by Me, Tara Sue
Maria had remained in Italy. Now that I was in the picture, she was starting to come into her own as a single lady. Not that we thought she’d be single for long - she spent a good deal of time in Como. My relationship with her had grown as well, and while she’d never take the place of Mia, she was becoming a good friend.
“Wren!” I heard Mia yell and I glanced over to my left to see she’s waving at us from a picnic table. It was a Wednesday afternoon in late August, and Mia and Tenor were meeting us at a playground on the Esplanade.
Tenor and Luca shook hands. I doubted the two of them would become as close as Mia and I, but as long as they got along, I really didn’t care. Mia told me after our last visit that Tenor told her Luca had found a personality. She’d corrected him, saying he’d found love.
I know she’s right because Luca tells me the same thing every day.
Gemma squealed in delight at the sight of the playground and looked expectantly up at Luca. He chuckled and tussled her hair.
“Of course,” he said. “But you have to stay in this area where we can see you.”
She agreed and then took off toward a group of children who looked to be her same age. Within seconds, she was fully ensconced into the group.
Tenor asked Luca a question about a property we were scheduled to look at the following day. Apparently, it was in the same neighborhood as the place Tenor and Mia had recently made an offer on.
“How cool would it be if we were neighbors?” I asked Mia, taking a seat on a bench that allowed me to keep Gemma in my sight.
Mia was beaming. “If it gets you here more often, I’m all for it.”
“I think once we get the new brand up and running, we’ll be stateside more frequently.”
“Good,” she said, her eyes dancing as if she knew a secret. “I think Tenor is going to propose soon, and I’ll need your help planning the wedding.”
I wasn’t surprised with her news. What surprised me was that he’d waited this long. “When do you think he’s going to do it?”
“I don’t know. I’m trying not to think about it so I can be surprised.”
I laughed. “So how’s the not thinking about it going?”
“Not very well.” Mia grinned. “Actually, it was going pretty good until I had to help our new employee. She had Tenor’s schedule pulled up on her screen, and I saw he had an appointment with a jeweler.”
“Oh, no.”
“Right?” She asked. “And what could I do at that point? I wasn’t going to ask Tenor, hey, by the way, how’d that three o’clock meeting go?”
“You could,” I told her.
“I could, but I didn’t want to let him know that I knew, and I didn’t want him to think any less of Brigitta, because she is a godsend.”
The name sounded vaguely familiar to me, and I must have made some sort of expression, because Mia said, “The woman who gave Luca’s name to Tenor as for a reference?”
I nodded, remembering. “The flight attendant?”
“Yes, and I should thank Luca. Everyone loves her.”
We changed the topic of conversation then and it wasn’t too long until the men wandered over to where we were sitting. Luca put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me toward him.
As I sat there, friends on one side, the man I loved on the other, and watching a little girl I didn’t know existed a year ago, but couldn’t imagine not having in my life now, it hit me. I was a dancer in every way that counted.
I danced by living to the music of life.
Coming Soon
MISTER IMPOSSIBLE, Bachelor International Book 3
The unforgettable conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Tara Sue Me’s Bachelor International series.
Piers Worthington has worked hard for everything he has. From a childhood spent on the streets of London, he’s fought and toiled his way to where he is today - one of the most sought after attorneys in Boston.
A rift in his friendship with Tenor Butler concerning Bachelor International forces him to reassess the way he does business. He’s vowed to Tenor he’ll make it right, but keeps running into dead ends, until the day he runs into Brigitta, the childhood friend he was forced to leave behind in London so many years ago.
Brigitta’s been led to believe Piers left her on purpose, and she’s never forgiven him. Now that she has the means, she plans to destroy him. But as their passion sparks and she finds herself growing closer to him, she begins to waver. Unfortunately, the people who deceived her about Piers aren’t going to let her ruin their plan for the complete eradication of Piers and all his business connections.
Trying to see between the half truths and complete lies, Piers and Brigitta have to trust each other not only to stop those who want them destroyed, but to find their way back to each other.
Don’t Miss
How It All Started
MISTER TEMPTATION
Bachelor International, Book 1
He’s a self proclaimed bastard with a double helping of lying asshole. He's also her new boss.
From the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of the acclaimed SUBMISSIVE Series comes the first book in a new series perfect for fans of Helena Hunting and Maya Banks.
Mia Matthews never thought much of big shot matchmaker Tenor Butler, but when she finds out he loaned her late business partner a quarter of a million dollars and no one told her, there aren’t enough four letter words to describe him. She’d like nothing more than to pretend Tenor doesn’t exist, but she owes him all that money, not to mention he’s hot as hell.
Tenor doesn’t see why it’s his fault Mia didn’t know about the loan. In fact, he thinks he’s being very magnanimous when he offers to forgive the loan if Mia closes her own matchmaking business and works for him for five years. But as he gets closer to Mia, he realizes two things: 1) he doesn’t want her as an employee and 2) she hates his guts.
