ugh. “Well, he’s going on a fabulous date tonight. And it’s all for the best, Mom. Billionaires aren’t for me. He’s not for me.”
Flo’s smile held a hint of whatever you say, but we both know you’re lying . “All right, sweetheart. If that’s how you feel.”
Between what her mother said and what she didn’t say, Michaela couldn’t help doubling down. “It is how I feel.”
Flo took her empty plate to the sink, saying over her shoulder, “It’s just that I’ve never seen you all atwitter like this.” She began filling the teakettle.
Over the noise of the water, Michaela had to raise her voice. “I’m not all atwitter.”
Flo seemed to stifle a laugh, letting it come out in a cough instead. “I understand completely, sweetheart. I’ll make us some tea, then we can watch a movie. How about Love Actually ?”
Oh my God, no, there was that storyline about the best man in love with his best friend’s wife. No, no, no . “We watched that a few weeks ago. Let’s try something else.”
Her mother beamed. “I know the perfect movie for us.”
They put away the leftovers, washed the dishes, then settled in front of the TV. Her mother queued up the movie, and the opening credits ran for Casablanca .
Michaela sank into the sofa cushions. Here was another love triangle. Humphrey Bogart wanted Ingrid Bergman, and though she was in love with him, she was married to a resistance leader. How could she go off with Bogie, the love of her life, when her husband was such an important and heroic man?
After a very emotional on-screen scene, Flo wiped tears from her eyes. “Somehow this feels a bit like what you’re going through right now. Having to send a man on a date when you have feelings for him yourself.”
Michaela could only say, “This is just old schmaltz. I don’t even like black-and-white movies.”
Except that she loved them, and her mother knew it. Flo also knew that Casablanca was one of Michaela’s favorites. And really, who didn’t think Casablanca was the best movie ever?
She wanted to jump off the sofa, run up to her room, and pull the covers over her head before she had to watch the ending. But that would mean her mom would guess too much.
Although Flo already had.