When an old flame threatens them both, Mia and Tenor find themselves working together and are unable to ignore their mutual attraction. But it might be too late for these two romance experts to create their own love story.
Chapter One
Mia
I was walking down a sidewalk one day years ago, not really paying attention. My best friend, Wren, was with me and if I had to guess, we were probably talking about boys. It’s an assumption we all have that the sidewalk will just be there when we step down. Unknowingly, I made that same assumption, and when my foot came down and met air instead of sidewalk, I sucked in a breath as I tripped into the unseen hole and fell to my knees.
The horrible knowledge that had twisted my stomach upon realizing that what I had counted on to always be there for me and was not, was the same thing I experienced the day my mother died.
She had not been sick. She didn’t have anything wrong with her. One minute she and a friend, Opa, were headed to lunch and the next, her car flew into the median as a perfect stranger ran into her at a high speed in his attempt to get away from the pursuing police cruisers. Mom and Opa were killed instantly. The man who hit them had just robbed a gas station. For my entire life, my mother had been my sidewalk and then suddenly, she wasn’t there anymore.
Two weeks after her funeral, I had a feeling the sidewalk was going to be ripped out from under me again. I sat in our lawyer’s office and I knew it wasn’t going to be good news based on the way everyone in the office looked at me when I walked in, eyes filled with something that looked like pity. I hated that. I didn’t want their pity.
I also didn’t want to be here. Lawyer meetings were about on par with doctor’s appointments and they both always had the most uncomfortable waiting areas. It must be a periodical they all subscribe to: Waiting Rooms to Lose Your Mind In.
“Clayton,” I said, when he finally sat down after his admin gave him some papers he’d asked for. He’d been acting edgy and odd since I walked in.“I promise I’m strong enough to handle whatever it is you’re hesitant to tell me.”
What wo
rried me more than anything at that moment wasn’t my suspicion that he was hiding something, but that whatever he had to tell me was going to be much worse than I had originally thought. I had asked a week ago for this meeting and he’d kept postponing with the excuse he didn’t have all the paperwork.
“Mia,” he said and then stopped as he read something in the folder he’d just received. He looked horrible. He’d always been on the pale side, but he appeared even more so today. Not to mention, his much-too-thin frame didn’t help matters out.
“Spit it out, Clayton.”
He took his glasses off and though I thought I’d prepared myself for whatever he was going to tell me, I hadn’t. Not by a long shot. “You know it’s been a rough year for the business,” he said.
My mom and I were co-owners of Cross My Heart, a boutique dating agency in downtown Boston. She dealt with the numbers side and the money, while I worked my magic with the people side of the business. We didn’t plan to get rich from our venture, but it paid the bills and we were two of the lucky ones who could say we loved our jobs.
Granted, the last year had been more difficult than others, simply because one of our well-known clients had been accused of inappropriately touching a female co-worker. Technically speaking, it shouldn’t have affected us at all, but right before the allegations came out, he’d done some promo and advertising for us, so we were seen as guilty by association.
It had unquestionably been a rough time, but mom and I had put our heads together and worked through it. I blinked back a tear. God, I missed her. Who would I weather the next storm with?
“Yes,” I told Clayton. I could not fall apart. Not right now. “Mama had told me, but she didn’t make it out like it was anything major. In fact, I seem to remember her saying things were looking up recently.”
“Yes, well,” he said, shuffling through the papers. “The thing is, your mother took a loan and put the business up for collateral.”
“What?” I asked, because there was no way he’d just said what I thought he did. “That can’t be. There’s no way she’d have done something like that and not tell me.”
“I’m afraid she did. In fact, I helped with the terms of the deal. I told her when we were doing it that I thought she should bring you in.” He shook his head, but refused to look at me. “She didn’t want to and I didn’t push it the way I should have because she thought she’d be able to repay it without you ever knowing. Obviously, we never expected this.”
“How much was the loan for?” My body starting shaking, ever so slightly and I willed myself to stop.
Was that guilt I saw reflected in his expression?
“It’s not only the matter of the amount, you see,” he said. “It’s also who the loan was made with.”
I was starting to get the feeling that I wasn’t seeing anything at all. I glared at him. “I think you better explain to me what it is you’re so hesitant to talk about.”
“Your mother got the loan from Tenor Butler.”
He might as well have punched me in the stomach. My mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. It was several long seconds before I managed to get out two words. “Tenor Butler?”
Oh, my God. Anyone other than him.
Clayton winced. “Yes. She went to a few banks first, but none of them were willing to loan her anything. Tenor was her last hope.”
I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that the business found itself in that much trouble, much less that my mother had to make a deal with the likes of Tenor Butler. But, whatever. I had a bit of money left over from her life insurance. It wasn’t a lot, but hopefully it’d be enough to pay Tenor back. “How much did he loan her?”
Yes, there was definitely guilt now, written all over his face. Shit.
“I’m so sorry, Mia."
“How much, Clayton?” My heart felt as if it would pound through my chest, because somehow I knew it would be too much for the life insurance to cover. And yet, I still wasn’t prepared for his next words.
“Two hundred fifty thousand.”
My vision grew blurry and saliva filled my mouth. God, please don’t let me vomit in my lawyer’s office. I placed a hand on my belly in an attempt to stop whatever it was getting ready to do. “A quarter of a million dollars?”
Why? What for the love of God would she need that much money for?
He nodded his confirmation.
There was only one thing that kept me from passing out right there in the chair across from his desk, and that was the knowledge there was no way Mama could have gone through all that money.
“How much of that is available in the business account?” I was an idiot to have to ask. What sort of business owner didn’t know how much money they had in the bank? I should have known what our balance was, but Mama was the money person and since her funeral, I’d been purposely putting it off. The thought of seeing her handwriting again and knowing she’d never write anything else…it had been too much. It still felt like too much.
“Umm.” He started flipping through the papers on his desk. “Looks like there’s about ten thousand as of yesterday morning.”
Holy fuck! “You mean to tell me that my mother somehow spent almost a quarter of a million dollars on our business and I didn’t have any idea?”
How was that possible? Was I that blind or was she that good at hiding? Following those two questions was the uncomfortable feeling that I didn’t know her at all.
“It appears that way.”
I stood up even though my legs felt like Jell-O. I placed both of my hands on Clayton’s desk and then shoved them in my pockets when I saw how they were shaking, “I can’t believe you knew all this and didn’t tell me until now.” I should be mad at mama, too, but she wasn’t here and he was.
“Mia, your mother—”
“Don’t give me that bullshit. There was no reason for my mother to get a loan for that much. Especially from him. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’ll get to the bottom of it eventually and when I do, I plan to find a new attorney.”
Unable to be in the same room with him anymore and knowing there was nothing either of us could do to make the situation any better, I spun on my heels and stormed out of his office. I’m sure I received a good number of stares as I made my way out of the office building, but I honestly don’t remember.
I’d walked to Clayton’s office because it wasn’t too far from Cross My Heart and I’d thought the physical activity would be beneficial for me. I supposed in some warped way, it turned out to be just that. Or, if nothing else, it allowed me an acceptable way to work out my anger toward Clayton.
Not that I could actually blame him for everything. Oh, no. That honor belonged to no one other than Tenor Butler himself. Some part of my brain tried to tell the rest of me that logically, the majority of the blame belonged to my mother. But I told that part of my brain to sit down and shut up.
Tenor Butler owned and operated the most successful dating agency in Boston, hell, probably the entire East Coast—Bachelor International. Of course, that wasn’t why I didn’t like him. Seriously, I’m not petty enough to be angry because someone is more successful than me.
I didn’t like him because I didn’t like his entire approach to dating. I’d heard about some of his practices and I thought they were cookie cutter and impersonal. To me, matchmaking was an art. Or at least a skill to master. To Tenor it wasn’t anything more than a ten-page questionnaire with multiple choice answers. Multiple choice.
Are you kidding me with this?
But he wasn’t and obviously, his way worked, because like I said, most successful agency in Boston. And yet, I didn’t feel like what he did was real. Anyone could gather statics based on multiple choice answers, but they wouldn’t tell you about your client’s deep down wants and needs and fears.
Maybe that was it. Maybe I felt as if Tenor was getting ahead by cheating in a way. He’d somehow managed to be successful by circumventing the upfront work needed
in order to properly make a match. I let that stew as I walked back.
I thought I’d actually calmed down quite a bit by the time I reached my office. Obviously, though, my countenance left something to be desired because Wren, who’d agreed to sit and watch over the office while I was gone, looked up as soon as I walked in and said, “What the hell happened to you?”
I shook my head. I wasn’t really ready to talk about it, wasn’t actually sure I’d ever be able to talk about it. But Wren would be the best person to initially talk to because she knew me better than anyone.
I decided to lay it on her all at once. “Mama took a loan out for a quarter of a million dollars.”
Wren’s jaw dropped open.
“And that’s not the worst part,” I said.
“No way.”
“Yes, way. Tenor Butler gave her the loan.” It didn’t make me sick to my stomach to say it anymore, but my insides still fluttered a little.
Wren’s face went unnaturally pale and her eyelashes fluttered for a few seconds. I actually thought she was going to pass out or something, but her color returned and she simply muttered, “Holy shit.”
“Right?” I flopped into a nearby chair. Another reason to tell Wren. She knew exactly who Tenor was, so I didn’t have to spend time explaining why this was such a horrible thing.
I also truly appreciated that Wren didn’t ask me questions I had no answers for, like why Mama needed that much money and where it had all gone. Why the hell Tenor Butler of all people? I’d have to ask those same questions soon enough, but I wasn’t ready just yet.